presidential election — with president nicolas maduro trailing his rival in opinion polls. the biggest wildfire to hit california this year is continuing to spread rapidly, forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes. hello. we start this hour in the middle east. us secretary of state antony blinken warned against an escalation in the region — after israel says it has struck a series of his brother targets deep inside lebanon. according to the army, terrorist infrastructure was hit, including stockpiles of weapons. it follows a deadly rocket attack

on the israeli occupied golan heights on saturday — in which at least 12 people were killed. most of the casualties were teenagers who were playing football in the town of madge—dal shams. israel has blamed lebanon's hezbollah movement — it has denied responsibility. as we said, israel says it has struck a series of hezbollah targets deep inside lebanon. our correspondent barbara plett usher gave this update on what has been happening. according to the israeli ministry — israeli defence ministry — the air force struck in seven different places in lebanon, in southern lebanon, but also further north in the beqaa, and it doesn't very often strike that far north. so that was almost certainly a message that this was a response —— that they were preparing for a larger operation. and certainly that is what israeli officials are saying, ministers have said they were leisure hezbollah will pay a heavy price for this, —— they will ensure they will pay a heavy price, one minister calling for the leader of hezbollah to pay with his head, so the rhetoric is pretty steep. there is going to be a security

cabinet meeting later today, when the prime minister returns from the us to talk about what the next steps will be but i think everyone is expecting that the strikes we saw of the night could bejust expecting that the strikes we saw of the night could be just the beginning of how the israelis will respond. beginning of how the israelis will resond. ~ ., ., ., , beginning of how the israelis will resond. . ., ., ., , ., respond. what more details do we have about — respond. what more details do we have about the _ respond. what more details do we have about the rocket _ respond. what more details do we have about the rocket attack - respond. what more details do we have about the rocket attack on i respond. what more details do we l have about the rocket attack on the golan heights in which at least 12 people died? golan heights in which at least 12 peeple died?— golan heights in which at least 12 people died? that rocket struck a football pitch. — people died? that rocket struck a football pitch, where _ people died? that rocket struck a football pitch, where children - people died? that rocket struck a j football pitch, where children and teenagers are playing football. frankly it could hardly have been worse. all of the casualties are young people. many of the names have been released as well as the ages. the youngest was ten, the oldest was 16, and one family lost four children, so it's a real tragedy. the funerals have started last night and they will continue later today. an eyewitness said the sirens did go off when the rockets were in the air but there wasn't enough time to get

to the shelter, the children were running towards the shelter but the golan heights is very close to lebanon and so the time before the warning came, and the time that the rocket struck wasn't enough. and it struck between the children and shelter. so it was a very, very tragic strike. and the leadership of the community has responded with great anger and great anguish against those who hezbollah, they didn't name them but they said the terrorists who lodge the strike and those against the authorities, saying they really don't have enough protection here because we are next to the border with lebanon, we need to the border with lebanon, we need to have more protection, we've had strikes before but this is the deadliest one.— strikes before but this is the deadliest one. ,., ., , deadliest one. hezbollah denying it was them but _ deadliest one. hezbollah denying it was them but the _ deadliest one. hezbollah denying it was them but the idea _ deadliest one. hezbollah denying it was them but the idea of _ deadliest one. hezbollah denying it was them but the idea of giving - was them but the idea of giving details about the rockets and the bomb, saying it could only have been them. ., �* , bomb, saying it could only have been them. . �*, ., ., them. that's right. hezbollah had been carrying _ them. that's right. hezbollah had been carrying out _ them. that's right. hezbollah had been carrying out strikes - them. that's right. hezbollah had been carrying out strikes earlier. them. that's right. hezbollah had| been carrying out strikes earlier in the afternoon, on saturday, for

which it claimed responsibility, but it strongly denied it had hit the town here, so when the extent of the damage became known, based on what it had said earlier, it was targeting an israeli military base in the area so it's possible that one of the rockets misfired. in fact it seems probable. it's interesting to see the reaction in lebanon because the conflict has been taking place between hezbollah and the israelis but other constituencies in lebanon have responded, clearly because they are very alarmed that this is going to lead to a bigger conflict if not and the israelis but other constituencies in lebanon have responded, clearly because they are very alarmed that this is going to lead to a bigger conflict if not an all—out war. the head of the druze community in lebanon, and i should say that the community that was hit in israel, the occupied golan heights, was a community of arab druze, there are also many druze in lebanon and leader of that group did come out and condemn the killing of civilians but he also said, look, hezbollah state they were not

