should this is bbc news. the headlines: 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. the head of nhs england says extensive planning is under way to prepare the health service for a no—deal brexit. 30 conservative mps write a letter to the prime minister demanding that she 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 ten 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 messi and ronaldo — two of the greatest players of their generation — bow out of the tournament. and in click at 12:30pm, we'll meet a group of scientists who've built a robotic cheetah. good afternoon.

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 have continually whipped 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 more importantly, 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. the head of the nhs in england has revealed the health service is preparing for the possibility of there being no deal in the brexit negotiations. speaking to the bbc‘s andrew marr programme, simon stevens said the nhs had been working with the government to safeguard that the uk continued to receive medicine supplies in any brexit scenario. mr stevens said the continued supply of medical goods had to be an absolute priority. there is now significant planning going on around all the scenarios including these medicine supply scenarios. there is extensive work under way now between our department of health and other parts of government, the life sciences industry, pharma companies, so nobody is pretending this is a desirable situation but if that's where we get to, it will not have been unforeseen.

simon stephens there, head of the nhs in england. meanwhile 30 conservative mps have written an open letter calling on theresa may to stand firm in the brexit talks. the group says the prime minister must negotiate a complete break with eu institutions, and says the post—brexit transition period shouldn't be extended. this morning, the communities secretary james brokenshire said there were "strong views" in the cabinet about how to proceed on brexit, but that he's confident the cabinet can come to an agreement when they meet at chequers on friday. i spoke to our political correspondent tom barton about the issues facing the prime minister — he started by explaining the splits within the cabinet. 0n the one hand you have a group of remain tending 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 tending cabinet ministers who want a tougher relationship essentially facilitated by technology. the two cannot agree. we have seen how much they disagree in the last week with public statements from people like michael 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 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. so 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 that position, a 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 union, which shares jeremy corbyn‘s view that there shouldn't be a second referendum but the majority of their members support a second referendum, according to the survey. 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 be a transition. at the moment it isn't set in stone. but it is talked around two years. would you be happy for it to be longer? i have a feeling it might go beyond that. would you be happy? yes, 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. so theresa may and jeremy corbyn facing difficult questions this weekend and over the coming week. tom barton, r political correspondent talking to me earlier. 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.

let's discuss this further with douglas haig, who's the vice—president of the residential landlords association. what do you make of these proposals? i think there is recognition from a lot of people that the sector has come a long way in three years without nearly 20% of the whole population living in the private sector and nearly a third of that is families, so we need to find short—term flexible tenancies and combine it with those who want to stay in the area and maybe do to school, but we're not... we think there should be a flexibility around that and incentivising landlords to

choose when or not it's appropriate to rent to certain types of families 01’ to rent to certain types of families or individuals. what sort of incentives do you mean? a couple of yea rs incentives do you mean? a couple of years ago there was a removal of some mortgage relief taxes, landlords were allowed to claim, which is increasing costs for landlords quite significantly, so one of the things we are suggesting is to be able to, if a landlord is offering a long—term tenancy and if it is accepted that those tax changes are reinstated, but also there are barriers so some mortgage companies do not allow longer term tenancies to be offered, some insurance companies don't allow it either, so we need to remove those barriers but the fundamental thing is making sure the system underlying

all this is freed up because it is kind of a broken system. you either have to accept breaches of tenancy, but what we would like to see is dealing with the housing court, a tribunal housing system so tenants can tribunal housing system so tenants ca n a ccess tribunal housing system so tenants can access their rights and get repairs done when they need to but at the moment we don't feel that has happened, a long—term tenancy model without a change in the housing court will not help either party. but you don't object to this minimum tenancy term of three years. we object on the basis of it being an mandatory thing because it is not suitable for the whole sector. the tribunal system has to be in place before we can start thinking about to think longer term tenancies and landlords will be comfortable with that. if that's not done beforehand,

