hello. good afternoon. thousands of firefighters are tackling around 130 blazes along the west coast of north america stretching from canada down to new mexico. 40,000 people have had to abandon their homes in one californian town alone. so far the wildfires have claimed five lives including two children but many more people remain unaccounted for. caroline davies reports. with the forced to pull trees from the earth and overturned cars, gale force winds have turned this californian wildfire into what survivors called a tornado aflame. it has torn through forest and buildings, forcing nearly 40,000 to flee their homes and offices in just one town, including one local tv station. we are going to leave the station. we are going to leave the station because it is now unsafe to be here. from the air and on ground, firefighters are trying to control the blaze in and around the city of

redding, but stopping it has been difficult and dangerous. the winds we re difficult and dangerous. the winds were so difficult and dangerous. the winds were so strong, the fire jumped the sacramento river. to fight fire in rugged country, we are used to doing that, but when it blows into a whole community or city, it is a whole different element. this is the devastation it leaves behind. many who left don't know if their homes are still standing. some chose not to leave at all. homes were exploding, cars were exploding. i have a wife and kids and i said i had better face have a wife and kids and i said i had betterface time my have a wife and kids and i said i had better face time my wife just in case. i didn't let her know why i was doing it but i wanted to see her face one more time. five people have died in the fires so far including an elderly woman and two great grandchildren aged just four and five. the fire moved so quickly it is difficult to know who escaped and who didn't. at least 12 people are reported to be missing. this is one of 130 wildfires burning across

north america, and as the dry weather continues, so too does the danger. caroline davies, bbc news. the government is looking at making political adverts online more transparent so people know who is behind them. it also wants to crack down on online abuse against political candidates in elections. it follows the publication of a report into the extent of fake news on social media and its impact on the democratic process. here's our political correspondent susana mendonca. what is real and what isn't? in the digital world it can be difficult to pick out what is fake news. revelations that people's personal data was being harvested by a company called cambridge analytica to influence the us elections through social outlets like facebook has raised questions about its impact on democracy. a committee of mps is calling for the role to be made clearer,

amid concerns about foreign meddling in british elections. this is something you see, the palm of your hand, every time you pick up your smartphone and look at your facebook app, so it's much more intrusive than before. but secondly, it's not always clear who is advertising to you. the reasons the russians could use facebook to run ads to target people in elections was because you didn't know that was who was doing it. the report looks into the kinds of adverts sent during the eu referendum. it calls for the creation of a register which allows everyone to see the messages that have been targeted at others, and makes it clear where adverts have come from. but does it change the way you vote? it isa but does it change the way you vote? it is a difficult thing to measure but it certainly has the potential to influence both how someone votes, in terms of their views and who they support, but also whether they turn out to vote which are crucial elements in a contest. facebook has been sending its own adverts out to tell users what it has been doing to combat fake news. it told the bbc it is working on ways to authenticate

and label political adverts in the uk. meanwhile the government has announced plans to make social media announced plans to make social media a safer place for election campaigning. this is putting people off going into public service and putting voters off from taking part in politics. what we are doing is a couple of measures which we hope will really help voters to be well—informed about digital campaigning, but also to be able to be protected from intimidating behaviour during elections. labour said the government needs to wake up to the new challenges we face, to make sure that future campaigns and elections can't be abused or manipulated. susana mendonca, bbc news. at least 14 people have died and dozens have been injured after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the indonesian island of lombok which is popular with tourists. officials say hundreds have been injured and the number of casualties is expected to rise. the quake hit early in the morning when many people were still sleeping. tremours were felt up to 60 miles away on bali. a palestinian teenager

who slapped an israeli solider in the occupied west bank has been freed after eight months in jail. ahed tamimi had an emotional reunion today with friends and family. she became a symbol of resistance against israel when the footage of the incident was streamed on facebook and went viral. here, blue badge parking permits are to be made available for people in england with hidden disabilities such as autism or mental health problems. the department for transport said people with non—physical disabilities would have an equal right to free parking from next year. similar changes have already come into effect in scotland and wales. qatar's succesful world cup bidding team has flatly denied that it ran a covert black ops public relations campaign to discredit rivals for the 2022 football finals. it follows allegations made by the sunday times that the qataris employed a pr agency and former cia

