this is bbc news. the headlines at 5.00 — the government says it's focusing on three key areas of concern ahead of the record—breaking temperatures that are forecast to hit the uk next week. the race for conservative party leader and next prime minister continues as the five remaining candidates battle it out in the first tv debate. none of the candidates really stood out as somebody who would give keir starmer a real problem, but of course anybody can grow into the job, so i do not think labour is going to be complacent. heathrow is pushing ahead with plans to force airlines to reduce passenger numbers to help the airport cope with staff shortages. this is a peak year, we are seeing record _ this is a peak year, we are seeing record demand post—pandemic for people _ record demand post—pandemic for people wanting to fly, and over the

next two _ people wanting to fly, and over the next two weeks we are about to enter at the _ next two weeks we are about to enter at the peak— next two weeks we are about to enter at the peak of the peak summer season — politicians in sri lanka begin the process of choosing a new president, after mass protests drove ex—president rajapaksa to resign and flee the country. and an unprecedented win — ireland make history with their first—ever series win in new zealand. good afternoon. welcome to the bbc news channel. a meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee has taken place this afternoon to discuss how to respond to the record temperatures that are expected to hit parts of the uk next week. a national emergency has been declared after a red extreme heat warning was issued for the first time, meaning there's a risk to life. jon donnison reports.

at the bristol harbour festival this weekend, a cold shower more than welcome. and with potentially record temperatures forecast for early next week, this summer's heatwave is entering uncharted waters. well, i don't like the heat. it's all right at the moment, it's all right in the shade, but i do burn too quickly. for those climate sceptics, i think this is evidence that something's definitely happening, so, you know, people need to take a bit of responsibility, definitely. he can't be in nursery for the full day because it's going to be far too hot for him, so he'll be home for the afternoon in a paddling pool with us. probably, yeah! and the extreme heat is expected to put the health service under pressure. the uk health security agency says a far more moderate heatwave last summer led to over 1,600 excess deaths, and it comes with hospitals already under strain because of the recent rise in covid cases. i am worried that we're going to have a surge in attendances over this weekend

and into next week. it's going to put an enormous pressure on notjust the emergency department, but the system as a whole — gps, communities, and well into the hospital as well. the whole system's going to come under pressure. at this primary school in weymouth this week, caps and suncream have been the order of the day, and that was with temperatures around just 30 degrees. but with the possibility of a0 degrees by monday and tuesday, some schools have decided to close. and forecasters say this is all something we're going to have to get used to. scientists believe now that we are going to see more extreme heat, and potentially for a longer period of time. we're10% more likely now to see extreme heat as a result of climate change and man—made influence. and the impact is global. extreme temperatures have led to wildfires in portugal and spain this week. scientists say such weather is no longer exceptional. it's the new normal.

jon donnison, bbc news. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent tim muffett, who's been out and about today at the lambeth country show in london. 1974 was the first time this show took place, but since then, there have been many hot years. none, from what people i have been speaking to have said, quite as hot as this year. it's extraordinarily high temperatures, as we have been hearing. it's a celebration in many ways. the best of the city and country living, but this year, after a two—year gap, there is this issue of the sun and its intense heat. the leader of the lambeth council, tell us, what measures have you put in place this year to cope with this? the health of our residents and everyone attending this fantastic country show, one of the biggest free festivals in the uk, is our top priority. 0ur fantastic events teams have been working with partners to place a range of contingency measures.

