the air is unbreathable, the heat is unbearable and the level of fossil fuel profits and climate inaction is unacceptable. we'll hear from our correspondents across the globe about the effects of climate change, and what action countries are taking. and the other main stories on tonight's programme: another resignation over the closure of nigel farage�*s bank account — the chief executive of coutts steps down. prince harry can take the sun's publisher to court — over claims it used illegal methods to gather information about him, a judge has ruled. and portraits of british veterans of the korean war — as soliders remember 70 years since the armistice. on newsnight at 10:30pm, global warming is giving way to global boiling, according to the head of the un. is there yet a political

will or a technological way to save the planet from climate disater? good evening. we are now in an era not of global warming but of �*global boiling' — so says the head of the un, as figures suggest thatjuly is set to be the hottest month ever recorded in the world. president biden has said heat is the number one weather—related killer in the us, and that no—one can continue to deny the impact of climate change. in a moment, we'll be speaking to our correspondents on three continents across the globe, looking at the impact of rising temperatures and action that is being taken — but first here's our climate editor, justin rowlatt. there has been no let—up in the searing weather or the wildfires in parts of southern europe and north africa, with firefighters battling blazes

in as many as nine countries. july isn't over yet, but it is already virtually certain to be the hottest month ever recorded on earth, say climate scientists around the world. we have entered the era of global boiling, according to the un chief, but do not despair, he says. the evidence is everywhere. humanity has unleashed destruction. this must not inspire despair, but action. we can still stop the worst. but to do so, we must turn a year of burning heat into a year of burning ambition and accelerate climate action now. here in the uk the met office has said last year's record—breaking temperatures were a taste of things to come. if carbon emissions continue as expected, by 2060 an averagejuly in the uk will be as hot as 2022. month after month, these records are being broken. we're seeing extreme weather

events around the world, whether they're heat events, wildfires, droughts, even flooding events linked with climate change as well. and we're going to see more of those much more frequently, more intense, more prolonged as our climate continues to change. let's take a look atjust how exceptional temperatures have been. the grey lines here show average day—to—day temperatures since 1940 and let's now add in this year. and look how it peaks onjuly 6th, that was the hottest day ever recorded with an average global temperature of 17.18 degrees celsius. and if you're thinking that sounds a little bit low, it's because it is global. it includes everywhere from the arctic to the antarctic and day and night. and now look howjuly continues to be exceptionally hot. this graph gives us all thejulys since 1880, when the industrial revolution and carbon emissions really started to take off. and look

how the temperature has steadily risen to where we are now. this, of course, is how the weather looked for most of us here in the uk thisjuly. even if there was record heat elsewhere. it was a very different story last year, though, with that record—breaking heatwave. 57 weather stations across the country recorded all—time high temperatures. look how widespread they are. there were records broken in all the nations of the uk. so what can be done? well, we can plant more trees. they soak up carbon from the atmosphere, but it takes time for them to grow and the c02 can be released back when they die. a british start—up company has developed small—scale units that can strip carbon dioxide from the air. it can then be permanently stored underground. we can produce units anywhere because we have off—the—shelf units that we're using and we can deploy them anywhere.

and so from our perspective, that means you have the highest opportunity to actually remove the most amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. other companies like this one in iceland have alternative technologies that do the same. but by far the most important thing we need to do is reduce our use of fossil fuels, and quickly. the carbon dioxide they create is the main driver of climate change. justin rowlatt, bbc news. well, the effect of global warming is being seen in extreme weather across the world, and it's caused two world leaders this week to declare that climate change is real and upon us. in a moment we'll hear from our correspondents in the us and pakistan on the impact there, but first here's jenny hill in rhodes, which has seen scorching temperatures and raging wildfires. it's the height of the summer season here on rhodes, and ordinarily holiday—makers would be enjoying its beaches, its natural scenery. instead, heatwaves and wildfires have brought destruction

to this island. 20,000 people were forced to flee their hotels and their homes this week, and much of southern europe and north africa were also badly affected. the greek prime minister has warned that the climate crisis is already here and will trigger greater disasters in the mediterranean region. now, other extreme events have of course hit europe in recent times. just a couple of years ago i was reporting in germany on floods there, which claimed the lives of nearly 200 people. what's the eu doing about it? well, it's asked member states to more than halve their greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and the bloc aims to become climate neutral by 2050. it's monsoon season in pakistan and already rural areas and cities are experiencing flooding. but nothing on the scale of what was seen last year

