this is bbc news, i'm ben brown. the headlines at 10 o'clock. 100 firefighters tackle a huge moorland blaze near bolton. a major incident is declared after two fires merge into one. it is a dangerous area at the moment. in terms of public safety, the advice would be to simply stay off anywhere around the moorland of winter hill. 30 conservative mps write a letter demanding theresa may gets tough with the eu over the brexit negotiations. the communities secretary, says he is "confident" that the cabinet will come to an agreement over the issues later this week. people who rent their homes could get more security under new government plans for a minimum three year tenancy new government plans for a minimum three year tenancy. coming up — new protection for people buying trips from holiday booking websites come into force today. a new eu wide directive means websites such as expedia, ebookers and on the beach can be held financially responsible

for any problems. it's thought ten million holiday—makers will benefit. seven in ten council leaders in england believe income tax should be raised to fund the crisis in funding in adult social care. we'll have the latest on the world cup games today after messi — along with ronaldo — two of the greatest players of their general bow out of the tournament. a major incident has been declared after two moorland fires, described as ‘rapidly developing and aggressive‘ merged. authorities say fires on winter hill and scout road near bolton have

combined as a result of increasing wind speed. 150 firefighters are at the scene of the blaze that's covering five square miles. james waterhouse reports. when a tinder dry landscape combines with strong winds. pockets of north—west england continued to be blanketed in smoke and ash. they are fires that just refuse to be beaten. the blaze at winter hill started on thursday near a major tv transmitter. three days on, more than 100 firefighters are still tackling it. it continues to remain a major incident and we are still actively firefighting across a number of areas. wind conditions have changed throughout, this is the third day now where we have been firefighting on winter hill amid these extremely testing conditions for firefighters. crews try to stop the burning embers by hand, and by helicopter.

trenches have been built to protect some local buildings. people are being told to stay away and keep doors and windows closed. a 22—year—old man from bolton has been arrested on suspicion of arson, at the same time 100 soldiers are helping crews fight a separate fire on saddleworth moor 30 miles away, they will be there until at least tomorrow. experts say that rain is what is really needed. none is forecast for days. james waterhouse, bbc news. our news correspondent dave guest has been at the scene of one of the most affected areas, winter hill... fire crews from across the country have now joined the fire crews from across the country have nowjoined the battle to bring this blaze under control. lancashire teams have been here since thursday, when the fire first broke out. yesterday, two separate fires merged into one and it was declared a major incident. there are now something

like 150 firefighters up on the more trying to put out the flames. the terrain is difficult, the ground is tinder dry and they are being hampered by strong winds, which continually whip up the flames. the problem with peat fires, as we discovered on saddleworth moor last week, is that they continue to burn underground for some time and pop—up in different areas. firefighters say there have been a number of sightseers coming up here, ignoring road closures, to get a closer look. they say not to do that, it is very dangerous. there is a lot of smoke in the air, flames can pop up unpredictably and, as you can see, there are a lot of fire and emergency vehicles on these narrow country roads who need to access the moors. the latest estimate by the fire service as to when it may be brought under control, well, how long is a piece of string? they are fighting in dry and windy conditions, and there is no prospect

of rain inside. we are hearing 30 per brexit mps have sent a letter to prime minister theresa may demanding that she stands firm on brexit. the communities secretary james brokenshire has been talking about theissue brokenshire has been talking about the issue today, and says that there are strong views in the cabinet on how to proceed on brexit but is confident that they can come to an agreement when they meet at chequers on friday. that is to thrash out britain's final position on brexit. let's get more with our political correspondent tom barton. tom, a time when time is running out and the temperature seems to be rising. more pressure on theresa may from per brexit mps? yes, this letter was sent to the prime minister —— pro brexit. saying that time has come to get tough with negotiations with the eu, and

calling on her to demonstrate courage and leadership, it demonstrates a sense that theresa may has not necessarily, is not necessarily, someone with enormous authority within the party at the moment. someone shown by cabinet ministers like michael gove, letting it be known that he physically ripped upa it be known that he physically ripped up a report from his subcommittee in the cabinet, looking at theresa may's preferred option for the customs union. he did not agree with the report, physically ripped it up and was happy for the public to know about that. all over the last couple of weeks, we have had significant moments with various ministers making their own views known on what they think should be the right direction for brexit. 0f course, that is a breach of what we

