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. people ran towards the sea to take refuge but they were trapped. pakistan's general election gets underway, but has the army already won? as you can see in these live pictures, polls havejust opened. we'll be live in islamabad. after a dam collapses in southern laos, the construction company admits it knew of problems the day before. 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, to 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.com/news. pakistan has deployed hundreds of thousands of troops across the country to secure polling stations, which havejust opened for the general election. it's only the third since the end of military rule. over 100 million people are eligible to cast their ballot. let's go live to our correspondent in islamabad, secunder kermani. our guest was briefly kidnapped by

masked men. he saves historic, it's only the second democratic transition. there is some feeling that democracy has progressed as well, isn't there? yes, absolutely. it looks like it has regressed because of the absolute control that the military has over the selection process. you would be aware that every publication international and political parties in pakistani are rolling out the political engineering that has been long going. and tilted towards him run calm, who is seen as a support of the military. and the political engineering that we all talk about

has been ongoing for a long time. it is not just over the has been ongoing for a long time. it is notjust over the last few months, it's just that the events of the past few months have become extremely visible. it was very clear at the end of 2016 in the beginning of 2017 at former prime minister sharif‘s party would sweep the elections and since then, efforts have been ongoing. very recently, over the past few months, candidates have been threatened to join, over the past few months, candidates have been threatened tojoin, or at least contest is independence. and this party has been a special favourite of the course which brought a case after case, either co nte m pt of brought a case after case, either contempt of court or corruption cases 01’ contempt of court or corruption cases or using the use of articles 62 and 63 of the constitution. which

grinds them as untruthful. we have been seeing all of this. suddenly, just on the last day, when you cannot award party tickets any more. five candidates will the national assembly they return their party tickets. that was a very strange mood and this party can no longer field candidates. we see a regression and what remains to be seen is what happens at the ballot box is today and what the results are because the people are very charged. i expect a record turnout.

and the mandate being stolen away. and the mandate being stolen away. and all parties, supporters, are very charged and the turnout and results will tell us whether the engineering has succeeded as planned. thank you very much indeed. i think we can speak to our correspondence. . . i think we can speak to our correspondence... we'll speak to him a bit later. some more on the election to come. 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 a hundred 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. for 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. 11 members of the thai football team who were rescued from a deep cave in northern thailand will be ordained shortly in a buddhist ceremony on wednesday. the boys have had their heads shaved ahead of the ceremony and their 9—day retreat at a monastery. the gesture is believed to cleanse

them spiritually and is also an act of remembrance for the thai navy diver who died preparing their escape route. it's reported from the united states that the singer demi lovato is in hospital in los angeles. the celebrity gossip website tmz says the singer, who is 25, was found in her hollywood home on tuesday morning. there have been reports of substance abuse in past years, but a new statement says she is awake, with herfamily, and wants to thank everyone for love, prayers and support. the man poisoned by the nerve agent, novichok, in wiltshire in southern england 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. facebook executives are to meet with officials from the flemish tourist board to try to resolve a row over nudity on the site. some museums and art galleries have complained about what they see as censorship of some

of the finest artists in history. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. the descent from the cross by the 17th—century flemish master 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, images 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. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: what's the cost of getting shot in the united states? apart from 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 world 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. polls have just opened in pakistan's general election after a campaign that has been marred by violence and accusations of military interference. let's stay with that story now. let's go live to our correspondent in islamabad, secunder kermani. we have been seeing pictures of troops at some polling stations. a 175 people killed in this campaign, including three potential candidate. she been brutal. the military

crucial in a country as a whole but crucial in a country as a whole but crucial to this collection as well. —— election. absolutely. security levels have greatly improved over the past few years, but in recent weeks we have seen a number of deadly attacks. security is a concern. there are over 370,000 troops and even more police officers deployed across the country at polling stations. i am outside a polling stations. i am outside a polling stations. i am outside a polling station at the school right 110w polling station at the school right now in islamabad. the polls opened in the last 15 minutes. you can already see a queue of voters who have arrived. there are over 105 million people registered to vote in pakistan and they will be choosing candidates for 272 directly elected seats. we expect there to be at tight race between the party that