operatives to try and undermine bids by the us and australia in breach of fifa rules. 0ur sports news correspondent richard conway reports. qatar! it was a moment that stunned sport and the watching world. ever since that day in 2010, the qatari world cup has been embroiled in controversy, and today the sunday times has further allegations of wrongdoing. the paper claims to have seen leaked documents that show the qatari bid team employed a us pr firm and ex—cia agents to smear its rivals, mainly the united states and australia. some of the alleged aspects of the smear campaign include a group of american pe teachers being recruited to ask their us congressmen to oppose an american world cup on the grounds that the money would be better used on high—school sports. grassroots protests were organised at rugby games in australia opposing the country's bid. journalists, bloggers and high

profile figures were recruited in each country to hype up negative aspects of their respective bids. there are now calls for fifa, football's world governing body, to hold an independent inquiry. if the qatari bid team were involved in a campaign like that, then that means they would have broken the rules of the bidding process, so it's a really serious matter. i think it requires proper investigation and fifa to be involved in investigating that as well. in a statement, qatar's supreme committee for delivery and legacy said it rejects each and every allegation put forward. fifa says a thorough investigation into corruption claims was conducted in 2014, with michael garcia, a us attorney, clearing qatar of any wrongdoing. qatar is locked in a fierce political feud with neighbouring countries saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. these claims will therefore be seized upon by its critics as further reason to strip them of the tournament, despite the fact there appears little appetite from fifa to act. richard conway, bbc news. geraint thomas will become the first welshman to win

the tour de france when he crosses the finish line in paris later today. his place in the history books was assured after a stunning performance in a time trial yesterday. jo currie is in paris for us this lunchtime. jo. yes, the riders will reach as here in paris and around four hours. lorraine thomas will lead the procession down the champs elysees. —— geraint thomas. thousands of fans are expected to welcome the riders home. the race really finished yesterday after the penultimate stage yesterday, the time trial. thomas finished third in the stage but in quick enough time to be sure that he will be crowned champion overall. 0n way into paris, we will see the likes of thomas linking arms with the team sky team—mates, and champagne, but then get to the

champs elysees, they will do a colla pse champs elysees, they will do a collapse of the course and only then will thomas be allowed to be crowned champion of the tour de france for the first time and taken place on the first time and taken place on the top of the podium. his team—mate chris froome will also be on the podium, finishing in third. it is the first time for a welshman to win and the third time a british man to win, behind chris froome and sir bradley wiggins. thank you very much. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 6:30. hello, you're watching the bbc news channel with me, ben brown. the former president of zimbabwe robert mugabe has given his first news conference since being deposed last year. mr mugabe said that he had planned

to stand down at his party's congress in december anyway. he denied that he planned to hand the leadership to his wife, grace, and said since his forced removal from office, the people of zimbabwe had not been free. his intervention comes a day before the country goes to the polls to elect a new parliament and president. i've been speaking to the bbc‘s sophie ikenya, who was following mr mugabe's news conference in harare. we haven't heard from mr mugabe in many months, since he was pushed out from power, and this was quite an unprecedented press conference. he chose to do this on the eve of the elections, which are supposed to be taking place tomorrow. he was accompanied at the press conference by his wife, grace, and his daughter, leaning back in his seat, you know, his wife urging him to sit upright or speak up as he addressed the press conference. it was quite long, and i understand it is still going on, but from what we gathered, we mentioned the main points earlier, he had planned to resign

in december at an extraordinary summit, where he said he was hoping to open up the space for other people within the zanu—pf party. he also said he actually had a preferred candidate, sydney sekeramayi, a former defence minister during the regime, and one of the most important points he made was that he will not support those who supported him, saying he would only support from the 22 candidates, we have 23 in the elections, but then he also spoke to zimbabweans in this press conference saying that they should choose freely, they should choose freely, and the results of the elections that are free should be acknowledged and recognised. i suppose that is the question — will these elections be free unfair? that is the key question for zimbabwe, what is your impression?