we've got extra water fountains, water is free to anyone attending the show. extra fountains, handing out cans of water. we have created more shady spots, erecting gazebos where people can sit and get out of the sun. sunscreen is available for people who need it. we have also enhanced our welfare offer, working with health agencies and the emergency services, so that people who need help can get it fast, and there is lots of people around to help. in terms of the farm, we have animals here, some fantastic animal shows. we have been liaising very closely with farms to ensure that the welfare of the animals is looked after and we have had an animal welfare inspector on site today to make sure that the animals are really safe and well. and we have been having a big communications campaign with our residents so that everyone coming, asking them to bring water, they take lots of breaks, seek out help, and because we have

lots on offer, we have been checking in with all our stallholders as well. the next few days are going to get even more hot. monday and tuesday especially. what are you doing as an organisation to try and cope with that? we are conscious we are on an amber alert tomorrow and red alert monday and tuesday. these extreme events are only going to increase with the climate emergency we are facing, so we said to staff, if you can work from home, please do. we are also ensuring that staff can take frequent breaks from work. 0ur refuse collectors, they are going to be going out earlier, their shifts will start earlier and they will be working in the evening in order to avoid that really intense period in the middle of the day. it will be quite something. thank you very much indeed, hope the event goes as well as this has gone so far. mind the child. more than 100,000 people are expected over the course of the weekend, but spare a thought for the people working here, people like steve who runs this burger shack.

what has it been like working here today? pretty intense. very warm. are you worried about the next few days, what the temperatures might bring and the impact it will have on your business? yeah, it's not going to be great. much the same, really. just obviously staying hydrated, and they gave us some frozen pina coladas earlier, so that kept us going. i'm not sure if that's official health advice, but hey. people are having a fantastic time, it has not been on for the last couple of years, but now it seems people are coming back and enjoying this historic event. this heat posing many challenges, as we heard earlier, measures are in place. free suncream, drinking fountains, covered areas.

fingers crossed it will go off without any major negative impact. the cabinet office minister kit malthouse has been chairing a meeting of the government's cobra civil contingencies committee to discuss the escalating heatwave, and has been speaking about the plans they have put in place. there are three key areas where we want to make sure that we are stood up and as ready as we can be. the first is obviously health and social care, where there has been a lot of work, first of all messaging those people who may be vulnerable, and making sure they take steps to help themselves and protect themselves, but also that hospitals, ambulances, and other areas of that service that may come under pressure are ready and prepared. the second area is schools, where obviously we want to make sure kids do continue to go to school, we think they are safer in schools, but those schools should have more help and guidance and all the support that they need, to keep those kids out of the sun and nice and cool and hydrated. and then thirdly, transport, where we do think there

is going to be a significant impact. obviously the transport providers are messaging people that they should only travel if they really need to on monday and tuesday, but also that services are going to be significantly affected. the heat will affect the rails, for example, so trains have to run slower, there may be fewer services. people just need to be on their guard for disruptions to their normal travel patterns, and if they don't have to travel, then this may be the moment to work at home. the five conservative mps hoping to become the next party leader and prime minister are gearing up for a decisive week after having clashed over a number of issues, including tax, inflation, and trust, in the contest�*s first televised debate. the five will be whittled down to the two final candidates in voting by tory mps next week. here's our political correspondent tony bonsignore. the fewer the remaining candidates, the greater the public scrutiny. the first televised debate suggested that the cost of living crisis

will be a key battleground in this contest. it's an area where the more experienced candidates believe they have the edge, although they're still split on what to do. we need to help people now, and that's why if i was elected as prime minister, i would immediately reverse the national insurance increases, which i called out in cabinet, i was opposed to them in cabinet. i would also remove the green energy levy. i don't think the responsible thing to do right now is launch into some unfunded spree of borrowing and more debt. that willjust make inflation worse. it will make the problem longer. another key issue is the lack of trust in politicians. a question for the candidates, then — is borisjohnson honest? there have been some really severe issues, and i think he's paid a price for that. is borisjohnson an honest man? all the candidates remain hopeful.

