good afternoon. more than 100 firefighters are working in what are described as "extremely testing conditions" at the scene of a huge moorland fire in lancashire. yesterday, strong winds caused two fires to merge, with the blaze now covering several square miles. officials say it could take at least a week to put out the flames. our correspondent, sarah walton, has this report. the fires are still burning. pockets of the north west of england are now covered by smoke and ash, as the landscape is stil dry and strong winds are fanning the flames. this is a blaze that just refuses to be beaten. the fires at winter hill started on thursday, near a major tv transmitter that serves nearly 7 million viewers. three days on, more than 100 firefighters are still tackling it. this fire is quite an extensive area on two faces of winter hill, so we've got two areas in the region of about four square

kilometres each. so significant fire fronts. so there is aggressive fire fighting going on in areas to stop that spreading towards the forestry and further areas of vegetation. crews on the ground are getting help from helicopters. and trenches have been built to try to protect nearby buildings. people are being told to stay away and to keep doors closed. a 22—year—old man from bolton has been arrested on suspicion of arson. dirty miles away, 100 soldiers are still helping crews fight a separate fire on saddleworth murder. they are expected to be there for another 2a hours. what is needed here is rain but there is none forecast for days. the head of the nhs in england has revealed that the health service is preparing for the possibility of no deal with the eu in the brexit negotiations.

simon stevens says there's been extensive planning to make sure the uk continues to get the medical supplies in needs in "all scenarios." meanwhile, the communities secretary, james brokenshire, has said he's confident the cabinet will reach an agreement on brexit, when it meets at chequers this week. tom barton reports. how does the nhs ensure it can get the staff, equipment and medicine it needsif the staff, equipment and medicine it needs if britain leaves the eu without a trade deal? that's the question nhs organisations are grappling with according to the man responsible for running the nhs in england. 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. but while the nhs works out what to do if the government does not make a deal with the eu, ministers say their focus is not deal with the eu, ministers say theirfocus is not on preparing for no deal but getting a good one. we are preparing for all eventualities but our point is that all that detail and effort must be about getting that deal, but we must be prepared and we will be. the cabinet is badly split on what that deal should look like, with several ministers making their views publicly known. infighting that today has drawn scorn from the labour leader. you get the feeling that every time someone in the government thinks we should get agreement, cabinet ministers go off ata agreement, cabinet ministers go off at a tangent, and the white paper on the objectives, the referendum was two years ago and the white paper

will only come out after a weekend party at chequers for the cabinet. and that meeting on friday is key, with a big challenge, finding proposals for a future relationship with the eu that every member can sign up to. tom is here now. so all eyes turning to a crucial meeting of the cabinet on friday at chequers. it is vital. they are there to discuss one key question, how close should britain's relationship with the eu be after brexit? divisions with cabinet on that subject are deep and public, so yesterday michael gove let it be known that he had physically ripped up a government report suggesting he backed the may's preferred option of a customs partnership with the eu. horacejohnson has a customs partnership with the eu. horace johnson has been a customs partnership with the eu. horacejohnson has been denounced by the ministers who supported remain

in the referendum for using a dismissive expletive to talk about business. all these ministers will have to support the government's policy and friday is about agreeing exactly what that will be. that will form the basis of a formal government document called the white paper which will be used as a starting point for britain's future relations with the eu. the rail operator govia thameslink could be stripped of its franchises, unless its services in the south east of england start to improve. commuters who use its thameslink and great northern trains are also set to be offered compensation equivalent to a months free travel. hundreds of thousands of passengers have faced weeks of disruption following the introduction of new timetables in may. people renting homes in england 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 all 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 agents. so, thanks to these changes today, anybody who buys a holiday and, for instance, there's an ash cloud, or the hotel isn't up to standard, or the airline goes bust,

they'll 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 can get really good deals for holidays. i know we've been looking into a few, 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 the same protection. when i'm sort of looking at protection for a holiday, 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. people in mexico go to the polls today — after an election campaign marred by some of the bloodiest political violence in the country for decades. security has been tightened, with more than 130 candidates and political workers killed since september. voters are electing a president, as well as members of congress, senators, governors, and mayors. it's another big day of world cup action, with hosts russia taking on spain in the early kickoff in moscow. they'll both be hoping tojoin france and uruguay in the quarterfinals. our sports correspondent david 0rnstein is in repino, where the england team are based. david, the hosts will really have their work cut out against spain? they well, yesterday saw the start

