welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: 7a people are confirmed dead in greece as wildfires rip through villages near athens. i took my baby and then towards the sea, but my wife, i didn't know what happened, i think she burned herself here. in southern laos, hundreds are missing, thousands homeless as a collapsing dam floods miles of countryside. pakistan's general election gets underway within hours, but has the army already won? and the artworks banned by facebook. belgian museums demand a rethink on the social network's nudity policy. it's greece's worst fire disaster in a decade.

at least 7a people have died, as flames fanned by strong winds and high temperatures sweep through an area east of the capital athens. the wildfires have forced residents and tourists to rush to beaches and into the sea to try to avoid the heat and smoke. hundreds had to be rescued by local fishermen. but others were trapped as the flames devoured forests and destroyed seaside towns. worst hit was the tourist resort of mati, where 26 people, including children, were found dead. they'd tried to outrun the flames but were found lifeless, all huddled together. our correspondent mark lowen is in mati. like a vision of hell, mile upon mile smothered, suffocated by flames. as one was put out, another roared, 47 simultaneous fires ripped through the greek hills. they fled for their lives,

hundreds ran into the sea, rescued by the coastguard. but for dozens more, it was too late, killed by the worst wildfires greece has seen in over a decade. as morning fell, the mountains still burned, 60 miles an hour winds fanning the flames. and even as some were extinguished, the acrid smoke billowed, choking those caught in its grip. it was as if a wall of fire surrounded anyone who tried to confront it, feeding on the vegetation, spewing out thick plumes. for hours, it was futile to battle it. with the trail of destruction, an almost apocalyptic scene. streets in the seaside town of mati near athens

looked like a bomb had hit. many died in their cars, asphyxiated, or burnt alive. we found panagiotis tangalos badly burnt and searching for clues in the spot where he last saw his wife, poppy. i took my baby and ran towards the sea. but my wife, i didn't know what happened. i think she burned herself here. from the skies, man fought nature. cyprus and spain helped with equipment and firefighters. this peaceful holiday resort has been virtually destroyed. many were here at the height of the tourism season, like konsta ntinos triantafilidis. as the flames consumed his car, he and his family ran to the sea. we went directly with our clothes, oton the sea, up to here, to save ourselves very, very quickly. and the fire was still coming, because it burnt everything. it was coming more and more

on our faces and we sank into the deep, just to save us. as the flames came crashing down the hill, devouring everything in their wake, one of the most tragic incidents happened just over here. some 25 people ran towards the sea to try to take refuge but they were too late and they were trapped. and when their bodies were discovered, the remains of the parents were found hugging the children. the greek prime minister, visibly shaken, announced a state of emergency in the athens region and three days of national mourning. translation: there are no words to describe the feelings of all of us at this hour. the country is living an untold tragedy. dozens of human lives have been lost. for the rescuers, the fear of discovering more bodies as dozens are reported missing. the flames may have faded but beneath the ash, what nightmares are hidden?

the picturesque has turned to horror. greece is blessed by its climate, its coast, its lush forests. tonight, it feels cursed. there's is more reportage and eyewitness accounts on the bbc website. log into bbc. news.com. it's emerged that the dam that collapsed in laos had developed a fault, the day before the accident. at least 20 people died in floods when the dam burst. according to the south korean firm helping build the hydro—power station, workers had tried unsuccessfully to repair the damage. a spokesman said authorities had been told and did evacuate the area in attapeu province, before the dam burst. but for many there just wasn't enough time. at least 100 people are still missing. nick beake reports. the torrent of water that crashed through this countryside offered little chance of survival.

in time, the full, grim picture will be revealed. now, the world of the survivors is turned upside down. they cling to safety on the roof of their homes. children and elderly carried towards dry land, the few possessions people had time to salvage hauled through the muddy floodwater. families who have lived in this corner of laos for generations are now homeless. forced out by the destruction unleashed by a newly built dam on their doorstep. its developers say torrential rain in recent days caused a fracture which they try to fix. they sent out an evacuation warning, but it was too late for many. international aid agencies are racing towards the six villages most affected. but their path is damaged, obstructed, and in some places submerged. local teams have been able to give out some supplies,

but they desperately need more food, water, clothes and medicine. with more than 6500 people without shelter, it is a daunting challenge. the laos government had embarked on a ambitious dam—building scheme in recent years, to become the battery of asia, but it has failed badly here, and it has cost so many lives. let's get some of the day's other news. reports from the united states say 11 members of the football team rescued from the cave in thailand will be ordained on thursday. then they will have a nine—day retreat in ona they will have a nine—day retreat in on a street to cleanse them and to perform an act of remembrance for the diver who died preparing their