i think it went well. i've never done a televised debate before, and i more than held my own. do you think it's helped your chances of winning? absolutely. i think people have learned about me and i look forward to tomorrow. i was pleased to make a positive case for why i can be the best leader for our party and our country, and that is because i want to restore trust, rebuild our economy and unite the country. i was pleased to make a positive case for that. with the next round of mps voting on monday, it still feels like all to play for. tony bonsignore, bbc news. earlier, our political correspondent ben wright told me what happens next in the leadership contest. there is another tv debate tomorrow night, and then mps, it goes back to mps on monday for the next round of voting. so the field will go from five to four, and then by wednesday, we will have the final two candidates, who then of course will spend the summer going around the country, trying to persuade

175,000 tory party members that they should be prime minister. this is a completely in—house tory election, but the mps have still got a few stages to go. and it could still be a very volatile and unpredictable contest in the next three or four days. i mean, look back to 2019, it was not until the final, fifth round thatjeremy hunt leapfrogged michael gove to take the second place spot and then go along with borisjohnson to the vote of the membership. and so there clearly is, i think the jockeying for second place is fierce at the moment. penny mordaunt, in the last ballot of mps, is in second spot. liz truss hopes to leapfrog her if she can pull in particularly votes from the right. she will be hoping that kemi badenoch is knocked out soon, that she can get a chunk of her supporters. but you know, i've talked to lots of mps in the last few days, nobody can predict with much certainty how the numbers might redistribute themselves after

the forthcoming rounds of voting. tim bale is a professor of politics at queen mary university. he gave me his reaction to last night's debate. it will be interesting to see the candidates put through their paces, because to be honest, many of us hadn't really seen a great deal of them before now on live television. and so, you know, there was something there, i think, particularly obviously for party members who are watching out there in the country, that may have swayed some of them. and of course, mps will have been doing so as well. and i think maybe, there might be some change after last night. so what's your assessment, then, of who was weakest and who was strongest? i think rishi sunak probably has done himself a favour there. he played it as the grown—up in the room, someone

who had a real grip on the country's economic situation, and he emphasised time and time again he is going to act responsibly, and i think created a bit of a problem for those candidates who are spraying out the idea of tax cuts, and also those who are spraying out the idea that we can somehow cut public services, which is always far harder to do than many think. so i think he did himself a big favour. penny mordaunt had a lot of momentum going into the debate. i do wonder if some of that momentum is beginning to slip away, because her performance perhaps didn't match some of the expectations, which were admittedly quite high. liz truss didn't really perform very well. i mean, i think that is the consensus. but on the other hand, it's important to realise that she does have a lot of backers within the parliamentary conservative party because she does stand for that low tax, small state conservatism, and of course she carries the good wishes of everybody who wants to prevent rishi sunak becoming prime minister because they feel he betrayed borisjohnson. i think tom tugendhat, you know, did well. he had in some senses the easiestjob, because he is the clean skin, the fresh start candidate,

and his sense of humour really helped him as well. kemi badenoch, she seems to think she has done very well, and perhaps others will agree. you always have to talk yourself up in these things, don't you? you have written extensively about the conservative party, particularly in the sort of modern era. which direction do you see it going in? or is that utterly dependent on who wins this contest? i don't think it's totally dependent on the leader, although clearly the leader of the conservative party and particularly if they're prime minister has a great deal of say in the direction of the party, there's also the centre of gravity in parliament that makes a difference, and to be honest, when we are looking at these candidates, some people talk about right, some people talk about centre or even left of centre. but most of these candidates are really in some senses thatcherite, it's just different strains of thatcherism, really. so i don't think we will see any massive change on the path of the conservative party.

i think one thing that might change, possibly, if rishi sunak, for example, were to become pm, or penny mordaunt, i think there might be slightly less emphasis on this sort of culture war, war on woke stuff. whereas if kemi badenoch were prime minister, or liz truss, i think we would still see quite a lot of that. who would the labour party fear most, do you think? well, interesting. i think after last night, they won't be as scared as perhaps they thought they might be. i don't think any of the candidates really stood out as someone who is going to give keir starmer a real problem. but of course, people can grow into thejob, so i don't think labour is going to be complacent. the headlines on bbc news — the government says it's focusing on three key areas of concern ahead of the record—breaking temperatures that are forecast to hit the uk next week. the race for conservative party leader and next prime minister continues as the five remaining candidates battle it out in the first tv debate.