we have been speaking to a lot of people, including the electoral commission, which says they are ready, they put everything in place to make sure that the election is free and fair. the police also have said that they will make sure they are in all hotspots to make sure that the process goes well. the big question, really, is whether the military will interfere or not. it is interesting to note that mr mugabe himself said that the election commission should make sure that the army does not appear in the electoral process, and that the people should vote as freely as they want, choose whichever candidates they want, but the military should not interfere at all with the electoral process. he spent a lot of time, really, talking about what happened before that soft takeover, and he also questioned whether it was really necessary for the coup to happen as it did, was it really necessary, that is one of the big questions

that he kept asking, was there no other way for things to have changed within zimbabwe? and he also hoped that these elections will bring the country to constitutionality, as he put it. well, as we've been reporting, blue badge parking permits are to be made available for people in england with "hidden disabilities" such as autism or mental health problems. the department for transport said people with non—physical disabilities would have an equal right to free parking from next year. the current rules do not explicitly exclude hidden disabilities, but councils' interpretations can vary. similar changes have come into effect in scotland and wales. for more on this, i've been speaking to sarah lambert, who's head of policy at the national autistic society, who told me what kind of a difference this would make. for autistic people

and theirfamilies, and we have been speaking to them in the lead—up to this announcement, it will be transformational, the difference between whether they can go out and access shops, restaurants and services and see their friends and family in the way everyone else, and we spoke to one family who had had a blue badge in the past, but it had been taken away from them, and what that meant was that theyjust don't go out with their son anymore, because they are so worried about what will happen when they arrive at their destination. sometimes they have anxieties just about going out? this particularfamily that we were talking to, they told us that if they have to park quite far away from where they were going, the journey on foot through busy, crowded streets could cause considerable anxiety and result in him running out into the road, which is obviously very dangerous. for some autistic people, they do have less sense of danger, so it can be dangerous to take them out. if you do not know where he will park, it means you stay at home. how many people are we talking

about, quite a big increase? so the government, i think, is looking at around 5—6% increase, and that will include autistic people, people with dementia and mental health problems, but within those groups just having autism in itself will not mean you automatically qualify for a blue badge — there will be strict criteria to make sure that it is those people who can benefit the most from it. and some autistic people say, i don't need a blue badge, i can get out and about, i don't need that. but there are a group of people who can really benefit, so we are delighted the government has made this change. i know sometimes in the past blue badge holders have been accosted by people, frankly, saying, "why are you parking there?" "why have you got a blue badge?" if you don't have an obvious disability, could there be problems with members of the public saying, "why on earth have you got a blue badge?" we do have concerns about that, at the national autistic society,

we are trying to do lots every day to raise awareness of autism amongst the general public, it is one of the most important thing is that autistic people and family say they won't us to do, and as a result of our campaigning, there has been an increase in understanding among the general public of some of the difficulties that autistic people face, so we need to step up that effort even further to make sure that autistic people and their families can feel welcome when they are out and about in the community. but you think this is overdue? long overdue, the rules have changed at various points in the past, it has become quite confusing. so we have been campaigning for years to make it much more clear that autistic people and their families can access a blue badge. when will this come into effect? there does need to be a regulation change, so the regulation that underpins this dates back to the 19705, which is why it is so long overdue, our understanding of disability was substantially different then, so there will be regulations before

parliament, we would urge the government to do that as quickly as possible. the headlines on bbc news. wildfires in northern california kill five people, destroy hundreds of buildings, and cause thousands to flee their homes. the chair of the committee that oversees media and culture says that electoral laws need to be reformed to protect consumers from disinformation such as fake news. qatar has denied claims it ran a secret campaign to sabotage other countries' bids for the 2022 world cup. sport, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's kat downes. good afternoon. it's a momentous day for welsh cycling as geraint thomas is poised to become the first welshman to win the tour de france. he merely has to stay upright and not take in too much champagne as the race heads into paris,

down the champs—elysees. it's the first time he'll have won the race, and the sixth success in seven years for britain and team sky after sir bradley wiggins and chris froome. robert bales says it is a life changing moment for thomas. when you look back at his career, 11 yea rs when you look back at his career, 11 years ago, when he first came here, the youngest rider in the tour, he has progressed and progressed, he has progressed and progressed, he has been away on a couple of occasions, picking up 0lympic has been away on a couple of occasions, picking up olympic gold medals on the track, and in the last 12 months, certainly, he has focused on this, and when you look at how he has ridden within the team, pretty much always alongside somebody else, chris froome obviously, the main rider he has looked after, to help gain the yellow jersey, rider he has looked after, to help gain the yellowjersey, on four occasions. and finally, this year, he has focused on the sole objective