escape route. reports from the united states say the pop singer demi lovato is in hospital in los angeles following a suspected a drug overdose. the celebrity gossip website tmz says the singer, who is 25, was found in her hollywood home on tuesday morning. lovato has struggled with substance abuse for years, and appeared to relapse in recent weeks. she's said to be in a stable condition. the man poisoned by the nerve agent, novichok, in wiltshire last month, has described how his partner, who died, sprayed it onto her wrists, believing it was perfume. charlie rowley says the substance was in a glass bottle in a cardboard box and he'd given it to dawn sturgess as a present. pakistan has deployed hundreds of thousands of troops across the country to secure polling stations ahead of wednesday's general election. it's only the third since the end of military rule. over 100 million people are eligible to cast their ballot. secunder kermani has more from islamabad. this school is one of 85,000 polling stations across the country. residents will have between 8am

and 6pm to cast their votes. and in most of the country, voters will be choosing both a candidate for the national assembly and another candidate for one of four provincial assemblies, depending on where they live. there are more than 105 million registered voters in pakistan and they will be choosing from over 3,500 candidates for the 272 directly elected seats in the national parliament. security in pakistan has greatly improved over the past few years but in recent weeks we have seen a number of deadly attacks by militant groups. there will be more than 370,000 soldiers deployed across the country including both inside and outside polling stations. key issues at stake in the election include the economy as well as competing allegations of corruption and undue military interference. it's expected to be a tight contest between the pml—n party, which has been in power for the past 5 years, and the pti party led by cricketer—turned leading opposition politician imran khan. we hope to have results by the early hours of thursday morning.

every day, around the world, just over 800 women die from ilnesses and complications relating to pregnancy and childbirth. the causes are entirely preventable, but for various reasons, especially in developing countries, expectant mothers just aren't getting the care they need. india is one country, however, that has made significant leaps in tackling its maternal mortality rate. yogita limaye sent this report from mumbai. the basics of giving birth, that is what these pregnant women are being taught. this awareness programme is run by a charity that works with the government in the slums of mumbai. it is a small step in a long journey towards insuring women have healthy pregnancy. translation: we get a lot of information here. they tell us what kind of fruit and vegetables to eat. earlier, i did not know any of this.

i would eat anything at any time. translation: my haemoglobin levels we re low. i found out about that when i came here. they helped me seek medical help and get pills to improve them. in india, earlier, pregnancy was not thought of as a condition that required any special care. that is something which has changed a lot over the last two decades. this is a government health centre where pregnant women are given medicine and information about a safe delivery. and centres like these have been set up across india. they're part of the government's multi—pronged approach to ensure maternal safety. it's an approach that seems to be working. government numbers show that the maternal mortality rate has been falling rapidly. and the percentage of women giving birth in hospitals rather than at home has doubled over the past decade. sushma shende, a social worker, says the government's attitude

towards maternal mortality has changed, too. maternal death has been taken very seriously by public health. the government has taken it very seriously, that is the big change i have seen. where things have gone wrong, what could have been done much better to save this being done. this has built accountability in the system where, at least, we will not tolerate if a mother dies when she has given birth. that is the kind of attitude the system has shown. dr harshad chauhan works at a government hospital. he says that in rural parts of india a lot more is needed. the measures are not enough. the situation has improved a lot. more needs to be done. the number of medical staff in the field needs to be increased. people need to be educated more about health. india is still a long way off from achieving goals set by the united nations,

but it seems to be moving in the right direction. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: what's the cost of getting shot in the united states? apart from all the trauma, some victims are ending up tens of thousands of dollars in debt. 0k, coming down the ladder now. that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30—year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia. but now, a decade later, it's been painstakingly rebuilt, and opens again today.

there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity, and an increase in malfunctioning sperm, unable to swim properly. thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime, as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: 7a people are known to have been killed in wildfires near the greek capital, athens. almost 200 others have been injured. it's emerged that a dam that collapsed in southern laos, killing at least 20 people, had developed a fault a day before the accident. japan is experiencing a record—breaking heatwave. in fact it's so hot, the government's weather agency is calling it a natural disaster.

