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 year's worth of rain in the past three days. the american billionnaire, jeff bezos, has made a 10—minute18—second trip to space. the founder of amazon was accompanied by his brother mark and the youngest ever astronaut, oliver daemen, and the oldest, the pioneering female aviator wally funk. now on bbc news,

tuesday in parliament. hello again, and welcome to tuesday in parliament. as china is accused of a major cyber attack, ministers come under pressure to boycott the beijing winter olympics. these attacks tell us that it is clear that they are a clear and present threat to the united kingdom, to our beliefs in freedom, justice, democracy and the rule of law and human rights. a blueprint for ensuring children don't go hungry in the school holidays. what is the government going to do about these recommendations, or are they going to wait again for marcus rashford to run these up the publicity flagpole and then give in? and mps hear what life is like for women injail.

when i went to prison, i was relieved. - i thought, "oh, my god, i thank god i've been given the opportunity to be removed from my life?�* _ but first, china has denied allegations that it carried out a major cyber attack against the tech giant microsoft. the government here condemned what it called "systematic cyber sabotage" that it said was part of a familiar pattern of behaviour. the hack into the microsoft exchange that powers e—mail systems affected 30,000 organisations. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, insisted china would be held to account, but labour called for a diplomatic boycott of next year's winter olympics in beijing. we've watched as the situation has deteriorated in hong kong and genocide is committed in xinjiang, and he has issued statements and introduced sanctions whilst still clinging to the absurd prospect of boarding a plane to beijing

next year to participate in a pr coup for the chinese government, asking the royal family and senior politicians to stand by while journalists are rounded up, pro—democracy protesters are arrested and a million uighurs are incarcerated in detention camps. in october last year, before he was overruled by the chancellor and the prime minister, he said there comes a point where sport and politics cannot be separated. when is that point? well, the honourable lady knows that participation of any national team in the olympics is a matter for the british olympic association. they're required as a matter of law under the international olympic committee regulations to take those decisions independently. we have led the international response on xinjiang, but also on hong kong. of course, as we've said, we'd consider what level of government representation at the winter olympics in due course. let's go back to lisa nandy. lisa — while he continues to duck the question,

the chinese government has raised the stakes. yesterday he admitted china was responsible for the microsoft exchange hack which saw businesses�* data stolen and hackers demanding millions of pounds in ransoms. he said the chinese government can expect to be held to account. well, he might want to have a word with the treasury, because just two weeks ago, the chancellor was telling mansion house it was time to realise the potential of a fast—growing financial services market with total assets worth a0 trillion. while the foreign secretary is imposing sanctions, the chancellor is cashing cheques. how does he expect to be taken seriously in beijing if he isn't even taken seriously around his own cabinet table? can i thank the honourable lady, but she's wrong on two counts. of course it was yesterday that the uk — along with our eu, nato and us allies and canada, australia, new zealand — publicly attributed the microsoft exchange server attacks to the chinese. it wasn't then that they took place. and she's wrong in her

characterisation of the mansion house speech. of course we've made clear right across government that we will hold the chinese government to account on human rights, but also on cyber attacks or indeed other nefarious activity, whilst we also seek a constructive relationship. a foreign office minister was later summoned to the commons to answer an urgent question from a former conservative leader, who suggested the government didn't take the threat posed by china seriously enough. china is notjust a competitor. these attacks tell us - that it is clear that they are a clear and present threat to the united kingdom, . to our beliefs in freedom, - justice, democracy and the rule of law and human rights. and it's time this government stood up, made it clear- and boycotted these olympic games _ he asks about the differential language between china and russia. our response is based on the actions. and we will continue to act robustly to any and all cyber

attacks that occur. i'm glad to hear our minister say that china can expect to be held to account for this really breathtaking attack. it facilitated other actors to make a widescale range of attacks on private and public organisations. but i would applaud the fact there will be sanctions, there will be measures, but i really would like to hear what they are. because the somewhat homoeopathic approach to date really doesn't seem to have had much of an impact. he asks what specific actions we will take, and i won't answer at the despatch box in detail because... because for the same reason that we do not discuss intelligence matters, we do not speculate on future sanctions because to do so would undermine the effectiveness on those actions. but as i say, we, our international partners have made it clear that these actions will not go unresponded to. the snp spokesman is right. homoeopathic remedies when you're dealing -