of trying to get the yellowjersey himself. and he has come away with it, he has actually done it, it has really been emotional, he is an extremely popular winner amongst the crowd, among the public. but more importantly, amongst his peers, the riders in the peloton, so that is an achievement in itself. geraint thomas is a former pupil of whitchurch high school in cardiff. fellow alumni include gareth bale and sam warburton. theirformer pe teacher is steve williams. tremendous achievement. we are so proud of him down here. his commitment over the years and the hard work he has put in, cardiff is buzzing, we are looking forward to once for going back to school so we can celebrate all together. lewis hamilton will start on pole at the hugarian grand prix — looking to extend his 17—point lead at the top of the f1 drivers' championship. he starts just ahead of team—mate valterri bottas and the ferraris of kimi raikkonen and sebastian vettel. the race starts at two o'clock —

coverage is on 5 live. manchester united bossjose mourinho admits he wouldn't have paid to watch his side in their pre—season 4—1 defeat to liverpool. the world cup means many of his first—choice players are still on holiday, and he wasn't too impressed by those he picked if i was them, i wouldn't come. i wouldn't come, i wouldn't spend my money to see these teams. i wouldn't spend my money. for example, i was watching something on the television today, was chelsea against inter. the people in nice decided the beach was better than this, and they went to the beach, they didn't go to that game, the stadium was empty. elsehwere in the international champions cup, spurs lost on penalties to barcelona. they did though come from behind to draw 2—2. manchester city also came from two goals down to beat bayern munich 3—2 in miami, although there are concerns

about an ankle injury suffered by new signing riyad mahrez. british heavyweight dillian whyte says he's ready to take on anthonyjoshua again, after winning his latest bout against new zealand'sjoseph parker, coming out on top on a points decision in london last night. 0n the undercard of that fight, irish boxer katie taylor defended her wba and ibf lightweight titles in a third—round stoppage win over usa's kimberly connor. it's her tenth professional win. that's all the sport for now. let's get more now on the tour de france, and as we've been hearing in sport, geraint thomas is on the brink of becoming the first welshman and the third british cyclist to win the event. sir dave brailsford, the man in charge of geraint thomas and team sky says their plan was to have him ready to perform strongly this month. we decided with him for the first time that his entire season should be built around peaking injuly. previously, he'd done the tour of italy in may,

he'd hit the racing peak sooner and dropped off and come back up forjuly, but this season was all about july and building for july. a little earlier, i spoke to the cycling journalist nick bull, who explained how this edition of the tour de france was won. if you were to write a textbook on how to do it, geraint thomas' three weeks have been perfect, he has stayed out of trouble and been so strong. any time he has had to put time into his opponents, he has taken advantage, and while chris froome has not looked as imperious as in recent years, geraint thomas has gone from strength to strength, and he deserves to be champion. the two say they are friends, but they have been rivals as well in france. yes, and sky have managed it pretty well — chris froome turned up expecting to be number one, and while geraint thomas was probably toeing the party line that he was number two, secretly he was harbouring ambitions of being team leader. sometimes the tactics play out on the road,

and the nature of the tour de france, riders have incidents, mechanical problems, crashes, all of that affected chris froome, so it was more of a natural selection. team sky didn't have to strike a deal, geraint was the natural leader in the best position. team sky have had so much success, they have been mired in controversy, it is fair to say, and also fair to say they are not popular with the french public. indeed! the french cycling public typically like the plucky underdogs, not the winners, not a team like team sky who have been so dominant over the past few years. since bradley wiggins won in 2012, only 2014 they did not win the tour de france. the budget, ithink, rankles with the french cycling public, their sports newspaper l‘equipe said that sky winning tour de france is like celebrating

paris saint—germain beating a team of amateurs 8—0, it doesn't sit comfortably with the french public. team sky and dave brailsford have always made much of their marginal gains, that is how they win races, but presumably it is harder and harder to make those marginal gains over their competitors. yes, but with their big budget they can try that all the time. a couple of years back they spent thousands of pounds working out if the way that a cyclist shave their legs, up or down the stroke, contributes to the aerodynamic effect. it turns out it didn't, but they always pushing the envelope, just trying to get that secret is tenth of a second here and there. does that mean that team sky is going to continue to dominate the tour de france, that british riders will continue to win it in the coming years? quite possibly. while chris froome fell short this year, he is still one win away from a record equalling fifth victory, so he will come back next year fully determined to get that if the win. and geraint thomas, as defending champion, he won't want to play second fiddle