officials say 65 people have died this week. more than 30,000 people were admitted to hospital in the past two weeks suffering from heat exhaustion. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes sent us this report from tokyo. for more than two weeks now, the sun has burnt down onjapan from a cloudless sky with barely a waft of wind. 0utside cloudless sky with barely a waft of wind. outside the imperial palace in tokyo, the heat shimmer tells its own story. here the tourists are sweltering in only 37 degrees today. translation: china is hot now but compare between tokyo and china, tokyois compare between tokyo and china, tokyo is hotter. a little further night —— a little further north, it is considerably hotter. the thermometer hit 41.1 on monday, the highest ever recorded anywhere in japan. the heat is notjust

uncomfortable, it is now extremely dangerous. at tokyo's emergency dispatch centre, the calls are coming thick and fast. the ambulance crews a re coming thick and fast. the ambulance crews are struggling to keep up as across japan, more than 30,000 people have now been hospitalised with heatstroke or heat exhaustion. the elderly are most at risk. more than half of the deaths reported so far have been people over 65. in the ancient capital, kyoto, the summer festivals are under way. here it has been 38 degrees or more for a solid week, another record. all of this is being caused by a huge high—pressure dome which is sitting over the top of japan dome which is sitting over the top ofjapan and dome which is sitting over the top of japan and korea. dome which is sitting over the top ofjapan and korea. but dome which is sitting over the top of japan and korea. but the last two weeks, it has refused to budge. the bad news is it could be here for another two. let us take you like to

thailand, most of the team rescued from the flooded cave system are to be ordained as novices in a buddhist monastery, a gesture believed to clea nse monastery, a gesture believed to cleanse them. it is also an act for remembering that thai navy diver who died preparing their escape route. the only christian member of the tea m the only christian member of the team has been excused on religious grounds. we'll bring you more about injust few minutes. 0n the bbc, sadly, we've covered countless stories on gun violence in america, but rarely do we tell the tale of the survivors, who so often find that recovery is difficult, both physically and financially. medical bills often cost tens of thousands of dollars with no end in sight. let's hear from two survivors about how they're coping. i don't think people understand how expensive it is to get shot. am i

ever going to be out of date because these medical bills, it's in volu nta ry. these medical bills, it's in voluntary. i did not ask to get shot. yes, i was a victim of a mass shooting. i am a survivor because i am pushing through it and am not letting what happened to me take over me and consume in depression and into debt. i am a survivor. both of my hips are shattered, one of them has a hole in it from the bullet. the bullet didn't actually exit so in this —— in this ship, it is cracked, i guess you could say. i have nerve damage, basically. it's called drop flip or flip drop. 11,628... 1180... 1396...

11,628...1180...1396... i don't know if i will ever be able to get a house or have kids because of my incident. i am going to be of date? —— am incident. i am going to be of date? ——ami incident. i am going to be of date? —— am i ever going to be out of debt? my story was not on the news. i think i've seen the advantages of those whose stories have made it to mainstream media and the outpouring of support and resources that you can get on the ground from other people. i've had over 30 surgeries. i have to push through because no one else can push through for me, should i say. everything may seem 0k

everything may seem ok but i still stress, i still get depressed. i try ha rd stress, i still get depressed. i try hard and try my best to keep my head up. you get shot and then the cost of being shot in the us. facebook has secured a licence to set up an office in china, in an apparent attempt to break into the lucrative market the firm says it would be a innovation hub to support chinese developers, facebook says it will meet with officials from the flemish tourist board, following a row over the display of nudity on the social media network. some museums and art galleries have complained about what they see as censorship of the work of some of the most famous artists in history. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. the descent from the cross by peter paul rubens, a work of visceral power and artistic genius but for facebook, it was a little too much.

the image was banned, apparently because christ was only wearing a loincloth. translation: social media is used to share things. they think this is indecent. they don't understand this. facebook blocks all posts that we used to promote rubens, image is where nudity is seen. rubens, image is where nudity is seen. so upset was the flemish tourist board they wrote an open letter to facebook chief executive mark zuckerberg. translation: art is art. there is nudity, it doesn't really matter. art is something different than a picture of a naked body. facebook insist they only ban adverts that contain what is described as sexually oriented content including artistic or educational nudity. and they are happy to discuss the matter with the museums. if a compromise can be reached, then perhaps the work of rubens and other flemish masters will be revealed in all their glory. tim allman, bbc news.