call collective ministerial responsibility. 0ne minister who has been staying, very much on message today, is the communities secretary james brokenshire who appeared on the andrew marr show a little while ago. if you talk about the single market, you talk about those other issues too. we are talking about an ambitious free trade agreement with european partners, with a lack of flexibility to ensure that we do not see a hard border in northern ireland and we ensure that we are able to trade internationally and, indeed, that we have the frictionless trade the prime minister has spoken about. james brokenshire on the andrew marr programme, suggestions in the sunday times newspaper among other places that theresa may may be prepared to countenance a leadership contest on this. and almost put her authority to the test, and see that people who wa nt to to the test, and see that people who want to challenge her, come and challenge me if you dare? if

anything it shows the fact that sources at number ten have felt the need to tell the sunday times that thatis need to tell the sunday times that that is her position. it illustrates the level of pressure that the prime minister is currently under, both as we discussed from the front and back benches, on both sides of the brexit argument. there are a lot of people undermining at the moment and a lot of talk, as discussed in the papers this morning, a possible leadership challenges. the context for this is that we are building up to a key moment this friday when theresa may will take a whole cabinet to the english countryside, to chequers. they will have an away day, essentially they will all be locked ina room essentially they will all be locked in a room and told they cannot leave until they agree one single policy on the future, the government's desired future relationship with the eu when it comes to customs agreements. i think that will be locked in a room and they might

never leave! tom barton, thank you. people who rent their homes could be given more security under government proposals to introduce a minimum tenancy term of three years. figures show that eight out of ten tenants currently have contracts of six or 12 months and ministers say longer agreements would allow them to put down more roots in their communities. the rail operator, govia thameslink, could lose its franchises unless it rapidly improves services in the south east of england. hundreds of thousands of passengers have faced weeks of cancellations and delays following the introduction of new timetables in may. a government source said the process of removing franchises could start within weeks. thameslink has refused to comment but apologised for the disruption. millions of people who book their holidays online will be protected under new eu rules which come into force today. until now, trips booked via websites like expedia and on the beach did not have the same protection as traditional package holidays from travel agents.

our business correspondent joe lynam has more. expedia, lastminute.com, ebookers and on the beach are popular websites for booking holidays, but they are intermediaries. it means if things go wrong, they are not directly responsible. that ends today. more and more people are buying their holidays online but they don't get the same protection as they would have got from a traditional travel agent, so thanks to these changes today, anybody who buys a holiday and, for instance, there's an ash cloud or a hotel isn't up to standard or the airline goes bust, they will be protected, thanks to these new directives. 83% booked a holiday online last year. most of that was through booking sites. but only half of those holidays were financially protected if the hotel, airline or car rental company failed. that will change. but if you book each component part

of your holiday separately, you won't get the new protections, as that's not considered a package holiday. when we book our holidays, we usually go online and just look for certain companies, making sure it's, like, atol protected. there's a lot of websites where you get really good deals for holidays, i know we've been looking into, but ijust feel a bit cautious going forward with that because the deals are so good that we do not know if we're gonna get, like, say, protection. when i'm sort of looking at protection for a holiday, i don't — i don't really think that much about it. ijust usually, you know, find a kind of cheap insurance deal. the new protections, which are eu—wide, only apply to holidays bought from today. so if you've purchased already online and haven't travelled yet, you won't be covered. in that respect, travel insurance is always recommended. joe lynam, bbc news. i'm nowjoined by simon calder, travel editor of the independent, wo has been studying the new rules — and their likely effect. simon, some people say that these

changes are long overdue? certainly they are. the rule comes into effect today, as joe they are. the rule comes into effect today, asjoe lynam was pointing out, effectively if it looks like a package holiday, booking flights and accommodation plus a rental car in the same transaction, it could get this —— the same transaction, it could get this -- it the same transaction, it could get this —— it gets this protection. if your flight is cancelled due to a strike, or you get to the hotel and it was supposed to be a four star hotel but it turns out to be two star, that trip needs to be sorted out by those who sold it to you. they need to arrange something suitable or give you a refund, or possibly cancellations. we are moving into the 21st century when so many of us book online through companies, online travel agents, that present themselves as selling you a holiday but up until today, when you look closely they say, no, we haven't sold you a holiday, we have just acted as your agent. you need to deal with that agent, that hotel. any problem, go to them. are