of the last 16, where the world cup gets really exciting, and it lost two of the biggest names in football. we saw cristiano ronaldo's portugal beaten 2—1 by uruguay, and earlier in the day liam moore messy‘s argentina were knocked out by france 11—3 —— lionel messi. who shonein by france 11—3 —— lionel messi. who shone in that match? mbappe, our future star in world football. 3pm kick—off will have an incredible atmosphere and imagine if they were to cause one of the all—time great u psets to cause one of the all—time great upsets against the champions. then croatia against denmark. many people have tipped croatia to be a surprise

package in this world cup. they have luka modric should of real madrid, tipped to be one of the stars of this tournament, then the outcome of that match could lead to a semifinal opponent for england if they get there. and england have to wait till tuesday for their game — how are their preparations going? this is theirfinalfull this is their final full day here, they will train again tomorrow before flying to moscow in the afternoon. daragh southgate and players will give a news conference and then it's a 7pm kick—off on tuesday against colombia. england have been stepping up there preparations, they'd trained behind closed doors today, it's becoming more intense. england came into this with low expectations but the country has started to believe with those two impressive results in

their first two games. maybe that was checked by their defeat to belgium but this will be a full strength team with harry kane leading the line and dele alli coming back after a fight industry. but colombia will not be pushovers. they were quarterfinalists four yea rs they were quarterfinalists four years ago, they have the top scorer from brazil in their team with james rodriguez, so england have a massive task on their hands. their manager described it as the biggest game in a decade and england are almost ready. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at half past six. bye for now. you're watching the bbc news channel. let's return to our main story this 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. ben norman, 0perations commander for lancashire police, explained why the fires have been so difficult to tackle. though weather conditions have played a huge part, very dry ground and the heat is a huge factor, with no rain forecast, so a number of conditions are playing into it. we can have incidents that flashed through, surface grass, we can extinguish those and move on, and

then something gets into the ground and we our correspondent sarah walton is in winter hill now. have seen both here. how tough is this for the firefighters? it's really tough going. the heat is really tough going. the heat is really strong at the moment, about 27 degrees, so that with the flames and the protective gear the fire crews have to wear, they are dealing with intense heat. they have been joined by crews from south wales and warwickshire and they are having to deal with, just on the far side of that hill, is pockets of flames spreading notjust over the land on the grass but also under the ground because the soil is very peaty, so they will put out one bit of fire but it is so hot underground that five minutes later that same ground

is on fire again. the fire crews are taking breaks because it is very ha rd taking breaks because it is very hard work coming back down to the centre and when they get here there have been lots of donations from local people giving food and drinks and water and saying they are grateful. they are asking people not to bring donations here directly, it's just not safe, they're asking people to stay at home keep doors and windows closed. if you want to give food or water, they have their training centre in shortly that is open until 4pm and they are asking people to take donations there. and these two fires merged into one big fire because of the winds. it was two separate pockets of fire that started on thursday last week and they have spread but with a bit of wind, it has died down now but overnight there were stronger winds

and that is blown these two fires together so while it is also spreading under the ground, it is being pushed further by the wind and there are important buildings here, at tv transmitter that serves about 7 million viewers. they have dug a trench around those buildings to try to stop the flames spreading because if it gets there it will cause serious problems. thank you, sarah walton. 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. earlier we heard from douglas haig, the vice—chair of the residential landlords association. i think there is recognition from a lot of people that the sector

that the sector has to mature. we've come a long way in three years with nearly 20% of the whole population living in the private sector and nearly a third of that is families, so we need to combine short—term flexible tenancies with those who want to stay in the area and maybe go 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 or individuals. what sort of 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, 0rend 0r end the tenancy,, but what we would like to see is dealing with the housing court, a tribunal housing system so tenants can access their rights and get repairs done when they need to but

