a 49—year—old record tuesday, hitting 19 consecutive days of temperatures at 110 degrees fahrenheit or higher — that's 43 degrees celcius. 80 million people in the western and southern us states are under advisories for a "widespread "and oppressive" heatwave. in europe, tourists and locals are trying to escape the heat, flocking to the beach. the record—breaking temperatures are driven by a combination of climate change and the return of a weather pattern, called el nino. the un warned that these hot temperatures can lead to health problems. our sofia bettiza is in sicily with more. it has been extremely hot here in sicily for the last few days. this is where, two years ago, the highest temperature in europe was recorded. it was 118.8 europe was recorded. it was 48.8 celsius, and it could be exceeded in the next few days. now, italians are used to hot

summers, but not this hot, especially if you take into account the fact that these consecutive heatwaves have come very suddenly. and they are having an impact on people's hell. several hospitals here in palermo are seeing a rise in the number of patients that are being admitted because of health problems caused by the heat. 20 cities in italy are under a red alert warning, and that number is going to go up to 23 cities on wednesday. now, this heatwave could continue for the next ten days in some parts of the country, and that's why the authorities here are urging people to be extremely careful. just south, in mainland greece, the extreme climate has exacerbated wildfires. firefighting planes are battling flames, as many towns across the country are being evacuated. the eu is sending more planes from france and italy to help. strong winds have been reported in the region, making it difficult for firefighters to extinguish the blaze.

in one area, police arrested a man suspected of starting a fire. azadeh moshiri has more from the city of kouvaras. several fires have made their way through mainland greece. here, where i am, we are in kouvaras, which is south—east of athens, and you can see that wildfires have torn through these hills. now, you can see the burnt trees around me. you can see the ash on the ground. but if you were here with me, you'd be able to smell it, as well. now, this fire that's torn through these hills is suspected to have been done by a man who lit a fire. he's now been arrested. but the consequences are the same as the other wildfires we see in other parts of mainland greece. it is decimation across these hills. we spoke to firefighters who worked here, and helped evacuate people in the hills who were living in different parts of kouvaras, and they have been told they can now return to their homes, but as temperatures around here continue to grow, because the peak is set to hit in the next few days,

thursday to sunday, they've said that these scenes, these wildfires could not be the last we've seen in mainland greece. dangerous temperatures are also choking parts of asia. injapan, the heat has been relentless. authorities there issued heatstroke alerts in 32 of japan's 47 prefectures. us climate secretaryjohn kerry is in china, holding talks with the chinese premier on global warming. he said he hopes china will curb its expansion of coal plants and reduce the use of methane to help combat climate change. professor kim cobb, a climate scientist at brown university and a member on president biden�*s inteilligence advisory board. thank you so much forjoining us in ourstudio thank you so much forjoining us in our studio tonight. we just saw those images of the climate envoyjohn kerry,

climate envoy john kerry, talking climate envoyjohn kerry, talking to his chinese counterpart, pushing china to reduce its use of coal. what do you think he can achieve at these talks? it you think he can achieve at these talks?— you think he can achieve at these talks? it certainly helps that the backdrop _ these talks? it certainly helps that the backdrop of this - that the backdrop of this relentless spate of ongoing climate change is ongoing across parts of the northern hemisphere now, obviously climate change a clear and present danger to public health and safety, to the economy both here in china and the united states and abroad, and to national security in china, —— both here in the united states and in china. high hopes over there for their talks and hopefully we can see the emission curve spike down. what about the us _ emission curve spike down. what about the us side _ emission curve spike down. what about the us side of _ emission curve spike down. what about the us side of this? - emission curve spike down. what about the us side of this? we know the us president biden has said these ambitious climate goals, a 65%, are we still on track to achieve that? we are not quite _ track to achieve that? we are not quite on _ track to achieve that? we are not quite on track, _ track to achieve that? we are not quite on track, but - not quite on track, but obviously made a huge start, an historic one in fact, with the