responsible, we have to remember the israelis try to divide and incite discord and fragment the region with their efforts, so he was putting the emphasis on israel rather than hezbollah and calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and ceasefire. the lebanese government has also made statements, it usually stays out of this ongoing conflict but again it condemned the killing of civilians but said that there must be a cessation of hostilities. the foreign minister has spoken recently and said, i don't think hezbollah would have targeted this community, it is a community of arab druze, as i mentioned, and we have a large number of them in the country, perhaps it was a mistake by hezbollah or by israel. but he clearly was worried this would lead to a bigger conflict and said, we are talking with hezbollah and asking them not to retaliate at this present time. so i think the expectation is of a strong israeli strike and clearly the lebanese authorities are trying to convince hezbollah not to respond to that.

the reuters news agency are reporting hezbollah are on high alert, pairing for israeli retaliation. in the past few minutes us secretary of state antony blinken says �*every indication�* is that the golan rocket was fired by his brother. was fired by ——hezbollah. the bbc�*s diplomatic correspondent paul adams sent us this report from the golan heights. so this is where the explosion happened at about 6:30 last night here in majdal shams. you can see the crater where the rocket landed. it blew this fence right out. and you can see children's bicycles and scooters, all among the wreckage here. and also, if you look at the fence, you can see shrapnel holes. and over in the corner, there are little pools of blood that they've tried to clear up. and there's blood also spattered on the walls. there is a bomb shelter right here next to the football pitch, and we're told that there was a siren moments before the explosion, but that no one had

enough time to react. we're seeing a steady stream of visitors here in majdal shams today. government ministers, military officials and others coming to offer their condolences and also to talk about what israel does next. this is a part of the world where a conflict with lebanon, with the hezbollah fighters in lebanon has been raging ever since the war in gaza began in october. lebanon isjust over the mountain there. this is mount hermon. lebanon is really close. the israelis say that the rocket that was fired came from a position not very far in that direction. syria is not much further in that direction. it's a very sensitive area. and at various times over the past nine, ten months, people have wondered, feared that this simmering conflict might explode into an all out war. israel has threatened a severe response in the wake of what happened here to the children here. the question is when and what

form will that take? it's day 2 of the olympic games in paris — and australia are currently leading the medals table after the first full day of competition. the hosts, france, won theirfirst gold in the men's rugby sevens, comfortably beating fiji. this is the scene live in the city — the iconic eiffel tower — the good news is the weather forecast says it should be sunny today. another thirteen gold medals are due to be awarded in sports including archery, mountain biking and skateboarding. but the olympics say the swimming leg of the first triathlon training session has been cancelled because of pollution in the river seine. the decision was taken on the basis of water quality tests and officials are blaming rain in recent days. earlier we spoke to morgan ayre, a freelance journalist who is at the games in paris. paris has been really buzzing the last couple of days.

i'm actually at the rowing at the minute. it's a real family atmosphere. the river is just back there, where they're competing. there's also lots of families around. there is even a tent where you can practise your rowing on the machines to see how fast you are, see if you can get up to olympic standards. we've already seen the women's sculls, the men's sculls, and we're waiting a little bit later for the women's four heat, where we'll of course see britain's helen glover. and it'sjust a really great atmosphere. and after two days of absolutely miserable weather, the sun has finally come out in the city and everyone seems to be having a really great time. i've seen a lot of a lot of dutch flags here at the rowing, but i've also seen some team gb supporters as well, along with a few german flags as well. so it's a real mix of people and everyone seems really good. there's some applause behind me. i think there's a race going on at the minute. yeah, there is indeed. all in all, a really good atmosphere, and it feels quite festival—like at the minute, i would say.

