this is bbc news. the headlines at 11am: dozens of fire crews continue to tackle an aggressive moorland fire 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 issue later this week. i think there is no doubt that there are strong views on either side and that's what i would expect as we lead into the discussions on friday. 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 10 million holiday—makers will benefit. seven in ten council leaders in england believe income tax should be raised to fund adult social care. we'll have the latest on the world cup games today after lionel messi along with cristiano ronaldo — two of the greatest players of their general bow out out of the tournament. and at 11:30am, foreign correspondents posted to london look at events in the uk through outsiders‘ eyes, in dateline london. 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 continue 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. 0ur 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 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 moor 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 in sight.

30 conservative mps have written a letter to the prime minister demanding that she gets tough with the eu over the brexit negotiations. meanwhile, the communities secretary james brokenshire has said there are "strong views" in the cabinet about how to proceed on brexit, but he's confident the cabinet can come to an agreement when they meet at chequers on friday. let's get more with our political correspondent tom barton. this meeting on friday, we have had these make or break cabinet meetings on brexit before but this one is critical. yes, because the cabinet is so divided on this issue of what britain's customs relationship with the eu should look like after we leave and so on the one hand you have a group of remain attending

cabinet ministers who would like a relationship which is quite close where essentially britain collect some taxes on behalf of the eu and goods move freely within europe, and you have brexit attending cabinet ministers who want at tougher relationship essentially facilitated by technology. the two cannot agree. we have seen how much they disagree in the last week with public state m e nts in the last week with public statements from people like michael gove yesterday saying he physically ripped upa gove yesterday saying he physically ripped up a report which set out one of those proposals that he disagreed with, so as we move towards this meeting on friday you have notjust backbenchers, as shown by the letter you mentioned, but also cabinet ministers split. they will be locked ina room ministers split. they will be locked in a room at chequers and no one

will be allowed to leave until they agree the way forward. there were not splits today when the communities secretary james brokenshire appeared on the andrew marr show, he was staying on message. if you talk about the single market, you talk about those other issues too. we are talking about an ambitious free trade agreement with our 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 there playing quite a straight bat and we also heard from jeremy corbyn this morning. the labour leader is under pressure for different reasons. theresa may getting it from both sides, jeremy corbyn‘s position, he is within a party which is predominantly in favour for a

constructive close relationship with the eu and his position is certainly one where he says labour is in favour of leaving the single market and against there being a second referendum. an illustration of the problems for the up—to—date, a survey carried out on behalf of a group campaigning fora survey carried out on behalf of a group campaigning for a second referendum after a deal has been signed, they surveyed members of the unite labour —— the unite union, which sharesjeremy corbyn‘s view that there shouldn't be at second referendum but the majority of their members support a second referendum. todayjeremy corbyn was asked about the transition period, at the end of this period which will sit there after we have left the eu before a final deal has been signed off and he thinks the transition, which is

supposed to last for two years, could last longer. we proposed a transition period and there has to bea transition period and there has to be a transition. at the moment it isn't set in stone. would you be happy for it to be longer? yes, because i think the priority has to because i think the priority has to be our investment in different parts of britain to ensure we get fair economic growth across the whole uk but it also has to protect the jobs of those industries that rely on trade with europe. theresa may and jeremy corbyn facing difficult questions this weekend and over the coming week. 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.

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. 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. 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 national funding 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. the headlines on bbc news... dozens of fire crews continue to tackle an aggressive moorland fire 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, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's richard askam. thank you, ben. we will start with the world cup. the two best players of their generation are on the 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? yes, this is theirfinalfull day here before travelling to moscow on monday. gareth southgate will hold a final news conference on monday evening and then the match is at 7pm against colombia on tuesday. there is optimism may need down to how well the tournament started for england. that victory over tunisia

with harry kane continuing his path towards being top scorer in this competition, five goals in his two appearances, that record—breaking victory against panama, including a fabulous goal byjesse lingard. their momentum was put in check by that defeat to belgium but there we re that defeat to belgium but there were changes in the starting line—up and there is a renewed intensity and focus now, they don't want the wind to have been taken out of their sails, and if they beat colombia it will be their first victory in a knockout match in a major tournament since 2006 but there is a feeling that this is a huge moment for england and they will be desperate to deliver. how will it work in terms of the change to the schedule from now until that much? this was their final full training session behind closed doors to allow them to