inflation reduction act, really an amazing investment in our clean energy future here in the united states. it puts us within grasp, what we need to do is go all in on climate and make sure that we are really closing that emissions cap to hit our targets, and demonstrate on the global stage that the us is in a leadership position on this issue. question some people might be asking themselves, looking at these images we just showed, how much does it really matter at this point? we're already seeing the disastrous effects of climate change. it couldn't matter more _ of climate change. it couldn't matter more is _ of climate change. it couldn't matter more is the _ of climate change. it couldn't matter more is the simple i of climate change. it couldn't i matter more is the simple truth here. we are already on track to cross that 1.5 celsius threshold, likely within the next ten years or so, but what's really important is that we may be crossing much higher levels of warming by mid—century, two degrees, three celsius, and we really are in the driving seat of our climate and emissions future right now in these precious few years, when we will decide how much climate damage we want to let

in. when we stabilise emissions, we will be stabilising warming going forward to the century, so again, minimising risk and damage, we can reap those benefits very soon in a matter of decades. unfortunately it is going to be a very rough ride over the next 20 years, as warming continues. i over the next 20 years, as warming continues.- over the next 20 years, as warming continues. i want to ask ou warming continues. i want to ask you about _ warming continues. i want to ask you about adaptation - warming continues. i want to ask you about adaptation as| ask you about adaptation as well. we are seeing cities, regions on the coast as well all trying to adapt to this massive heatwave we sang at the moment. how can we prepare to face this perhaps every year? yes, well, unfortunately we are ill adapted, and there are going to be some pretty serious limitations to adaptation. we already suffer thousands of heat —related deaths in the united states every single year, more than all the weather—related deaths put together, and so that's happening across the world. 62,000 deaths last year linked to europe as mac heatwave last summer, the toll is of course still ongoing best summer, but we can expect it to be in the

many thousands of deaths globally, and so for many it is too late for us to adapt, but there is still a chance for us to harness all of the available science, and what we know about the relationship between warming, heat, extreme rainfall, droughts and wildfires, and put that to use to keep the public safe and our economy is thriving through the continued warming. it is not too late to get to work on adaptation, it is never too late, and it is certainly exactly the right moment to begin to consider if we're going to go all in on emissions reductions and limit the loss in damages going forward. find in damages going forward. and what ou in damages going forward. and what you think _ in damages going forward. and what you think can be done to coordinate on a global level, specifically rather looking at these adaptation measures, as we are seeing this heatwave in china, in the us and europe? well, certainly there is a lot to be said for the united nations playing a very serious role here. nato for example just released a report on the global security risks that they are going to try and coordinate around at that level, and of course that's the level, the

international level, where scientists are working together to try to lift up the importance of adaptation measures that can be taken around the world, to lift up the opportunities that we have for emissions reductions. this was put forward in working group two and three of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, which has compiled this information for policymakers. so it is really at policy makers�*s fingertips. what we need to do is put it to work and it could not be more urgently illustrated than the loss is an ongoing devastation from the summers.— from the summers. last question. _ from the summers. last question, do _ from the summers. last question, do you - from the summers. last question, do you think. from the summers. last question, do you think bessemer is a wake—up call? question, do you think bessemer is a wake-up call?— is a wake-up call? well, i would have _ is a wake-up call? well, i would have hoped - is a wake-up call? well, i would have hoped the - is a wake-up call? well, i - would have hoped the wake-up would have hoped the wake—up call would have come a lot sooner than this. this is not the first summer that we are privy to these horrific headlines around the globe, whether it is her canes or wildfires, extreme heat and extreme rainfall, rising seas. this has been a long time coming in creeping into our collective consciousness and it will been a wake—up call 20 years ago, but again, never too