and what's the reaction been to the cancelling of the first triathlon training session because the river seine is polluted? because there's been so many questions about the fast flowing water in the seine and pollution and whether or not it would be ok. and it seems, well, you know, day two, it isn't. yes, well, as you probably saw on the opening ceremony day, it absolutely poured with rain, as i experienced firsthand. it was a very soggy affair, and that has obviously affected the water quality in the seine. now, the olympic organisers are very confident that they can have the water cleaned up and the levels returned to the safe levels that they need it to be by the men's competition, which starts on tuesday. so olympic organisers are confident. so we've got men's triathlon on tuesday and the women's on wednesday. if not, i think they do have some plan b's, including maybe making it a duathlon or moving it here to this venue. i know they're talking about marathon swimming, which is later in august, they will move here if needs be. but at the minute organisers seem ok about it and it seems like it... obviously it's disappointing for the athletes,

who will want to familiarise themselves with the course and the seine, but unfortunately today it's just not possible. but hopefully, hopefully by tuesday, they will have it ready. and tell us about simone biles, one of the most famous olympians, one of the most decorated gymnasts in history. what can we expect in terms of action from her today? yes, so this is the first day the olympic team are going to be doing their qualifying. they're also going to be doing the gymnastics individual runs today, and the team as well. so simone biles will be competing. as you may remember, simone biles pulled out in tokyo 2021. she kind of said she had some mental health concerns. she was a bit she had what they call the twisties, you know, a mental blockage where she couldn't quite, she was a bit scared to make her landing. she seems to be performing really well. she did get gold in the trials, in the us women's olympic trials. and she has seemed to be performing well.

she's obviously got a new documentary out which came out quite recently, where she talked about her struggles and her comeback to the sport. so today will be the first time that we will see her in action since tokyo. and i think a lot of people are looking forward to that today as well. here in the uk new footage has emerged of an incident at manchester airport which ended with a police officer kicking a man in the head. the cctv appears to show how three officers were trying to make arrests, when two men punched two of them to the floor. the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, has urged people to allow the authorities to continue their investigation. will vernon reports — and just a warning, you may find some of the scenes distressing. new footage obtained by the manchester evening news appears to show more of what happened. the police are seen trying to detain one man before another starts to punch one of the officers. the man being detained in the light blue top also begins punching the female officers.

he then appears to attack the officer holding the taser. after that, one of the female officers tasers the man. you can then see another officer kick the man in the head when the footage ends. responding to the release of the video, the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, said it was a complicated situation, with two sides, urging people not to rush tojudgement. he said... this is the footage that caused the initial controversy. no, we are normal civilians. apparently showing an officer kicking and stamping on the head of a man lying on the ground. 0h! move up, move up! the constable seen here has been suspended from duty. stop kicking people. the independent office for police conduct says he is subject to a criminal investigation.

the full independent process has to be followed. it's clear that this is a complex, fast—moving incident, but obviously there's no justification whatsoever for what we've seen, and i think the police have made that clear. that's why this officer has been suspended. but we've got to let the independent process follow its due course. as part of their investigation, the police have opened an online portal, where members of the public can submit information or material that could help with their inquiries. shame on you. the events of last week led to protests in rochdale, with some accusing greater manchester police of being institutionally racist. but the family of the men involved have appealed for calm, warning that extremists on all sides were keen to hijack this incident for their own ends. will vernon, bbc news. now it's time for a look at today's sport with chetan.

the latest from the olympics and the rest of the day's sport. hi. hi, thank you, yes. another big day to come at the olympics. simone biles has made herfirst appearance at the games for team usa in the artistic gymnastics qualification in the last hour, she stepped out on the beam, had a huge roar in the french capital, of course a hugely popular competitor. while her compatriots will start their bid for a fifth straight basketball gold medal when they take on serbia, who have nba mvp nikola jokic in theirteam. and later, great britain's adam peaty will aim to emulate michael phelps, by winning a third straight gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke, but he says he also wants to win for his son. even talking about my son just makes me cry! he goes, "daddy, are you the fastest boy?" that's what he says. even if i haven't seen him in two weeks, that's what he cares about, i guess. but, you know, i guess ijust

want to be the fastest boy. what of andy murray? he will start his doubles journey later with fellow briton dan evans. they take onjapanese pair taro daniel and kei nishikori andy murray set to retire after this olympics in paris. rafa nadal won his doubles match with carlos alcaraz on saturday but said he may pull out of the singles. he is due to face marton fucsovics but admitted a thigh injury he picked up in training could mean he drops out to focus on the doubles. he say he'll make the smartest decision he can to give him the best chance of winning a medal. the olympics' triathlon swimming training session scheduled for sunday has been cancelled after recent heavy rain in paris affected pollution levels in the seine. paris mayor anne hidalgo promised a swimmable river for residents will be a key legacy of the games,