with a psychopathic regime does not work. _ we've had industrial scale human rights abuses, - industrial scale buying - of influence in our boardrooms, universities and schools, - and now industrial scale cyber hacking of our - computer systems. the minister, quite rightly, i has said there is widespread and credible evidence that this is a state—backed actor- and state— backed sabotage. so, where's the beef? where are the practical- consequences for the chinese communist government? what officials would be . prosecuted or sanctioned? and if he won't tell us if, | will he tell us when we're going to get a decision - on the olympics, on which this house voted unanimously just last thursday? - the sanctions that we imposed upon the human rights abusers in xinjiang is not homoeopathic. the fact that we have granted visas to british national hong kong chinese is not homoeopathic. we are taking action, not all of which i can discuss at this despatch box, but as i say, we will continue

to work with our international partners to make sure that collectively, collaboratively we send a very clear message that there are patterns of behaviours which are unacceptable and we strongly urge china to get... to change their position to come in line with the international norms, values and standards that is the norm in the international community. james cleverly. now, should we tax sugar and salt to improve our diets? that's the recommendation of an independent review led by the businessman henry dimbleby. england's national food strategy report said the new taxes should be applied to wholesale sugar and salt purchased by manufacturers, which could in turn lead to higher prices on the shelves. but even though the review was commissioned by the government, borisjohnson said he was not attracted to the idea of extra taxes on "hard—working people". a minister has promised a plan. we are committed to carefully considering the review and its recommendations and responding with a white

paper in the next six months setting out the government's ambition and priorities for the food system. this will support our exceptional british food and drink producers and protect and enhance the nation's health and the natural environment for generations to come. but a number of peers questioned the commitment to the strategy after borisjohnson�*s comments. the prime minister's dismissal of a salt and sugar tax is a political decision. can the minister assure the house that in future, scientific evidence will form the basis for decisions affecting the health of the whole country? is the government proud of its status of being - the second most obese nation in the world after the united l states, with whom it presumably has a special relationship? - surely having a tax on salt - and sugar will reduce obesity, reduce the costs to the nhs and maybe even make - people happy. why aren't they doing it? one of henry dimbleby�*s

advisers on the report wanted the government to accept other recommendations. the holiday activity fund, which ensures that children get a decent meal in the holidays if they are poor, the early start vouchers, which enable pregnant mums and young kids to get fresh fruit and vegetables, and the extension of free school meals, which enables people, all people in poverty to have one decent meal a day. what is the government going to do about these recommendations, or are they going to wait again for marcus rashford to run these up the publicity flagpole and then give in? more peers had suggestions to add to the report, including increasing physical education in schools. surely a youngster starting off, getting that opportunity to understand about sport and physical education is going to be much, much healthier whatever they eat. will the white paper include ensuring that people - without gardens who wish to grow their own healthyj food have access to land - for allotments without having

to pay high fees? will the local authorities be funded to provide these - facilities in the interest. of public health and also encourage school gardens? does the minister accept that children who grow l vegetables eat vegetables? but the opposition wanted to look to the wider picture. the uk can't work to transform its own food system and support people in making food choices that are better for their health and the environment if we allow foods to be imported that are produced at low safety, environmental or welfare standards. can i ask noble lord, the minister, if the government will heed the report's warning on that worrying precedent the australian deal could set on food standards for imports? australia's a country that shares our values, and it's important that we have a free—trade agreement with them. the noble baroness will be pleased there was a chapter in there on animal welfare, which often has been overlooked in criticisms of it. but i can absolutely assure her that the government's

commitment to standards will be underpinned throughout all the trade agreements that we sign. lord benyon. you're watching tuesday in parliament with me, david cornock. to the northern ireland assembly now. last week, the british government announced its plans for how to address the legacy of the troubles, proposing to ban all prosecutions linked to the conflict. the policy, announced by the northern ireland secretary brandon lewis, would apply to former members of the security forces as well as ex—paramilitaries and to offences before 1998. but mlas were unhappy, and the assembly was recalled from its summer recess to debate the matter and vote on a motion to reject westminster�*s plan. my appeal today, mr speaker, is that we not only unite in our opposition to this proposed amnesty for state and paramilitary actors but that we also have a shared determination to act to properly deal with legacy.