landlords can also enforce their rights when necessary. we don't feel that has happened, a long—term tenancy model without a change in the housing court will not help either party. 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 pakistan army has rescued two british mountaineers from the ultar sar peak in the hunza valley. the army said the climbers' tent had been hit by an avalanche. bruce normand and miller timothy were rescued by pilots at around 19,000 feet above sea level. another climber, from austria, died in the avalanche. now, it sounds like something out of a james bond film — but a notorious career thief in france has escaped from prison in a helicopter. 46—year—old redoine faid — who is one of france's most wanted men — 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. 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 parts 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 complex 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. with a track passing through the bronte country and acting as film set for the railway children, worth valley railway is one of west yorkshires top attractions. and this weekend it celebrates it's 50th anniversary. the line re—opened for business back in the late ‘60s, by a group of railway enthusiasts after it was closed to passengers

earlier in the decade. now over 100,000 people a year enjoy the route. phil bodmer reports. it was a little—known yorkshire branch line made famous by a 1970 british movie. the railway children, starring jenny agutter and bernard cribbins, became a global hit. but injune 1968, a small group of volunteers, determined to save their local line, were not to know that. exactly 50 years on from that original journey from keighley to 0xenhope, it's been recreated using the original tank engine number m241. access to platform three can be made by using the subway located in the middle of platform four.

fireman phil heelis was on that footplate in june 1968. this is one of the few railways that is a complete branch line and the thinking behind it originally was, "the british railways are going to close our branch line, we will take it over and run it ourselves." to mark the 50th anniversary, a modern—day locomotive was named after it. this day is really to mark the volunteers' achievements over the last 50 years because we have done a lot of things on the railways, such as rebuilding stations, restoring a huge fleet of locomotives. the original train fare back in 1968 was four shillings. some of today's passengers were on that very first one. i was in this very carriage on this very train 50 years ago and i was there as a journalist, as a newspaper reporter. and i turned up to interview an old chap called ken roberts who looked after this carriage,

and indeed is still involved with it, and ken said, "before i talk to you," he said, "here's a brush, sweep it out." today is very special for me, very special. didn't expect to be actually on this train because i'm not involved, obviously, in the keighley worth valley. but very kindly friends invited us tojoin in. i blew this whistle 50 years ago to set the train off, this train off, from keighley. for half a century, this heritage line has been at the very heart of the worth valley. its dedicated volunteers will be determined to see it through its next phase. peter firmin — the co—creator of the clangers — has died aged 89. in a career spanning over six decades, he created basil brush, as well as helping devise bagpuss, ivor the engine, noggin the nog and pogles wood.

in 1999 bagpuss was voted the most popular bbc children's programme ever made, and in 2014 peter firmin received a bafta lifetime achievement award. 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 aren't thinking about who they might come up against later on — they have to beat colombia first. we have to approach every game like we're 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. no international game is easy.

they're 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 games. 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 best attacking players in world football. their front four are very dangerous. falcao is a predatory centre forward, if you let him, he will find gaps. they have cuardrado, the lovely playmaker who was a throwback to decades ago. a front—foot—on—the—ball playmaker but they are at their best when quintero links up with james rodriguez. their fantastic performance in the game against poland. when you take james out, he strides

that feel like a prince, they are not the same side. so my reading is that with james rodriguez fit and firing on all cylinders, colombia are narrow favourites. without him perhaps england are narrow favourites. 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 eight 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. the french newspaper le monde has reported that the organisers of the tour de france have blocked britain's chris froome from competing in this year's race, which starts in six days' time. froome is awaiting the outcome of an investigation into a drugs test, which found twice the permitted level of an asthma drug in his system. a decision on the attempt to prevent the four—time—winner from participating is expected to be made on tuesday, but team sky said: "we are confident that chris will be riding the tour as we know he has done nothing wrong". the austrian grand prix gers under way in about half an hour's time with valterri bottas on pole for the first time this season. bottas set a new track record to finish just ahead of his mercedes team—mate, world championship leader lewis hamilton and ferrari's sebastian vettel, to secure his place at the front of the grid. 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 still six behind the leader, ryu so—yeon, of south korea, so law will need something special if she's to take her first major title. that's all the sport for now. now time for the weather. for most it