there loopholes or small print that people need to be aware of? generally, as long as you pay for everything in one go that is fine. there is a new category called linked travel arrangements, which is basically what we have had until now. it involves you going onto a website and book your flights, paying for those and then they say, right, come here and book your hotel and pay as in a separate transaction. if you do that you have limited financial protections and you certainly will not be able to call on someone if things go wrong. and what do companies say about this, what is their reaction? they are quite cross, they say they have offered brilliant deals for the last ten yea rs offered brilliant deals for the last ten years and this will increase our cost. if you make us act like a real tour operator, it will cost us a lot of money and we will have two pass it on in the form of higher prices. and more widely there are concerns about a condition that says if there is an extraordinary unforeseeable

event that happened near your destination, you have the right to cancel and nobody is yet sure what that might mean. typically, heaven forbid, there could be a terror attack at a resort and you are going toa attack at a resort and you are going to a nearby one, could you then cancel? that will need to be tested through the courts. and this applies from today, and not retrospectively? asjoe from today, and not retrospectively? as joe lynam said, from today, and not retrospectively? asjoe lynam said, if you have booked your holiday online already and you haven't yet taken the trip, old rules apply. from today, everything changes but only for new bookings. simon calder, it's great to talk to you, as ever. thank you. the headlines on bbc news... a hundred firefighters tackle a huge moorland blaze near bolton. a major incident is declared after two fires merge into one. 30 conservative mps write a letter demanding theresa may gets tough with the eu over the brexit negotiations. the communities secretary, says he is "confident" that the cabinet will come to an agreement over the issues later this week. people who rent their homes could get more security under new government plans

for a minimum three—year tenancy. sport now, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here's richard ascam. we've only just we've onlyjust drawn breath after those games yesterday, and more today? yes, more on that in a moment. to the world cup first of all, and the two best players of their generation are on their way home. cristiano ronaldo's portugal were beaten by uruguay. lionel messi's argentina by france, who reached the quarterfinals with a thrilling 11—3 win. france went ahead before an absolute stunnerfrom angel di maria made it 1—1, and argentina then took the lead, but france levelled through benjamin pavard. kylian mbappe then showed the world what he's capable of — he scored two goals, becoming the only teenager to do so in a world cup knock—out game since pele in 1958. portugal were beaten 2—1 by uruguay.

edinson cavani scoring both goals for the south americans, who'll face france in the last eight on friday. as for england, it's all about the build—up to their last 16 match against colombia on tuesday. let's check in with our correspondent at the england camp, david 0rnstein — harry kane is on many of the back pages today, appearing very confident — is there a real sense of optimism in the england squad? i think there is, richard. if you think back to the start of the tournament, england were unfancied. expectations were low but they managed to beat tunisia with a last—minute goal from harry kane which set him on his way. he scored two goals in that game and is now on five for the tournament, the leading

scorer, giving england momentum which they carried into the panama match which they won 6—1, a record—breaking score. you could say the belgian defeat in their final group game knocked some out of their sails and dented confidence but they did makea sails and dented confidence but they did make a changes to the starting line—up. we were expecting england to revert to their first choice team with harry kane coming in to lead the line and dele alli recovering from an thigh injury. it's a true test for gareth southgate's young squad, they have done a lot of work to prepare for this moment on and off the pitch. if they beat colombia on tuesday evening it will be their first knockout victory of the major tournament since 2006, only their second since 1990. their sixth since 1966. they have been working on psychology, the technical and tactical aspects, and of course the possibility now of penalty kicks. so, tuesday night in moscow will be the true test for this team. we