this move by the british government has to be a wake—up call. we should never have needed this wake—up call, but we now need to act before it is too late. i think, for any stretch of the imagination, for the british government to present these proposals as an attempt to promote reconciliation is disingenuous, it's misleading and, quite frankly, it's a lie. and i think the question we all have to ask ourselves here today is, "why at this time is the british government bringing forward these proposals?" in my mind, it's very simple. it's because the british political system cannot handle the truth. the british government fears the bravery, the courage and the resilience of the families who speak truth to power. my brother—in—law was murdered with seven of his colleagues — - innocent member of the public. not part of an armed gang, not part of a militia - or whatever the provos wanted | to call themselves, an innocent

man carrying out a day's work. to come here today to listen to the hypocrisy of sinn fein| is nothing short of a disgrace. thousands of attacks emanated from ireland across the border, to maim and kill our citizens, and they retreated back across the border. and they are not investigating. where is their hiu? where is their legacy investigations branch? what are they doing? the answer is nothing. whilst i have serious reservations about the government proposals, we will engage in that process, but we will do so on the clear understanding that we are there to fight against these proposals, not to facilitate them. mlas voted in favour of the motion, but it doesn't have a binding effect on the british government's plans. well, back to westminster now, and a health minister has said it's "frustrating" that plans

to extract patient data from gp records in england have "got off on the wrong foot". lord bethell was speaking to the health committee, which is investigating what's known as the general practice data for planning and research system. it was supposed to be launched this month but has been delayed amid concerns about the misuse of sensitive, private information and a lack of public consultation. can i start with professor landray, please? first of all, thank you very much for the remarkable successes of the recovery trial that, when we met last time, you said some people say have saved a million lives over the course of the pandemic, which is a really extraordinary achievement. and we're all really proud of what you've done. could you just outline for us what you see as the benefits of using patient data in the way that some of the changes that are proposed would allow? there's a diversity of knowledge that comes

from data that can really inform how we predict what might happen to patients, how we understand the causes of diseases that patients might get — whether that's smoking or obesity — the safety of treatments, the safety of vaccines, the safety of common treatments for cardiovascular disease, treatments to prevent a heart attack. might they cause cancer? we can understand that from data — and the answer's by and large no. the safety of hormone replacement therapy or breast implants. all of those things can come from data. during the pandemic, there were special arrangements allowing the release of patient data relating to covid treatments held by gps. professor landray said there'd be huge benefits if a wider range of information could be accessed. why can we do so much for a pandemic like covid, which is clearly a disaster with huge health consequences, but we struggle to do exactly the same things

with cardiovascular disease, with cancer, with diabetes and so much else, which are also, if you like, of pandemic proportions? but privacy campaigners have concerns about the use of information. the way in which data is currently used when it is taken up to nhs digital is that it is passed copies of patients�* data, is passed to third parties, including commercial entities — some of which have sublicensing agreements — and there is essentially a trade in patients�* data. much of that — much of the uses, many of the uses — are for entirely admirable uses, but some of them give, we know, a large number of people concerns. data is not anonymous. it is pseudonymised. that pseudonym is what allows it to be linked across an individual person�*s

entire medical history. and that medical history is a fingerprint unique to an individual, so this is all basically traceable... pseudonymised data is all traceable back to an individual. if it wasn�*t, it wouldn�*t be useful. the health minister tried to allay concerns. now, i completely recognise that this is a very sensitive project — on privacy, on security and on whether we�*re taking the right approach at all. and it�*s very important. i mean, i think the point made earlier is right. everyone has to feel fully involved, and that does include patients and gps. we absolutely have to take people with us. and i also recognise that this has not happened in the past, and so it is frustrating that we have got off on the wrong foot this time. he was challenged over the use of existing data. we can't say that we're not selling on patient data. we are selling on patient data because i think firms

like experian are known to use data in those ways. we know what experian does in terms of its business. and harvey walsh is another one of the type too. so... barbara, if i can come back on that? yep. it is not authorised in the agreements on the data to use the data for marketing, and we have a comprehensive audit process around that. now, if you can point to me precise examples of where people have breached their agreements, then i would be very happy to follow them up. but smearing the system with accusations like that does nothing to build trust in something that is extremely important. criticising and challenging, after the mess that we've seen of the last few months, is not "smearing" — and that's an unfortunate word for you to use in this committee. and she said mps were trying to represent the interests of patients. now, three former women prisoners have told mps of an urgent need for greater

mental health support and counselling for inmates. the three women shared their experiences with the justice committee, which is looking into women prisons. all three said they had struggled to turn their lives around and all three said their breakthroughs came after prison, when they were lucky enough to find the right support. they also described how they�*d ended up with a jail sentence. my life was in tatters. i was in a really destructive relationship. i could not stop using the substances that i was using, which i was on... i was an intravenous drug user, on heroin and crack. i couldn�*t stop. my addiction was escalating, which had a really bad impact on my mental health. she�*d ended up — in her own words — committing more and more crimes. so when i went to prison, i was relieved. i thought, "oh, my god, thank god! i�*ve been given the opportunity to be removed from my life and possibly have this period