when an intense heat wave followed by heavy rains led to devastating floods. 33 million people were affected, crops destroyed, homes, bridges, roads, and more than 1,700 people lost their lives. there are still people displaced today because of the damage that was done then. the un secretary—general referred to it as climate carnage. now pakistan has seen intense flooding during the course of its history and it's considered to be particularly vulnerable to climate change. in the north of the country is an area referred to as the third pole because it has more glacial ice than anywhere else on earth apart from the polar regions. and some of those are melting at a rapid pace according to the un development programme. pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of global greenhouse emissions and its politicians have been at the forefront of arguing that wealthier countries need to pay their dues because of their heavier carbon footprint. here in the us capital today

it's been around about 36, 37 degrees c, but that is positively mild compared to other parts of the united states. in phoenix, arizona, they've been enduring their 28th consecutive day with the mercury up above 43 degrees c. and it's a similar picture across much of the country. some 150 million americans this week are living under an official heat alert. now, president biden has introduced a number of measures at the white house this afternoon. they include better protection for workers, farm workers, those working in construction so they don't have to go out and work in the heat. also, more money for weather forecasting. but the truth is, these are measures that deal with the symptoms of climate change, not the causes. and, of course, america historically has been the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. it now comes just behind china. and president biden�*s critics will say that faced with a congress that has sometimes dragged its feet

on introducing tougher measures, that basically he has not acted quickly or effectively enough in reducing america's greenhouse gases. jon donnison finishing those reports from around the world. the controversy over the closure of nigel farage�*s bank account at coutts has led to a second resignation — this time of the bank's chief executive peter flavel. it comes after mr farage obtained a report suggesting that coutts, which is owned by natwest, closed his account because of his political views. peter flavel�*s departure comes a day after dame alison rose stood down as natwest�*s chief executive. 0ur chief economics correspondent, dharshini david, is here. is this the end of it? well, natwest certainly hopes so. peter flavel, hardly a household name, but for seven years he was the head of coutts, that bank for the wealthy which prides itself on discretion, offering a premium service, instead it is at the centre

of a row about indiscretion and lapsed standards. dame alison rose, as you say, not quite 48 hours ago, made the dramatic overnight exit after admitting to being the source of a story which the bbc carried in which it was claimed that the reason nigel farage�*s accounts were closed were purely down to the fact he didn't meet the financial criteria. we now know that was incomplete and inaccurate information. she says that at the time she was not aware of documents that coutts had in which they expressed concerns about his views. there was a political angle to this. and as a result we can now see peter flavel accepting responsibility for coutts�* failures and stepping down. set your alarm because at 7am tomorrow we have financial results coming out from natwest, perhaps why we are seeing this information rushed out. they want to draw a line because while this is a crisis it is a reputational one and not a financial one. the finances of this bank are reassuringly dull, according to analysts, that's how they put it, because this is a bank making more

money as interest rates go up, but the row is anything but dull because so many questions remain. can the chairman remain? does the board retained the faith of investors? and crucially for customers, where do banks draw the line between minimising financial risk and allowing freedom of expression? dharshini david, many thanks. a man who served 17 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit has said he will have to pay the prison service for board and lodging while injail, if he gets compensation. andrew malkinson had his conviction overturned yesterday — he told the today programme of the impact of his ordeal. it has taken an extremely heavy toll on my person, on my psyche, my psychology, my being, my soul, if you want to put it like that. it's been a heck of a devastating experience, and i don't even know

now, i can't even articulate how i even managed to get through it. the ministry ofjustice said that deductions from compensation were sometimes made when there had been "substantial savings" made on living costs while a person was in custody. ajudge has ruled that prince harry can take the publisher of the sun newspaper to court over claims that it used illegal methods to gather information on him. but the high court ruled out including claims of phone hacking. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds is here to explain more. prince harry is on a mission after a life of being in tabloid headlines. he's suing three newspaper publishers. today's judgement was about his accusation against news group, now news uk. he's accusing them of hacking into his mobile—phone voicemails. the allegations go back to 1996. usually, there's a six—year limit for legal action in privacy cases.