late to realise what's truly at stake here. the threats to public health and safety, to our economy, to national and global security could not be more clear now. so we have work to do but the good news is we have all the science that we need to support these emissions targets and the adaptation measures. targets and the adaptation measures-_ targets and the adaptation measures. , ., ., measures. great to get your thoughts — measures. great to get your thoughts on — measures. great to get your thoughts on the _ measures. great to get your thoughts on the show. - measures. great to get your i thoughts on the show. thanks forjoining us.— forjoining us. thanks for havin: forjoining us. thanks for having me- _ turning now to ukraine, 0desa is under russian air attack, for the second night in a row. you can see here the damage from rocket fire last night in 0desa. the city is one ukraine's main ports for exporting grain. 0fficials there say they will not be intimidated by the attacks. it comes after russia pulled out of the black sea grain deal on monday. but air attacks are not the only thing ukraine has to worry about. one of the most senior military commanders in the country has admitted ukraine's offensive against russia is not going as fast as hoped. since the counter—offensive launched in earlyjune, it's taken back more than 81 square miles of land. but russia still holds vast amounts of territory. 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale reports near the the front

line in bakhmut. the bloody battle for bakhmut isn't over. the city is now held by the russians, but we travelled with ukrainian forces who are trying to take it back. their advance is still slow, and meeting resistance, again. explosion they try to fire back with their finnish—supplied mortar, but even western weapons can occasionally malfunction. explosion that was a russian shell landing. their positions are just about three kilometres away from here. last time i was near here, two months ago, it was the ukrainians losing ground and in danger of being surrounded.

now, it's the other way round. this is the bunker from where ukraine's coordinating the offensive on bakhmut, with a constant live feed from dozens of drones. the commander admits they're suffering losses, but not on the same scale as the russians. translation: we've taken the initiative. l the enemy is bringing in troops and wants to escape the trap. but they're in trouble. bakhmut could be encircled. ukraine is using all it can to break the russian defences... ..from the ground... ..and from the air. but it's still outgunned, and having to spread its limited resources on several fronts. but it will soon have a new weapon — us—supplied cluster bombs, fired from these same american howitzers.

this gun, will you use cluster munitions in this gun? yes, yes. you will? yes. and will you have any concerns? in the field, no. 0n the town, i have forbidden for this, because it's not humane. 0leksandr syrskyi is the general in charge of all military operations in the east. this is a command vehicle, yes? yes. the mastermind behind the defence of kyiv and the successful offensive in kharkiv. unlike many russian commanders, he's lionized by his troops. and now his eyes are firmly set on retaking bakhmut. and you will take it back, bakhmut? yes, of course — i try to do it. the offensive has been going on for more than a month now. even president zelensky has said it is slower than ukraine had hoped for.

is that true? translation: we would i like to get very fast results, but in reality, it's practically impossible. this entire area is well prepared with defences, so all advances are not going as fast as we would like. so far, the advances have only been modest. most of the front remains relatively static. these ukrainian trench lines in the east haven't budged since 2014. ukraine has still to commit all its forces, but it's yet to break through russia's heavily mined main lines of defence. jonathan beale, bbc news, eastern ukraine. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bbc news, bringing you

different stories from across the uk. it's our past and in the uk. it's our past and in the morning at the airbase the outskirts of nottinghamshire, and for the crew here, there is no average day. they are on constant standby waiting for a call. i constant standby waiting for a call. ., ., ., call. i got here at half five this morning, _ call. i got here at half five this morning, we - call. i got here at half five this morning, we are - call. i got here at half five this morning, we are on i call. i got here at half five this morning, we are on a| call. i got here at half five i this morning, we are on a 12 hour shift, save the day starts with equipment checks, we have to make sure we caught all the right equipment, all the things in the right place, so that when the phone goes we are in a position to respond immediately.- position to respond immediately. position to respond immediatel . , ., , immediately. this map here shows the — immediately. this map here shows the area _ immediately. this map here shows the area where - immediately. this map here shows the area where the i immediately. this map here | shows the area where the air ambulance covers, so we got derbyshire, leicestershire, rutland, warwickshire and northamptonshire, and over the last 20 years, they have been over 50,000 missions. last 20 years, they have been over50,000 missions. normally, there are between three to five flights a day, and the average costis flights a day, and the average cost is around £1700. pack light. the crews say that so far this year they are busier than ever, but they are dedicated to help people whenever they need it. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website.