has been in powerfor the last tight race between the party that has been in power for the last five yea rs has been in power for the last five years and the party led by imran khan. could the constituency i am in right now is one of the key constituencies to watch. it pits imran khan against the outgoing prime minister. whatever happens in this constituency might give us an idea of what might happen nationally, although i should say both leaders are also standing in other. whoever loses doesn't necessarily not make it into the next parliament. we have this bizarre situation where the man who is three times in prime minister is watching all this from prison while his party is a front runner in the election. in one calmed ticked by many to win. if he does, what challenges that he face? —— imran khan. i was speaking to imran khan last week and asset to him, if he becomes prime minister, he will be

inheriting a very polarised country. it is expect it to be a tight race between his party and the other party. there has been an acrimonious campaign with competing allegations of corruption levelled against the party and allegations of undue military interference level at against him on khan's party. he told me as faras against him on khan's party. he told me as far as he is concerned the biggest challenge will not be to unite that country but to focus on the economy and that is one of them keyissues the economy and that is one of them key issues in this election. we have seen key issues in this election. we have seen the trade deficit increased in recent yea rs seen the trade deficit increased in recent years which has led to a depletion of foreign country reserves. the country could be headed for another bailout. what happens in the next few days will have a big bearing on the country's future. much more to come on this. thank you very much. every day around the world, just over 800 women die from illnesses 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 has made significant leaps in tackling its maternal mortality rate. yogita limaye sent this 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's a small step in a long journey towards ensuring women have healthy pregnancies. 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's something which has changed a lot over the past two decades. this is a government health centre where pregnant women are given medicines 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 at 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. that is the big change i have seen. where the 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's given birth. i think 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. translation: 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, and 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. 0n the bbc, sad to say, we've covered countless stories on gun violence in the us, but there's a feeling we rarely tell the tale of survivors who so often find recovery difficult, not only physically, but financially. medical bills can run into

tens of thousands of dollars with no end in sight. here's how two survivors are trying to cope. i don't think people understand how expensive it is to get shot. am i ever going to be out of debt because these medical bills, it's in voluntary. i did not ask to get shot. yes, i was a victim of a mass shooting. but i'm a survivor because i'm pushing through it and i'm not letting what happened to me take over me and consume in depression and into debt. so i'm 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 hip, it's just cracked, i guess you could say.

i have nerve damage, basically. it's called drop flip or flip drop. 11,628... 1,180... 1,396... i don't know if i will ever be able to get a house or have kids because of my incident. then you have — 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 who their 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, but, you know, i still stress, i still get depressed. i try hard and try my best to keep my head up. the trauma of physical and financial of getting shot in the us. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. thank you for watching. 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, cast 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 to the here and now and to the early hours of wednesday, it is looking largely dry across the board. one or two showers for 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 in towards parts scotland, northern ireland, with just a few showers

the western isles. maybe the odd afternoon shower developing in the heat of the day across east anglia. you can see the orange colours extending further northwards and westwards. temperatures reaching the low 20s celsius through the afternoon 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, 3a, maybe 35 degrees somewhere in the south—east. then our 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 3a celsius. but 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 feel to things. that is how the new weekend is shaping up 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. dodona this is bbc news, the headlines: emergency teams are still battling the worst fire disaster in greece in a decade. wildfires have engulfed several towns and villages near the capital, athens. there are scenes of devastation with forests, homes and cars burnt out. at least 7a people are confirmed dead, others missing. polls have opened in

pakistan's general election. front—runners are the governing party of former prime minister nawaz sharif, although he is injail for corruption, and the pti, led by cricketer—turned—politician imran khan. the support of pakistan's powerful military is likely to prove crucial. it's emerged that a dam that collapsed in laos, killing 20 people, had developed a fault the day beforehand. workers for a south korean firm helping build a hydro—power station had tried unsuccessfully to repair it. authorities were warned and launched an evacuation, but too late for some.