prince harry left it until 2019, so he needed the court to give him a bit of leeway. he said he didn't sue because buckingham palace had reached a secret deal with news uk. the palace would hold off from taking legal action in return for cases being settled by the newspaper in the future with an apology. but thejudge, mrjustice fancourt, said there was only "vague and limited evidence" of the secret deal. and he said prince harry could have got his lawyers onto the case?in 2012, when journalists working for rupert murdoch's news uk were investigated by the police for phone hacking and the scandal broke wide open, demonstrating that there was plenty of evidence. so he rejected the duke's request to overturn the time limit, basically he threw out that part of the case. in a statement, news uk claimed a significant victory

which it said had "substantially reduces the scope of his legal claim". but prince harry is also taking legal action for something called unlawful information gathering. that's newspapers paying private investigators to blag his personal information, potentially phone records, flight details, financial information. the judge said that claim can go ahead, and there could be a trial next year. news uk denies the allegations. so this legal battle is far from over, and more than 100 other people are also looking to sue the publisher of the sun. tom, thank you. now a look at some other stories making the news today. the metropolitan police say they are not treating the death of the singer sinead o'connor as suspicious. the 56—year—old irish musician and activist, best known for the song nothing compares 2 u, was found at her home in herne hill in south london yesterday morning. the case will now be referred to the coroner. a man who shot dead 54—year—old sergeant matt ratana while handcuffed in custody has been told he'll spend the rest

of his life in prison. louis de zoysa had smuggled an antique gun into the building in croydon following his arrest in september 2020. british gas has reported its highest ever half—year profits of almost £970 million, after price cap rises allowed it to make more money from household bills. scottishpower and edf have also announced large increases in profits for the first half of this year. minefields laid by russian troops in southern ukraine are damaging tanks provided by the west and are also hampering the advance of ukrainian troops, the general in charge of ukraine's counteroffensive in the south has told the bbc. but he defended ukraine's use of controversial cluster bombs, which are banned by over 100 countries. 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale has the latest. hidden in a forest — evidence of ukraine's stuttering

offensive in the south. a makeshift repair yard trying to salvage not old soviet equipment, but recently donated western armour. these us—made bradleys may have saved lives, but they've also been damaged by what's slowing them down — russian minefields. sirhiy says some can't be repaired so they'll scavenge the parts. this was the same brigade in the first days of the offensive, especially trained and equipped by the west to break through defences. instead, they became an easy target and fodder for russian propaganda. it's ukraine's infantry who are having to make the hard yards on foot. all the more difficult to hold ground without armour. it's been painful to watch for this drone pilot.

he's seen brutal new tactics. this is what he recently filmed when ukrainian troops, advancing from the bottom right, tried to capture a russian trench. it was empty but rigged with explosives. 0n the russian trenches, they leave remote—controlled mines, and when the soldiers get to the trenches, the mines explode and kill ourfriends. it's a new weapon. ukraine's now using a new weapon too, one that's banned by more than 100 countries. this us—supplied howitzer is firing on russian infantry positions, and for the first time we're seeing them using cluster munitions. the ukrainian general overseeing the southern offensive defended their use. he says he's facing a more difficult enemy. translation: i don't underestimate the enemy. they have created all the conditions

that prevent us from moving forward quickly, but their weakness is they don't care about their people. how can i decide if your offensive is a success or a failure? i wouldn't be talking to you now if the counteroffensive wasn't successful. he said he'd still to commit his main strike force. there are reports that may now be happening. the bodies of dead russian soldiers and destroyed tanks show ukraine is advancing. but on this battlefield there's also wrecked western armour, including these british—supplied vehicles. ukraine says it needs patience and time. jonathan beale, bbc news, southern ukraine. a home office decision to routinely place unaccompanied child asylum seekers in hotels is unlawful, the high court has ruled.