you're watching bbc news. new details are coming in about the us soldier detained in north korea after crossing the border without authorization. us officials say the american soldier crossed the demilitarized zone between north and south korea while on a tour. commonly known as the dmz, the area is one of the most heavily fortified in the world. the army has identified the soldier as travis king. he was reportedly being escorted back to the us for disciplinary reasons, before he turned around at the airport and joined a tour of the north and south korea border. a witness, who was also a part of that tour, said he saw the soldier laughing while running across the north korean border. us secretary of defence lloyd austin confirmed earlier that the soldier did indeed cross the border willfully. we believe he is in dprk custody, so we are continuously monitoring and working to notify the soldier's next of kin and engaging

to address this incident. in terms of my concerns, i am absolutely foremost concerned about the welfare of our troop, so we will remain focused about this, and, again, this will develop in the next several days now. 0ur correspondent sean dilley was at that briefing at the pentagon — here's his reaction. i would say where no closer to understanding what might have motivated the individual to cross into north korea. the pentagon very much saying as much and as little as you would expect them to. when we heard from mr austin, secretary of state for defence, he said their foremost concern is for his welfare, which has been echoed by the state department in their several statements. at this moment the two departments are working in collaboration, but defence and the pentagon are those directly in touch or co—ordinating efforts with the

north koreans because they believe, they said, that he is in their custody at the moment. looking at the situation from above, you know, what might have motivated him to cross there is still rather unresolved and whether he still wishes to be there. you can bet us authorities and pentagon officials will be working on doing all they can to secure his release, hoping that is as short ——a short time, not a long one. earlier i spoke to massachusetts congressman and veteran seth moulton, and he said the first priority is to secure the soldier's release. we should get him back. this is a soldier who had disciplinary problems to begin with. apparently that is how this all started. but this is a very bad thing to do. it puts at risk not only his life but the lives of other americans. turning back to the us where former president donald trump is facing new legal woes. mr trump says he expects to be arrested and indicted again. he posted this statement on truth social saying

he received a letter informing him that he is the target of a usjustice department investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the january 6, 2021 attack on the capitol. mr trump says the letter gives him four days to report to the grand jury. leaders in artificial intelligence came before congress today to talk about the critical role ai can play on the battlefield. a house armed services subcommittee heard testimony on the risks and barriers the us department of defence faces in adopting and deploying the technology. they discussed how china is developing ai for its own military use. earlier i spoke to congressman ro khanna, who was at the hearing today. thank you forjoining us again on bbc news. we saw technology and ai leaders raise alarm, saying that the us military needs to move faster and try to integrate aa because that is what the chinese government is doing. what did you make of that? �* ., ,

that? --al. i thought they were optimistic _ that? --al. i thought they were optimistic of — that? --al. i thought they were optimistic of what _ that? --al. i thought they were optimistic of what we _ that? --al. i thought they were optimistic of what we had - that? --al. i thought they were optimistic of what we had done | optimistic of what we had done better, we had better datasets in our military, we have combined, when you look at the private sector and the department of defence, more spending, but they are saying that china is doubling down of the strategy and obviously has a lot of public data and we have to be intentional about making sure that we take the lead and keep the lead in the military applications of hacker0ne.— military applications of hacker0ne. ., hacker0ne. precisely on the auestion hacker0ne. precisely on the question of _ hacker0ne. precisely on the question of data, _ hacker0ne. precisely on the question of data, alexander| question of data, alexander wang, the ceo of scale ai, responding to a question that you asked him, he says the military needs to be able to develop ai quickly and reliably. this is what he said. as we look to applying artificial intelligence to the military, we need to have military— military, we need to have military ready datasets ready for this — military ready datasets ready for this kind of deployment. do ou for this kind of deployment. you agree for this kind of deployment. drr you agree with that approach? i do. we are already doing it. i asked him is their damage to having these quality datasets as opposed to having the