work on tactics and formation, those set pieces which have been such a feature of their play, and penalty shoot outs, and nemesis of previous tournament. they will train for 15 minutes in front of the media on monday and we are expecting a full strength team with harry kane leading the line and deli barley back from injury. colombia will be a stiff test of their credentials. rodriguez was the golden boot winner in their previous tournament and there has been at statement released by the colombian fa suggesting he will be ok and they have huge support here. tens of followers —— tens of thousands of followers, but england have never lost to colombia and if they progress it opens up for

england with potentially a quarterfinal against sweden or switzerland and then spain, croatia, maybe even brazil or belgium in the final. thank you, david. 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 3pm — then at 7pm, it's croatia against denmark — commentary on that one on radio 5 live. 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. britain's cal crutchlow will start on the front row for today's dutch motogp at assen. he missed out on pole by the tiniest of margins — just 0.0111 seconds — to the reigning champion marc marquez. that's all the sport for now but you can find much more

on the bbc sport website — including the build—up to the austrian grand prix. i'll be back in the next hour. thank you, richard. 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 herman 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 obrador, 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. 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 it's thought the boys may be. our 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 super jet 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. two british sailors take to the high seas today in an attempt to solo sail 30,000 miles around the world, non stop. the race celebrates the 50th anniversary of sir robin knox—johnson's historic 1960s world first solo nonstop circumnavigation. he started the race in les sables, france in the last half hour. that is where the author and yachtsman chris eakin joins us from now. tell us about the concept of this because it is really to replicate what it was like half a century ago.

first, we have just what it was like half a century ago. first, we havejust come back to suzy goodall, the youngest passenger in the race and the only woman. hi, suzy! live on the bbc, so low start. it's a slow start for you. better thana it's a slow start for you. better than a gail, i guess. you were glad to be of? you have between eight and 12 months at sea, following what robin knoxjohnston 12 months at sea, following what robin knox johnston did. 12 months at sea, following what robin knoxjohnston did. it's been yourdream, robin knoxjohnston did. it's been your dream, hasn't it? been in the planning for a long time. we'll let you get on, you have a long time at sea. thank you for talking to us. so much of the media attention is on

her and she finds it quite over whelming and that was generous offer, giving they have started this race. you mentioned the historic concept, this is a repeat as much as it can be of what happened 50 years ago, so robin knoxjohnson, the first person to sail around the world single—handedly without stopping after sir frances chichester did stopping at australia, and we saw pictures at the start of the race with huge emotions on the pontoons as people say goodbye, because that modern races the sailors are at sea for perhaps three months, but robin knox johnston was ten months and it will be about eight months for the leader of this, so it's a long time since you have seen a group of sailors at sea for such a long time and they

have no digital technology. it's a trip down memory lane, no gps and not even digital music, they have to have audio cassettes, and they are using sextant ‘s for navigation. there were 18 people in the race, one of them is on the pontoon and has about six days work before he can start, which is like back in 1968 when people were not ready to go and they left over a period of five months from different places, whereas here they have all started together about ten minutes ago and they have also got to know each other in the last few weeks, so there are differences but it is a real throwback to how it was done 50 yea rs real throwback to how it was done 50 years ago and they are small boats, suzyis years ago and they are small boats, suzy is there, robin knoxjohnston's

boat was 32 feet and it is a throwback to those small boats. when you see modern racing boats around 60 feet, this is a real challenge. chris, good to talk to you. good luck. let's see what the weather is doing here. there were blue skies where chris wyles and there have been blue skies pretty much everywhere in the uk. blue skies over my head as well, plenty of sunshine to come today for most areas of the uk but we have seen some most areas of the uk but we have seen some thundery showers in south—west england and there could be further showers this afternoon and evening. the bulk of them will be across south—west england and it will be another hot day, temperatures into the low 30s in the hottest areas, a bit cloudy for

parts of scotland and rain in the western isles. a cold front pushes eastwards, bringing fresh air, but a stuffy night in england and wales. these are temperatures at 11pm, it would be an uncomfortable night. tomorrow after such a warm start temperatures will rise again for england and wales and that is where we will have the highest temperatures again, but with this week cold front having moved across scotland, temperatures a little lower but still warm. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines... 150 firefighters are at the scene of a huge moorland blaze near bolton. it was declared a major incident when two fires merged into one as a result of increasing wind speed. 30 conservative mps have written a letter demanding theresa may gets tough with the eu

over brexit negotiations, with the head of the nhs in england revealing that the health service is preparing for the possibility of there being no deal. people who rent their homes could be given more security under government proposals to introduce a minimum tenancy term of three years in a move ministers will help renters put down more roots in their communities. and new research suggests seven out of ten council leaders in england believe income tax needs to be raised to ease the crisis in funding in adult social care. you are watching bbc news. now it's time for dateline london.