the story of jamestown, virginia, the first permanent english settlement in the united states goes back four centuries. a key character is sir george yardley, who introduced the rule of law to jamestown in 1619 — a decade after it almost collapsed because of starvation and cannibalism. now, after years of searching, archaeologists think they've found sir george's remains. jane 0'brien has more. 400 years old and this guy is looking pretty good. just as well, because those bones are needed to provide the dna that will hopefully confirm what everybody here thinks, that this is sir george yardley. what i am interested in doing is getting a bone or tooth sample to take away to do dna analyses. i want to analyse dna from the skeleton to see if it matches that of a known relative. to check him out myself i have to provide my dna as a control. all you need to do is breathe on the remains and you put your dna all over it. i am really worried

about contamination. i want you to spit up to that line. it will take you longer. that is a lot. it will take you a long time to do. it has a buffer in it that will keep the dna nice and happy and i will take it back to do an analysis. i am going to do this over here. take your time. once we are tested and suited up we enter the great site to look for teeth. it is amazing. look over here, it looks like a tooth here, another one over here, and so it is looking good. it looks like we have some teeth here to do dna analysis. amazing. to make sure they were digging in the right place, scientists used ground—penetrating radar. this is the first time that we have imaged a human skeleton with ground—penetrating radar. it is a really big deal because it is not supposed to be possible. it is going to open a lot of doors for new research, for noninvasively looking at archaeological remains and potentially not having to disturb them at all. but why does anybody care

about sir george yardley? this is where sir george yardley presided over the first general assembly that established the rule of law in america and the principle of representative government. but there is a dark side to the story, because sir george was also one of the first english slaveholders in the colonies. when george yardley set foot injamestown in the summer of 1610, the colony was on the brink of collapse, barely 60 settlers had survived the winter and some had resorted to cannibalism. a decade later, sir george was in charge of a settlement that offered rich rewards. in 1619, they also managed to get hold of the first enslaved africans who arrived in this colony, which was about the same time as the general assembly, and sir george became one of the largest of the slave owners. there are 1000 other graves at jamestown, each with a story to tell. and with every discovery emerges a more complete history of the origins of modern america.

possibly beyond the call of journalistic duty there. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. hello there. well, tuesday brought some significant contrast in weather conditions across the uk with the south—east of england and east anglia having other dry sunny and hot day, with a top temperature of 31 degrees in suffolk but further north and west, a lot more cloud around thanks to a week whether font with low temperatures and even patchy light rain. if you look at the satellite picture, casty your eyes out to this swirl of cloud out in the atlantic, this is a significant area of low pressure which is going to reach our shores by the end of the week and bring some of us some significant rainfall. back here and now and to the early

hours of wednesday, it is looking largely dry across the board. one of two showers, western scotland, more of a breeze too but elsewhere, dry and a warm, muggy start across south and south—eastern parts of the country. 0n into wednesday, on the whole, it's going to be a dry and brighter day for much of the uk. that sunshine up into the parts scotland, northern ireland, with just a few showers the western isles. maybe the odd shower developing in the heat of the day across east anglia. you can see the orange colours extending further north and westwards. temperatures reaching the low 20s celsius across scotland and northern ireland. high 20s for england and wales with a few locations in the south—east seeing 30 or 31 degrees. into thursday, this is the peak of the heat. the heat will be spreading north and west, in fact, a good—looking day to most, maybe an odd shower developing in the afternoon. more of a breeze across northern ireland and western scotland ahead of that area of low pressure as you make inroads. notice the red and orange colours pretty widely across england and wales.

temperatures ranging from 27 to 33, 34, maybe 35 degrees somewhere in the south—east. the area of low pressure edges ever closer for friday, sending in its weatherfront initially across western areas for northern ireland and western scotland, western parts of england and wales. ahead of it, there is going to be a cluster of heavy showers and thunderstorms which will develop. some of these could be quite intense across parts of the midlands into northern and eastern england, perhaps with some hail mixed in as well. across the south—east, another hot one, 33, maybe 34 celsius. turning cooler and fresher further west. during friday night into the early hours of saturday, that line of thunderstorms pushes on into the north sea. one or two showers behind but slightly cooler and fresh appeal to things. that is how the new weekend is shaping up slightly. slightly cool and fresher right across the board.

largely dry with some good spells of sunshine bar the odd shower but temperatures a bit more comfortable than where they have been. this is bbc news. the headlines: rescue and recovery efforts are continuing in greece, where wildfires have engulfed several towns and villages near the capital, athens. there are scenes of devastation with forests, homes, and cars completely burnt. at least 74 people are confirmed dead, but it's not clear how many people may be missing. it's emerged that a dam that collapsed in laos, killing 20 people, had developed a fault the day before the accident. a spokesman for a south korean firm helping to build a hydro—power station said workers tried to repair the damage and that authorities evacuated the area before it burst. polls are due to open in pakistan's general election shortly. the front—runners in the contest are the governing party of former prime minister nawaz sharif and the challenger pti party lead by cricketer—turned—politician imran khan. he's been accused of benefiting from the support of the country's powerful security establishment.

you're up to date with the headlines. now on bbc news it's time for tuesday in parliament.