and took a dip in the build up. but organisers say the tests carried out in the seine revealed water quality levels that, in the view of the international federation, world triathlon, did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held. they said they are confident that water quality would improve before the event begins on tuesday. day three of the third test is just under way at edgbaston where england are looking for a 3—0 series win over west indies. there is sport away from the olympics as well! the tourists, who started the day on 33 for two, are currently 46 for two in their second innings — trailing by 48 runs. south korea's ryu hae—ran currently leads the canadian women's open after saturday's third round. she birdied the first

four holes on her way to an eight—under 64, which means she has a one—stroke lead — american lauren coughlin, seeking her first lpga title, is currently in second and japan's mao saigo third. aaronjudge hit his 37th home run of the season as the new york yankees beat rivals the boston red sox11—8. judge homered for the second straight night to raise his big league—leading total and tied a career best with his tenth four—hit game. judge joins baseball royalty babe ruth and lou gehrig as the only yankees to reach base at least six times with at least three rbi — runs batted in — against the red sox. and later on, you can follow the belgian grand prix, where charles leclerc is on pole, despite max verstappen going fastest in qualifying. the reigning champion starts 11th, after getting a 10—place grid penalty for exceeding his permitted number of engine components.

follow that on our website, as well as all the latest from the paris olympics. and that's all the sport for now. thanks. let's bring you the latest live from venezuela. the polls have just opened, as the nation heads to the polls in what's being seen as a pivotal presidential election. this is the scene outside a polling station in caracas. we have just seen we havejust seen president we have just seen president nicolas maduro casting his ballot as well. he's been in office since 2013, and is seeking a third consecutive term. he has told voters they have a choice between war and peace, and warned of a bloodbath if he loses. the opposition candidate, edmundo gonzalez, said it's time to re—establish democracy and prosperity in the country after a quarter of a century of socialist rule. iona wells reports from caracas.

venezuelans are going to the polls in the presidential elections. president maduro is seeking real action but the opposition feel they have real, real momentum in this campaign, and forthe have real, real momentum in this campaign, and for the first time in decades, feel that there is chance of change. the opposition leader, though, was banned from running as a candidate, she has been replaced with the candidate edmundo gonzalez. and that's one of a number of ways in which the opposition has been slightly retired in their campaign so far, for example, food stalls that have served the opposition on their campaign rallies, on their journeys around the country, have been closed down in some cases. millions of venezuelans who live abroad have been unable to register to vote. eu election observers were this invited by the government. so there are quite big concerns about whether or not this election will be free and fair. the last election was

widely dismissed as neither free nor fair. the economy has been in freefall for the last decade, causing millions of venezuelans to move abroad. so there is a lot at stake in this election, but the economy here in venezuela, the democratic process as well, whether this will be a free election and whether venezuela and its government will be recognised again by the international community, but also migration, too. as i mentioned, nearly 8 million venezuelans have moved abroad, particularly, for example, to the us. there are questions about whether if president maduro is re—elected that surge of migration could increase. polls are open until 6pm, people will be voting all day, and it may be a while until we have declarations of results, both by the official electoral authorities who are controlled by president maduro and his government and also by the opposition, who are doing their own independent counting process in this election. they argue that they will independently verify results and if

they feel there has been an unfair result they may try to challenge that after the event. a devastating wildfire has ripped through bushland in northern california, forcing around 4,000 residents to flee their homes. it's been described as the biggest blaze to hit the state this year and is thought to have been started deliberately. our correspondent duncan kennedy has more. it's california's biggest wildfire this year, already burning through more than 300,000 acres of land. and it looks like some of it was started deliberately. a lot of our crews are what's doing called prepping, basically getting out ahead of the fire, um, finding those structures, communities, making sure those areas are more survivable should the fire go through. the centre of the fire is in northern california, in places like butte county, leaving homes and cars burning. . .and burned out. the same county was hit by another