general data that china may have and he said there is an advantage in having quality data and the us has more of it. i think the department of defence needs to figure out how we have the type of data that is going to get us the best outcomes. is going to get us the best outcomes-— is going to get us the best outcomes. ~ ., , ., ., outcomes. what will this data do? albert — outcomes. what will this data do? albert understand - outcomes. what will this data do? albert understand how. outcomes. what will this data do? albert understand how it| do? albert understand how it will be used.— will be used. sure. ai could help identify _ will be used. sure. ai could help identify troops - will be used. sure. ai could help identify troops or - will be used. sure. ai could help identify troops or a - will be used. sure. ai could. help identify troops or a tank or a target to be hit. if you have data from the military, most of which is classified, secret, or top secret about a particular location, but the double formations that — and enemy or opponent might have. and you can for that and help ai become better at identifying where a target is, where troops are moving, and that is the kind of data that alexander was talking about.— talking about. there are a lot of concerns _ talking about. there are a lot of concerns about _ talking about. there are a lot of concerns about the - talking about. there are a lot of concerns about the types | talking about. there are a lot| of concerns about the types of ai that are used in the different applications of it.

companies dominate one company working with the military is deploying a large language chat model like chatgpt called donovan. are you convinced that they will take into account some of the concerns about the use of this technology? that some of the concerns about the use of this technology?- use of this technology? that is wh we use of this technology? that is why we need — use of this technology? that is why we need is _ use of this technology? that is why we need is and _ use of this technology? that is why we need is and thoughtful| why we need is and thoughtful regulations and the united states needs to lead on that. why should the united states lead? it is because we invented most of the ai here. so we are in a position to lead. that means enduring human control and judgement at any decision. it meant separation between something that is a machine and a human, it means having safety checks before the given use of ai. we can go into other principles but it is important that we have those principles in place. that we have those principles in lace. , ., in place. the department of defence in _ in place. the department of defence in the _ in place. the department of defence in the us _ in place. the department of defence in the us does - in place. the department of| defence in the us does have guidelines for the ethical use of artificial intelligence. how can you make sure, regulators make sure that those are actually implemented on the battlefield?— actually implemented on the battlefield? ., , battlefield? one of the things we had any — battlefield? one of the things we had any hearing _ battlefield? one of the things

we had any hearing is - battlefield? one of the things we had any hearing is that - battlefield? one of the things we had any hearing is that we j we had any hearing is that we need to train personnel in those principles and we need to actually see how those principles are operationalised. do we have a structure where there has to be human sign of before any decision is made using artificial intelligence? to people understand and ai works on the battlefield, and who do they have to talk to as a check? my concern isn'tjust with the military, but more broadly how do we have the checks on al, and that is why i have called for an fda like regulatory body to regulate and set standards for al. that would be _ set standards for al. that would be here _ set standards for al. that would be here in - set standards for al. that would be here in the - set standards for al. that would be here in the us. | set standards for al. that - would be here in the us. there was discussion here about working with allies across the world and today the un secretary general impress calls a new un agency for al after its first meeting on al risks. would you welcome that corporate level body? sure. we need to work — corporate level body? sure. we need to work internationally - corporate level body? sure. we need to work internationally in l need to work internationally in terms of the solutions here. if

ai is unleashed it can do harm, no matter where it is. the reality in china is they are getting a lot of the ai currently on models that are on the cloud. while the us has restricted some gpus going to china, they have restricted those in the cloud. it is hard to contain the technology and we need to do that as well as we need to do that as well as we can but we need international agreements on this and we need the united nations to play a role in facilitating back type of dialogue. i facilitating back type of dialogue-— facilitating back type of dialogue. facilitating back type of dialouue. ., ., ., ., dialogue. i also want to ask what the — dialogue. i also want to ask what the pentagon - dialogue. i also want to ask. what the pentagon confirming today that a us soldier on tour in south korea crossed into north korea and has been detained there. we spoke earlier to somebody who served as an analyst for the cia. she said north korea can use this as a propaganda tool, saying that an american soldier defected to the side. are you worried how this could be used?