landlords will avoid any tenants theyis landlords will avoid any tenants they is even slightly risky because they is even slightly risky because they will be locked in for a long period of time. most tenants are fine but that of one or two who were problematic, if they are locked in for a long time, a lot of money can be lost in three years. thank you for joining be lost in three years. thank you forjoining us. 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. 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. to the world cup in russia first of all. dele alli says he's confident england can beat colombia in their last 16 match on tuesday. alli is expected to start for gareth southagate's men after recovering from injury. the spurs midfielder says the team aren't scared of anyone at the tournament, but expect a tough encounter against the south american side. we have to approach every game like

we are playing the best team in the world. there are some top sides so we are not focusing on the next games, we have to get through colombia. there are dangerous and have a lot of great talent so we will have to be switched on and not look to the future until after the next game. well, let's hear more about the talent in the colombia team. earlier i spoke to the south american football expert tim vickery, who told me they have some of the most dangerous attacking players in world football. their front theirfront for our very their front for our very dangerous. falcao is a centre forward, if you let him he will find gaps. they have the lovely playmaker who was at throwback to decades ago, at the on the ball playmaker but they are at

their best when quintero links up with hermes rodriguez. their fantastic performance in the game against poland, they are not the same side so my reading is that with hermes rodriguez fit and firing on all cylinders, colombia are a narrow favourites. without him perhaps england are narrow favourites. the latter stages of the world cup won't feature the two best players of their generation. cristiano ronaldo's portugal were beaten by uruguay. and 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 8 on friday. 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. english golfer bronte law is in fifth place, going into the final round of the women's pga championship in illinois. she picked up three shots to move to five—under—par — but she's six shots behind the leader, ryu so—yeon, of south korea, so law will need something special if she's to take her first major title. dina asher—smith is in superb form, as she builds up to the defence of her european 200 metres title in berlin in august. she set a new british championship record to win the 100 metres in birmingham last night, clocking 10.97 seconds — she's still the only british woman

to break the 11—second mark. 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. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. and i'll be back in the next hour. thank you, richard. 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 don't know if we're going to get, 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. earlier i spoke to simon calder, travel editor of the independent, who told us in what circumstances the new cover applies. if it looks like a package holiday, booking flights and accommodation, possibly a rental car in the same transaction, then it gets package holiday protection, which is gold—plated. if you turn up at the airport and your flight is cancelled because of an air traffic control strike, you get to the hotel and it was supposed to be a 4—star and turns out to be a 2—star, whoever sold you that trip now has to sort it out and either arrange something which is suitable or give you a refund or possibly cancellation, and we're suddenly moving into the 21st—century when so many millions of us book

online through companies, online travel agents, which present themselves as selling you a holiday but up until today, when you look closely they say no, i haven't sold you a holiday, we just acted as your agent, you have to deal with that airline, that hotel, any problem, go to them. 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. 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 twelve 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. 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 to 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. a notorious career thief in france has escaped from prison in a helicopter. 46 year old redoine fa d — who is one of france's most wanted — escaped from jail near paris this morning. it's believed that he was helped by a number of heavily armed men. it's faid's second jailbreak. in 2013 he blasted his way out of a prison using dynamite

and was on the run for six weeks. 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. it was japan's second attempt at sending a private rocket into space. but it ended in flames as you can see, and some pretty shocked spectators. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. today's weather will be similar to yesterday for most of the uk, more hot sunshine on the cards but the

change toward south—west england where we have a few thunderstorms which will try to push northwards, they may reach parts of wales, other than that a lot of dry and hot weather, a few spots of rain likely for a time weather, a few spots of rain likely fora time in weather, a few spots of rain likely for a time in the western isles. overnight, temperatures will be slow to fall because there's more tumour that the across england and wales so at 11pm these are the type of temperatures you will be trying to go to sleep in, 23 or 2a degrees for birmingham and london. overnight the cold front will have moved across scotland, it will not back the temperatures a little but it will still be warm for the type of year, but the hottest weather across england and wales in the afternoon.