fire in 2018 that killed 80 people. agh! your house down there, too? and even when vehicles can move around in this cauldron of flames and smoke, the very sides of the roads are themselves on fire. in chico, brian is now sleeping out in the open, just his dog rescued from the inferno. right about the time i go out the door, i got two city pd officers at the door telling me i needed to get out. and, uh, well, i packed up what i could pack up in the car — me and the dog — and i got out. sherry made sure she got out with all of her 12 dogs, her most precious companions, amid the other physical loss. as long as i have the dogs and they're safe, i don't really care about many material things, you know. a 42—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of starting the butte blaze by rolling a burning car into a gully. it's already too late for many properties —

here, just the brick chimney is left standing. elsewhere, rows of homes are evacuated, their owners in shelters. i want to go home right now, but, uh, those things can be replaced. lives can't, pets can't. you know what i mean? that structure will be replaced eventually. a state of emergency has been declared, as around 2,500 fire crews and emergency workers try to contain what they can, when they can. in some places, that means creating fire breaks and hosing down the ground to try to stop embers building back into fires. but wind and very dry shrub are making this another summer of destruction. duncan kennedy, bbc news. now, one of the things that people like to see at any olympics is the cauldron burning after being lit by the olympic flame during the opening ceremony. and of course paris is no different. hundreds of people have been queuing to the see the seven—metre—wide cauldron, which is attached to a 30—metre—tall

balloon and is flying more than 60 metres in the air in gardens in the city centre. organisers say 10,000 people a day will be able to get a free ticket to see it up close. stay with us here on bbc news. hello, it's a sunny sunday for the vast majority of us, and over the next few days a lot of dry weather to, and for some it will turn increasingly hot as well, particularly to the south and east. this morning, though, the dry weather has been courtesy of an area of high pressure, which will last around today, it means has a fairly clear, a bit of kyle building into the afternoon, although at the northern fringe of the high pressure still a bit of kyle but even here sunny spells possible. temperatures in these areas around 15—17 with a

bit more breeze. light winds, some overhead and temperatures more widely into the 20s, at around 26, 27 at the south—east, around 22 in the north—east of scotland. this evening and overnight, we will see clear skies across scotland and northern ireland but cloud increasing later in the night, maybe some patchy drizzle into the western isles before dawn. clear skies elsewhere. could this condition is probably to the south in rural areas but 13-15 probably to the south in rural areas but 13—15 in the north west of scotland, weather fronts moving but 13—15 in the north west of scotland, weatherfronts moving in for monday morning. it brings a change from monday across scotland and northern ireland. a lot of cloud compared with today. some pics of rain in the western isles and they today in the west of the northern ireland but most places dry, and even though sunny spells wrecking through, a bit more high cloud across england and wales today at a sunny one nonetheless and temperatures climb even further, 2a in the north—east of scotland, 28, may be 29 in the south—east of

england. humidity then builds through monday into tuesday. night becoming warmer. the ones coming up from the new content. tuesday could be the hottest day as far as temperatures are concerned, especially towards the south—east corner, could see 29, even 31. down a bit compared with monday across scotland and northern ireland, still more cloud here and slightly fresher air putting in of the atlantic as we go into tuesday itself. england and wales, plenty of sunshine, a bit hazy in places and we could start to see a few showers and thunderstorms brew in the english channel later in the day. this area of low pressure drift its way up for the middle part of the week. wednesday could be a stormy one. it brings about change, introducing atlantic air for the end of the week. so whilst we start dry, sunny and for some hot, still warm in between dampers.

this is bbc news. the headlines... funerals are taking place for a dozen young people killed by a rocket attack in the israeli—occupied golan heights. israel has blamed the lebanese militant group hezbollah, which denies involvement. it's day two of the paris olympics, and one of the most decorated gymnasts in history, simone biles, has returned to competition to try to add to herfour gold medals. new video has emerged of the events leading up to a police officer kicking a man in the head as he lay on the floor at manchester airport last week. venezuelans are voting in what's being seen as a pivotal presidential election,

with president nicolas maduro trailing his rival in opinion polls. and the biggest wildfire to hit california this year is continuing to spread rapidly, forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes. now on bbc news... like, follow, trafficked: insta's fake guru, episode 1. she looked beautiful. she looked like a barbie doll. she looked fun and sweet.

i remember she has, like, 1 million followers