we need all the facts. we need to understand why the soldier ended up in north korea. we need to prioritise our service member's life and safety and do all we can to support his release. but i supported president trump when trying to engage with north korea, and president carter, who had a whole framework of what we can do to try to move beyond the 1953 armistice. we still don't have an end to the korean war. this heightens the need for the world to engage in a place that is still full of conflict and concern. is still full of conflict and concern-— is still full of conflict and concern. ., , , ., ~ concern. need to speak with ou, concern. need to speak with you, congressman. - concern. need to speak with you, congressman. thank. concern. need to speak with i you, congressman. thank you. —— great to speak. those calls before congress have already been heard. the us government

accountability 0ffice wrote in a report last month without department—wide and tailored service—level guidance, dod is missing an opportunity to ensure that it is consistently acquiring ai capabilities in a manner that accounts for the unique challenges associated with al. that is a show. that make our show. think watching bbc news. —— that is our show. —— thank you for watching bbc news. hello. for many of us, tuesday was decidedly cool for a july day thanks to a lot of clouds and some outbreaks of rain. that was the scene for a weather watcher in belfast. there were plenty of places that didn't get above 14—15 degrees. was a little bit warmer in the southeast of england, but a world away from the heat that continues to affect southern parts of europe, that extreme heat set to go on. this is the dividing line, the jet stream, the winds high up in the atmosphere, keeping that heat away from our shores, keeping us in some relatively cool air with areas

of low pressure and frontal systems moving through. that frontal system there, that was tuesday's rain—maker. it is moving away eastwards. high pressure trying to build from the west, but there'll still be some showers on wednesday. early cloud and patchy rain in eastern england, that tending to clear, then some spells of sunshine but a scattering of showers. wales and the south west of england, not seeing too many showers. northern scotland likely to stay quite cloudy and breezy throughout the day. and temperatures for lerwick only up to 12 degrees, further south, 24 the high in london. through wednesday night, the showers will tend to fade, we'll see clear skies overhead, one or two mist or fog patches. and with those clear skies, it is going to be actually quite a cool night for the time of year, widely in the towns and cities, 8—12 degrees. but there will be places in the countryside that gets a little chillier than that. so a cool start to thursday morning, but a bright start with spells of sunshine. again, some showers will develop. the odd heavy one is possible. still some quite large areas of cloud across northern parts of scotland and temperatures north to south between 15—23 degrees. that covers it for most of us.

now for friday, a lot of dry weather around to start off, but we will tend to see more clouds spilling in from the west. and some outbreaks of rain are likely to move into parts of northern ireland and northwest scotland, drierfurther south and east, albeit with the chance for the odd shower and temperatures of 14—21 degrees. but as we head into the weekend, we see another frontal system attached to this area of low pressure. that will be working in from the west, bringing outbreaks of rain for many of us. and on the southern flank of that system, some quite strong winds. so, into the weekend some rain at times, albeit with some drier interludes. turning windy down towards the south and remaining fairly cool.

a new artificial intelligence microsoft unveils plans microsoft unveils plans to bring artificial to bring artificial intelligence technology to its popular office software. plus, we take a deep dive into how advertising companies are getting a creative boost from al tools. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm monica miller. we begin with microsoft, because the tech giant's shares closed at an all—time high, surging nearly 4% in the later session. the company has unveiled