Climate talks open and vigil for London Bridge attack victims

The UN’s secretary general has a chilling message on global warming for the political leaders and diplomats gathering in Madrid for two weeks of talks on climate change. “The point of no return is no longer over the horizon,” warns António Guterres, adding: “It is essential that we secure more ambitious national commitments – particularly from the main emitters – to immediately start reducing greenhouse gas emissions at a pace consistent to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.”

Fifty world leaders are expected to be among 29,000 attendees at this year’s Conference of the Parties (or COP25), which signals the start of a frantic 12 months of negotiations ahead of next year’s event in Glasgow, at which new emissions reductions targets are expected to be set in stone. US President Donald Trump will not be among them, although Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi will attend the conference with a congressional delegation. Meanwhile, Save the Children says climate shocks – in the form of flood, landslides, cyclones and droughts – have left 33 million people at emergency levels of food insecurity. “The climate crisis is happening here, and it’s killing people, forcing them from their homes and ruining children’s chance of a future,” says the charity’s Ian Vale.

The election campaign rumbles on, with Brexit, the NHS and anti-terror legislation the main points of contention during an ITV election debate. Labour’s shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon declined to say which way he would vote in the EU referendum his party is promising, if it wins power. Meanwhile, Conservative chief secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak would not give a direct answer when pushed by SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon to rule out a no-deal Brexit.

By Jonathan Marcus, defence and diplomatic correspondent, BBC News

Seventy years of existence is clearly worth celebrating, but Nato is strangely low-key about this week’s brief gathering of alliance heads of state and government outside London. Nato spokesmen reject the label of “summit”, insisting that this is really a lesser affair; that there was a full-scale summit only last year; and that this gathering will not release the traditional lengthy communiqué of conclusions and future plans.

Why so reticent? This is after all what many Nato advocates call, with some justification, the most successful military alliance in history.

Most papers lead on some aspect of the London Bridge terror attack. Some focus on the victims, with the Sun paying tribute to “angels stolen by pure evil” and the Daily Mirror saying victims Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, were “failed by a cash-strapped, broken justice system”. Others report the arrest of a man on suspicion of preparation of apparently unrelated terrorist acts, which the Daily Mail says is the first in a “new blitz on freed jihadis”. Intelligence officials are “on alert” for copycat attacks, says the Times.

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Today Members of the RMT union begin strike action taking place on 27 days between now and 1 January over guards on trains on South Western Railways, which operates trains between London Waterloo and both southwestern England and south coast stations.

19:00 The Fashion Awards, celebrating the best of British and international talent from the global fashion community, takes place at the Royal Albert Hall in London.