don't want penalties, david! but it is all building up to that match against colombia on tuesday evening. what is the schedule for england now between now and then? england are training as we speak behind closed doors at their base not far from here. that will allow them to work on their tactics and their formation, and the set pieces that have proved a feature of their play so far. of course, those penalties will be something they are working on. their training tomorrow morning before flying to moscow in the afternoon, a relatively short journey. gareth southgate will address the media with a press conference and then for focus on the match. colombia are tough opponents, reaching the quarterfinals four yea rs reaching the quarterfinals four years ago. they are tough in attack and defence, but they are concerned about their top player rodriguez, he did not train with the rest of the tea m did not train with the rest of the team yesterday which could be a boost to england but colombia will

be backed heartily by their supporters. they have travelled in their tens of thousands out here and will comfortably outnumber england. although england have never lost to colombia and they know if they can win this match, it potentially opens up win this match, it potentially opens up one of the greatest opportunities english football has had in many yea rs, english football has had in many years, with a potential quarterfinal between sweden or switzerland, and maybe a semifinal against spain or croatia and, if you dare to dream towards the final, they may play brazil or belgium. first up, it's colombia. their focus is brazil or belgium. first up, it's colombia. theirfocus is on brazil or belgium. first up, it's colombia. their focus is on that and they will hope to grasp this glorious opportunity. it is all getting very interesting. david, thank you. here's what's you have to look forward to today with two more places in the quarterfinals upforgrabs. bbc one is the place to find spain versus russia at three o'clock — then at seven, it's croatia against denmark — commentary on that one on radio 5 live. valterri bottas set a new track record to claim pole position for today's austrian grand prix. he finished just ahead of his mercedes team—mate, world championship leader

lewis hamilton and ferrari's sebastian vettel in qualifying. it's bottas's first pole of the season. dina asher—smith set a new british championship record to win the 100—metres in birmingham last night. she ran it in 10.97 seconds — she's still the only british woman to break the 11—second mark. asher—smith is building up to the defence of her european 200—metres title in berlin in august. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. seven out of ten council leaders in england believe income tax needs to be raised to fund adult social care. that's according to research by the local government association, which says more money is needed now. the department of health and social care says it will publish its proposals in the autumn. 0ur reporter simonjones has more.

with an ageing population and a squeeze on council budgets, the strains on care services can no longer be ignored — that's the message from the local government association, which supports local authorities, ahead of its annual conference next week. although councils in england have been able to increase council tax in recent years to help meet the cost, many say it's not enough. it's the overwhelming concern of council leaders across the country that the crisis in the funding for social care is becoming more and more acute. the nhs will fall over unless councils get extra money to help people keep in their own homes. all chant: no nhs cuts! this weekend, thousands of people marched through central london to protest at what they say is the underfunding of the health service. the prime minister has pledged billions more for the nhs in england but councils are asking — what about social care? a survey of council leaders

and cabinet members suggests 96% believe there is a major nationalfunding problem in adult social care. 89% think national taxation must be part of the solution. 70% say increases to income tax should be considered. just over half of english councils, which provide adult social care, responded to the local government association survey. here at the department of health and social care, they say they recognise the social care system is under pressure and they are committed to introducing reforms to ensure it's sustainable for the future. in the autumn, a consultation document will be published with proposals for debate. but the local government association says bold and radical political decisions are needed now. simon jones, bbc news. mexicans go to the polls today to elect a new president, congress and thousands of other representatives. but the campaign has seen some of the worst political violence in the country for decades. in one state, the entire local police force was arrested after a candidate for mayor was murdered. 0ur correspondent will grant reports. until very recently, 0campo

was a town without a police force. still hanging over the streets is the image of a dead candidate, fernando angeles, murdered in his home amid the bloodiest election campaign in modern mexican history. shortly after his killing, the entire force — all 28 officers — were arrested by state police. "it was all a mistake," insists 0fficer garcia. "we are clean policeman. if we weren't, we would still be injail." just 2a hours ago, these officers were under arrest for the alleged involvement in the murder of a political candidate. now they are back on the streets patrolling their town and protesting their innocence. the charges, which still haven't been dropped, were for dereliction of duty over the killing. the mayor is adamant his police did nothing wrong. translation: no, no, no. in this case, the local police are not responsible for protecting the candidates.