to chris froome again, he will want to be leader, so an intriguing 12 months to see how that plays out. finally, big money for these cyclists, they earn millions. indeed, chris froome and geraint thomas are an about 3 million a year, and on top of that there are performance bonuses and a lot of sponsorship. if you win the tour de france, you are an extremely marketable athlete, and i wouldn't be surprised to see his face plastered on billboards and adverts. great britain's first disabled air display team will take to the skies in the next few weeks. the four—person squad is made up of wheelchair users and amputees and was assembled in honour of the hero fighter pilot sir douglas bader, who lost both his legs. a film crew from our disability unit, bbc 0uch, went to meet them. visibility, five. going to be runway... i am alan, with barry, mike and mark. we will be great britain's first disabled air display team.

i want us to be a display team that people want to see because we are good, rather than, "oh, look, look what those disabled people are doing, bless." i want us to be good. after 20—odd years of being paralysed, it's fair to say i was pretty fed up. somebody turning round and saying, do you want to learn to fly? it was like the light came on again. how was it? much better. i have the least experience of anybody here. i am very privileged to be in the team, but i would also be quite relieved to be the one that was sat on the ground doing the commentary for the first air display. what attracts me is it's good fun to sit there and look out the window and see another aeroplane. you are using all the controls all the time. you're using the throttle, elevators, the rudder pedals, which, obviously, we both have difficulties with that. so you are constantly, constantly on the go. if i'm honest, i am uncomfortable flying close to another aircraft.

you are taught, see and avoid, and all of a sudden, you are close enough and there's this huge aircraft there next to you and they are saying, in a little bit closer. and really, all i want to do is run away, but the thrill of doing this is just unbeatable. i think we both know what pain is. i was paralysed at 18 years old. i had a motorcycle accident. broke nearly every bone in my body, apart from my arms and legs. very lucky to survive. but it left me confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life. what happened to me was the same. motorbike. i got hit by a car, and it almost amputated my leg there, and the surgeons did the rest of it that night. when i woke up the next morning, realised my leg had gone, i realised that my ambition to fly might have been gone, because i didn't know that disabled people could fly, so i did a little bit of research and i found that disabled people could fly and then ijust made it a goal simply to get a license. i wouldn't have thought in a million years i would be able

to do formation flying, and who knows what's next? it's not going to be a case of we are the red arrows with propellers and no legs. i still cannot believe that we are doing this — just learning to fly was a privilege. learning to fly formation, thatjust doesn't happen. that's something else. let alone disabled pilots. i think there is still a perception that disabled people just aren't capable of living full, independent lives, and i hope that sometimes, by doing something like this, we help straighten that record a little bit. time for a look at the weather, here's alina jenkins. good afternoon. not looking bride spectating weather, in fact it is cool spectating weather, in fact it is cool, wet and windy, conditions we have not seen much this summer. this

was sent in from romford, a very 5°99y was sent in from romford, a very soggy scene. but there has been some brightness around, some blue skies and a sunny spells, this was sent in from a weather watcher in moray. two areas of low pressure, one area clearing out towards the north—west, this area of low pressure bringing the bulk of the wet and windy weather across much of the uk. it does look like it has largely clear from much of england and wales, working north and east, pushing into scotland, and through this afternoon eastern parts of scotland seeing heavy bursts of rain, the odd rumble of thunder. across england and wales, sunny spells and western counties, is scattering of showers, right across northern ireland, the north—west of scotland is just missing that rain. still, gusty winds through the afternoon, perhaps gusting at 15 mph. highs of around 23 celsius. as that rain clears towards the north—east, some clear spells for a time, still a fairly

breezy south—westerly wind, then into the early hours a few showery outbreaks of rain to look out for. temperatures overnight fairly warm in the south, not much lower than 18 for parts of london, cooler in the north, 9—13dc. this is how it is looking into the working week, still ina looking into the working week, still in a showery flow of air, some weather fronts, so for south—east england some showery rain to begin with, but brightening up. some showers across wales, the midlands, parts of yorkshire as well. but sunny spells without too, and