heathrow is pushing ahead with plans to force airlines to reduce passenger numbers to help the airport cope with staff shortages. time now for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. good evening. we start with rugby union, and an incredible performance from ireland, who've achieved a historic first series win over new zealand. they held off the all blacks in wellington to win 33—22, asjoe lynskey reports. 0n the other side of the world, ireland faced down a sport's near impossiblejob. just four away teams ever had won a series in new zealand, and the last was 1994. but in 28 years, few have come at the all blacks quite like this. ireland were notjust in front, they were dominant. 22—3 up at half—time, but the all blacks

backlash was coming. three second—half tries closed the gap to three points. but still, ireland pushed back and sensed their moment. ulster�*s rob herring just had to reach for it. he got there! eight days ago, they had never won on all black soil. now they had wrapped up a series before the whistle. for ireland, it was great to win just once. but to do this here was extraordinary. joe lynskey, bbc news. a great win for ireland, and for england too — who won their deciding test in sydney, in what is only their second series win in australia. it all came down to a brilliant try from marcus smith, picking up the balljust inside his own half and racing clear, helping england win by 21 points to 17 and the series 2—1. wales are 17—8 down to south africa at half time. scotland play their deciding test

in argentina later. next to day three of the open championship at st andrews. 0ur reporter ben croucher is there for us. rory mcilroy remains part of the chasing pack, but a new man at the top. chasing pack, but a new man at the to -. , chasing pack, but a new man at the to, , , chasing pack, but a new man at the to -. , , , top. his playing partner viktor hovland leads _ top. his playing partner viktor hovland leads the _ top. his playing partner viktor hovland leads the way - top. his playing partner viktor hovland leads the way on - top. his playing partner viktor hovland leads the way on 14 i top. his playing partner viktor - hovland leads the way on 14 under hovland leads the way on 1a under par. he is two shots clear of rory mcilroy and the rest of the field, a 42 foot monster putt helped him on his way. michael wright is clinging on hard, birdies on five and six —— right is clinging on hard —— rory mcilroy is clinging on hard. earlier today, probably the biggest roars we have had around the entire course

came when 2019 champion at shane lowry made back—to—back eagles. he came from absolutely nowhere to move to nine under par, including this eagle on the tenth, chipping in for the second straight hole. but three birdies on his back may have seen him slip back to six under par. —— on his back nine. viktor hovland out in front on 1a under par, rory mcilroy in the group alongside cameron young and overnight leader cameron young and overnight leader cameron smith. his driver is not really working, his patter has gone cold, also on 12 under par. the masters champion scottie scheffler on ten under. tommy fleetwood had a fine round today to pull himself up the leaderboard. still plenty golf to play as the players are on that far corner of the course, including rory mcilroy and our new leader viktor hovland. but with the wind at swelling and the greens hardening

up, it could all change even swear the —— even further —— with the wind swirling. barcelona have reached an agreement with bayern munich to sign striker robert lewandowski, according to the president of the german champions. lewandowski had one year left on his contract, but told bayern he wanted to leave last month. the 33—year—old is their second—highest scorer of all time, with 344 goals in 374 games for the club. that's all the sport for now. more now on our top story — the government's emergency cobra committee has met this afternoon to discuss response to the expected extreme temperatures in the coming days. a national emergency has been declared. it comes at a time when ambulance services are already under intense pressure, with record numbers of callouts and the most urgent, category—one, calls last month. the health secretary steven barclay has been explaining what additional help will be in place during the hot weather.