that has to be requested by their political parties directly through other institutions of the state. it is hard to know exactly what happened here in michoacan, one of the most dangerous states in mexico, such are the murky links between drug cartels and state institutions. the crime rate alone has many voters wanting change in this election. but so does the economy. 0campo depends on the surrounding forests for ecotourism and logging. at this wood mill, the workers say they find it hard to make ends meet and have had enough. translation: it is really time for a change. we want things to improve. we need so much in the country to be different. we need a new start in both the economy and the security situation. the frontrunner going into this vote, andres manuel lopez 0brador, is in the lead largely because he has been saying the same thing.

he has built a campaign around promises to tackle corruption, root and branch. having been runner—up twice before, this time he needs those who have promised him their votes to deliver. will grant, bbc news. the search for 12 young boys and their football coach, trapped in a flooded cave in thailand, has entered a second week. thai navy seal divers are closing in on an area where the boys are hoped to be, with a new pump raising hopes that more water can be drawn out. 0ur phillippines correspondent howard johnson reports. thanks to this pump, water levels inside the cave have started to fall and that has allowed thai navy seal divers to push further into the cave complex towards where the boys are thought to be. they are looking for an area called pattaya beach, and they are now one kilometre away from the area. the water is also clear, which means that it is from existing

supplies of water inside the cave and not from mountain run—off, which is a good sign because it means the levels are falling. what we are seeing here is part of a new superjet pump being delivered. it is hoped that when it is fully operational, even more water will be pumped out the cave complexes of the right of me here. villages downstream have been warned that when it is fully operational, their paddy fields could be flooded. what we are also seeing here is search and rescue teams laying down gravel on the mud. we have seen in the last few days that conditions underfoot have become slippery. the mud here gets everywhere, so this will definitely help search and rescue teams. tens of thousands of people have joined nationwide protests across the us against president trump's immigration policies. more than 600 events were planned,

with major demonstrations in washington dc, new york and other cities. the marchers demanded that migrant children are reunited with their parents after being forcibly separated at the us border. 2000 children are still being held in detention centres. a privately developed rocket has exploded and crashed to the ground just seconds after lift—off in japan. hundreds of people were watching in shock as it fell from the sky in flames at a test site on the island of hokkaido. it was unmanned and there were no injuries reported. the rocket was developed by a company which is hoping to provide affordable commercial space flights. still a way to go, it seems. it was japan's second attempt at sending a private rocket into space. but it has ended in flames and

shocked spectators. it's more than a0 years since the first performance on stage of a play called the elephant man — about the appalling treatment of a man with a serious physical disfigurement. but while the theme of the play was arguably ahead of its time, the casting was not. joseph merrick, the lead character, has never been played by a disabled person — until now. amanda parr reports. step in and see! stand up, you bloody donkey, up! up! rollup, rollup, to see the elephant man. the star of victorian freak shows. a figure of keen interest to the medical community. and in this production, an iconic disabled role reclaimed. it's a strident step beyond whatjamie beddard calls the lazy and offensive casting of the past. the only elephant man i've seen was done by non—disabled actors, which i don't think is acceptable.

me being disabled, me being an actor, me doing the elephant man, i really hope makes it a bit more authentic and a bit more meaningful. i need to do a good job to do itjustice. jamie says working with drama school graduates like this will normalise inclusion and exciting approaches to casting. not having that slightly strange feeling that you're approaching subject matter that you don't have a right to talk about, nowjamie's here, we can explore that and that's a huge experience for so many people out there and it's nice to put it onto a big stage like bristol old vic and it's amazing to be doing this at this

stage of our careers. i don't know. i think what we're doing is, if you open up theatre to everyone, the possibilities are kind of infinite and i think it's time that we saw more people represented on stage from everywhere, i guess. and, you know, that's where things are going. i kind of feel that we're on a roll and it's really nice to be part of that, actually. stink, stink, stink. the show includes integrated captioning and sign language, audio description, touch tours, relaxed performances and better wheelchair positions in the auditorium. in bristol 0ld vic's year of change, it's a ground—breaking project with a clear mission. to embrace the fact that differences enrich — both in this show and the world beyond.