the judge said that the power to place children in hotels should only be used in an emergency and for very short periods of time. our political correspondent damian grammaticas is in westminster. how significant is this, damian? well, this is being hailed as a landmarkjudgment for children's landmark judgment for children's rights, because it landmarkjudgment for children's rights, because it makes clear that it is a fundamental duty of the state to protect children, no matter how they arrive in this country. the high courtjudge said these children need a particular protection because they travel huge distances, they had suffered trauma and loss, they didn't speak english. two years ago, the number of people arriving, particularly on the south coast, and among them unaccompanied children, led kent county council, which had a duty to care for them, to say it couldn't cope, and the government told the court it started putting children in hotels because it felt it had no other option. around 5000

in that period have been in hotels at some point, but the judge said that was a failure of the duty of care on the point of kent county council and unlawful on the part of the home secretary when it became a routine way of dealing with children. the court was told that 154 of those children remain unaccounted for, nobody knows where they are, and children's charities are tonight saying that as a child protection scandal, that those children were never put in the care system, they are now at risk of serious harm, and they need to be found. ., ., ~ serious harm, and they need to be found. . ., ~ _, ., found. damian, thank you, damian grammaticas— found. damian, thank you, damian grammaticas there. _ there are calls for batteries for e—bikes to be more tightly regulated because of the fire risk they pose. in the uk, eight people have been killed by e—bike and e—scooter fires since 2020, when batteries have overheated and exploded. manufacturers are allowed to self—declare that the batteries meet safety standards, but campaigners want third—party approval before sale. tim muffett reports.

that's my 11—year—old's football boots. as you can see here... ..this here, that's that window. gone. in seconds. it was a christmas present for andrew's 11—year—old son. this is what it's like, everyone. and it caused the fire that devastated theirfamily home in lancaster. we'd gone to bed, say 11 o'clock. i've got a 21—year—old son coming down for a drink of water, goes in the kitchen. the next thing he hears is porn porn p°p - the bike had exploded, the batteries on a little electric bike. i heard my son shouting, "dad, dad, dad, the bike's on fire!" two, three minutes, the house had gone. everything's in there. i come out with nowt, i come out with a pair of underpants, that were it. e—scooters and e—bikes can be an environmentally friendly,

safe way of getting about. they're powered by lithium—ion batteries, which contain a large amount of energy in a small space. but this is thermal runaway demonstrated in a lab. if a cell in a faulty battery heats up uncontrollably, a devastating chain reaction can follow. the owner of this electric bike was lucky to escape unharmed. when it comes to the sale of batteries that power e—scooters and e—bikes, there are now calls for change. as things stand, uk manufacturers can self—certify that their batteries are safe, but a report out today is calling for legally enforced independent third party regulation of safety standards, which is what happens for other high—risk products, such as heavy machinery, medical devices and fireworks. in new york city, where they have had a similar spate of these type of problems, they have introduced legislation

to make sure that these products have to be certified by a third party, rather than being self—certified by the manufacturers. and we feel that would really help if that was done in this country as well. andrew and his family have lost everything. shoes... but still count themselves lucky. tim muffett, bbc news. north and south korea are marking 70 years since the signing of the armistice which ended fighting in the korean war in 1953. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, welcomed russia's defence minister to pyongyang and showed off north korea's latest weapons. meanwhile, in south korea, a ceremony paid tribute to un soldiers who played a crucial role in the fighting. this included over 80,000 troops from britain. to mark their contribution, one former england cricketer has been painting portraits and hearing the stories of veterans. dan johnson reports.

archive: for four days, the gloucesters withstood a chinese army. _ the faces of those who survived are now revealing to us the marks the korean war made on the men who fought it. joe collett, who's troubled a little bit, and he got wounded early on. roy mills, i wanted to show his hands, because every other sentence was about fighting. there's harry hawksworth, just i thought, he's just so proud to put the beret on and show the medals off. he was like some of the things i've heard painting these portraits, i'm just shaking my head going, "i don't know how you did that." private bryan hamlet was on national service with the gloucestershire regiment. i never knew where korea was, i never heard of korea, like you know. the furthest i had been before was weston—super—mare! you were a young man? yeah, i had me 19th birthday on the boat going over. and it was cold, right? bloody cold! the firstjob we done was minus 40. that cold it hurt!

archive: so centurion tanks move forward to clear the way. _ more british soldiers died than in the falklands, the gulf war, afghanistan and iraq combined. lieutenant colonel banburyl watches his men move up... but a nation still weary from world war underrated their faraway sacrifice. seeing the results of napalm, that was horrendous. i mean, it wasjust bloody horrible, suffocating, weren't they, really? you know, just charred bodies like, you know. it's not a game show. it's. . . real. when you when you shoot somebody, they're dead. when you see your first person shot, you sort of grew up overnight, like. can you just pull your jacket around a bit? some of the families have been sat around watching me paint. they go, "oh, wow, i never, we don't even know he did that", you know? so it's been a real amazing experience.