of time where i�*m away from that," and i had every determination to get my life back together. she�*d hoped for support and treatment. so their solution to my mental health was to put me on really quite huge anti—psychotic medication that would, you know, knock out an elephant. this stuff is, like, seriously strong, and i�*m sure that it was to keep me calm, and i... that wasn�*t a solution. and she called for far greater support for women in prison, saying many were "victims". when i�*m treated like i am worthy and i�*m not dictated by this stigma and stereotype and ball—and—chain of my past, actually, i have a choice. and you can make that choice every day. it�*s all about empowering.

it�*s all about empowering and encouraging change — that, actually, every single human being has got the capacity to be able to, you know, up—level their lives, to live a life of freedom, to have love in their life. if i can be honest... of course. ..i never received any rehabilitation. i literally got told a release date and i worked towards my release date, counting every single day down on calendars i still have up until this day. when it came to my last two weeks of prison, "have you got somewhere to live?" was a question that i got asked. and thank god i had a relative that was adamant that i had to come home, but if i didn't have a relative, i would've been put back at risk of being recalled back to prison. just one prison officer looked out for her after her best friend was murdered. and this officer, from that day, when he found out that i had experienced a death,

he made sure to check in. every single day, he checked in on me, and he saw something within myself that nobody else did. like i said before, i didn't see it and he did. lucy had been in the care system before prison at 18. it was just a spiral. i kept going further- and further down, and before i knew it, i was in prison — broken and frightened - and scared. i was a baby when i| first went to prison. and i think if, you know, . somebody had been there, maybe they'd have done community sentences . or something back then with| the resources of the services and it would have saved me 21 years of my life. - too many women in prison, she said, had suffered trauma and abuse. some people should be locked up, but there's a lot _ of them that are victims, that are broken. - they've gone through a number

of different abuses, _ if not all of them, i and nothing's getting done and they're just... yeah, it's like - the lost generation. if they had structured courses. that were going to set them up and going to give them some i tools to survive and go forward and grow and, you know, l make their lives positive... i was nearly dead and i've turned my life around. . and i'm never looking back. now, will mps need vaccine passports to go to work in the commons? from september, anyone who wants to go clubbing in england will need to be fully vaccinated. the vaccines minister, nadhim zahawi, said the rule about being double—jabbed will also apply to other crowded venues. a conservative lockdown sceptic was worried. it would be outrageous if the executive were to attempt to prevent any member of parliament attending this house to represent our constituents without first

undergoing a medical procedure. now, mr speaker, i raise it with you because i hope you�*ll be able to make a ruling on this matter. and in closing, i would just note that your 17th—century predecessor, speaker lenthall, stood up very effectively against an overmighty executive. and it didn�*t end well for the overmighty executive. laughter. it did lead to the end of the monarchy as well, i might add, for a short period! _ so let's hope we're not quite going back that far. what i would say is i'm very grateful for the honourable member giving me notice. and i've had no indication that government considers the policy as mentioned should apply to this house. what i would say as speaker of this house — there is nothing to stop a member coming into here. you have the right to come to this house unless this house otherwise says so. and i've got to say, the government's not been in touch, i don't expect them to be in touch because,

as far as i'm concerned, it doesn't apply to members. sir lindsay hoyle. the former leader of the scottish conservatives, ruth davidson, has taken her seat in the house of lords. she will be known as lady davidson of lundin links, after the village in fife where she grew up and where her parents still live. i, ruth, baroness davidson of lundin links, do swear by almighty god that i will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her majesty queen elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law, so help me god. lady davidson of lundin links. that was tuesday in parliament. i hope you can find time in your crowded schedule to join me at the same time tomorrow for wednesday in parliament, including prime minister�*s questions. until then, from me, david cornock, and all the team here, bye for now.

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 coast, 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 why 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 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.

welcome to bbc news. our top stories. the us climate envoy john 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 causes widespread disruption, and huge anxiety for passengers caught in one flooded subway system. stepping onto dry land at last — a flotilla of small vessels brings a record number of migrants across the english channel i�*m sarah mulkerrins live in tokyo where although the opening ceremony is still two days away, the action has got underway with hosts japan thrashing australia at softball.