archive: the enemy surrender and... a multinational force stopped north korea imposing communism on the south, but at huge cost. you look back at it and you think, "what the hell was it all about?" look at all those lives lost. what they say is that you gave us our democracy. battle took lives, and captivity crushed youthful innocence. brian and many comrades spent two years in prison camps. we know we want their legacy to live on, but it seems to have helped these guys get rid of the badness. yeah, but what a privilege for me. so much was lost, and korea is still divided. we call that quits for today. brilliant. yeah, that's good. oh, great sitter. you see, what a sitter! but its sacrifices are not forgotten. i still question why i survived. why me? you learn to live with it, don't you? you can shut it out. you know, you can remember the good times, the comradeship. that's the main thing.

danjohnson, bbc news, gloucester. the ashes resumed at the oval today, with both sides insisting they have everything to play for. australia will retain the ashes, whatever happens in the fifth test, because they're 2—1 up. but they want a series victory. and england's attempt to deny them began with 283 in theirfirst innings. joe wilson reports. of course this match matters. look into the eyes of these players, or these. there are lots of motivations, like limiting the australian celebrations. now, their players should have been elated here. commentator: carey puts it down! alex carey has been fully involved in the ashes. very effective. he sensed this drop could have been costly. don't look now. harry brook, reprieved, now expanded. some shots were risky, others controlled. but it was the kind of fortune—favours—the—brave batting which typifies england's philosophy. for a while, it worked nicely.

moeen ali was hampered by injury. found ways of getting the ball to the boundary. until on 34 he missed. commentator: right through him. that young man is todd murphy. ben stokes made three. mitchell starc, excellent. oh, dear, that'sjonny bairstow gone too. harry brook dropped on five, was now held on 85. stand up if you're supporting australia. if england win here, the series is levelled 2—2. chris woakes and mark wood batted as if in pursuit of a moral victory, an english invention, perhaps? well, it was 283 all out. so next stage, australia's first innings, 49 on the board and david warner out. where others dropped, here zak crawley flew. 61—1 at the close. so here we are on the edge of the boundary in another match which has us close to the edge of our seats. at this stage of the series, it's about conserving energy.

tomorrow steve smith has runs to make, so he's been preparing. joe wilson, bbc news, at the oval. time for a look at the weather, here's louise lear. louise, warnings of extreme temperatures all over the place, but some _ temperatures all over the place, but some are _ temperatures all over the place, but some are here has been disappointing.— some are here has been disa ”ointin. . , , disappointing. really disappointing, reeta, some _ disappointing. really disappointing, reeta, some of _ disappointing. really disappointing, reeta, some of us _ disappointing. really disappointing, reeta, some of us have _ disappointing. really disappointing, reeta, some of us have seen - reeta, some of us have seen double the monthly rainfall, it has been a very wetjuly, but today we had a little bit of a surprise, because we had some sunshine and some warmth. it isjuly, and so once the sunshine comes out, the temperatures climb up, 26 degrees in warwickshire, 79 fahrenheit. it was not the story for all, there were some showers around, and some a real nuisance. assist in showers across scotland, but look at this area across north yorkshire. persistent rain across scarborough, over 40 millimetres of rain fell

this afternoon. it was certainly not a day to be spent building sand castles on the beach. what is in store for tomorrow? well, a little bit quieter, may be some more sunshine for tomorrow as well. we start off cloudy and grey, isolated showers, but out to the west the sunshine will build, pushing steadily eastwards, and into the afternoon, a quite quiet and calm afternoon, a quite quiet and calm afternoon with light winds, pleasant temperatures, 20—24. make the most of it, the story will change, that bodes well for the cricket at the oval, once again it looks like we could see a day of an interrupted play before showers are set to arrive into the weekend. yes, we tend to part three, another low pressure moving on, the third weekend in a row we have seen a low setting out to the north—west, that will bring a rash of showers, some heavy and persistent in the south east to begin with, but then

circulating around that low,