we'll be putting in extra measures in terms of call handlers, support forfleet, extra hours of capacity within the ambulances, and i was discussing with the ambulance chief execs the specific measures they are taking. each ambulance trust has well—developed contingency plans for extreme weather, and we are also working with the hospitals to get the handover from ambulances into hospitals, but also to ensure that where people can be moved onto the wards themselves, we are using the full capability of the hospital rather than people waiting longer than they need to in ambulances outside. airlines are being forced to either cancel or run fewer flights because of staff shortages at heathrow airport. emirates airlines have agreed to cap sales of their flights out of heathrow until mid—august. a short time ago, i spoke to our business correspondent vishala sri—pathma.

clearly people have been at home, stuck because of restrictions on airline travel for the last couple of years, this is the first year the airlines have some sort of chance of recuperating some losses they have endured. lots of people are quite eager to go abroad, because restrictions have notjust been here in the uk, but also some of the key holiday destinations, spain for example, a popular place for brits to travel, they have had some restrictions that meant you cannot necessarily travel there. now that has been lifted. huge surge in demand. unfortunately, airports have not been able to cope with that demand. heathrow, who we have been hearing from, has said that actually, they have not got the workers on the ground to be able to deal with that influx of passengers, and they have spoken to airlines to try to come to an agreement about scaling back capacity. that has not gone down well, has it? a lot of staff were let go, fired, made redundant, during covid and now they need them back again. what are the airlines doing?

it varies from brand to brand, i'm sure. emirates have said let's come to an agreement here. we will scale back on some of our flights per day to try and meet you in the middle. they said that actually passengers that have booked for travel can go ahead and still travel as per scheduled, but they will scale back on what they plan to do over the summer. british airways are very disappointed, they think these demands are not very fair from the airport, from heathrow, and have said they have had to get in touch with passengers and say, can you reschedule your flight? we can offer you a voucher if you need to cancel. etihad, the other middle eastern airline that is quite popular, have refused so far and have not come to agreement and are still operating as per schedule. a lot of discussions still to take place, but there has been a threat hanging over all of this of legal action? that's right. lots of passengers do not know where they stand, airlines don't

know what they are going to come to the conclusion of. the boss of heathrow said this morning, just bear with us. let's work together. we will hopefully fix this problem by the end of the summer and so therefore flights can resume their schedules as planned, but for now, we have only got 70 or 75% of the baggage handling, security staff that we need, therefore we have seen lots of scenes across short social across news platforms, of people having to face delays, cancellations, and huge chaos. let's try and avoid those scenes and make make it as smooth as possible. earlier i spoke to the travel consultant paul charles, who explained how capping the sale of flights worked. there are two kinds of capping that heathrow is talking about at the moment, with all of the airlines operating from heathrow. first of all, capping flights up until the 25th ofjuly.

this means heathrow is saying, "we are not prepared to accept more than 100,000 passengers through our doors each day, and as a result, you, the airlines, have to cancel as many flights as you can to bring down the number of passengers per day so we reach that 100,000." but what is really annoying the airlines is the plan for after the 25th ofjuly, when heathrow is talking about capping the number of seats on each plane, so they will let the flights take off as planned, which means most people will still get away, but actually, they are asking them to consider capping up to 25% of the seats on each flight and that will annoy many consumers as well as the airlines. it also makes them less cost efficient, and less environmentally friendly, doesn't it? this is something of course airlines are grappling with every day around their environmental prowess,

trying to bring down carbon emissions, but consumers are voting with their feet. this is a peak year, we are seeing record demand post—pandemic for people wanting to fly, and we are about to enter the peak of the peak summer season. this is a time when heathrow needs to step up and deliver the service quality that airlines pay for via the passenger fees that are part of our ticket. so the environmental issue was very important, but seems to go out of the window at this time of year. all of this means a great deal of uncertaintyjust as we are approaching schools closing. they already have in some parts of the country, yet more in the coming week. what are passengers meant to do? i think we may see further cancellations caused by the hot weather over the coming days, on the edge of their seats should not do anything unless they hear from their airline or their flight has been cancelled. some airlines are asking passengers to reconsider theirjourneys

and perhaps book for some time in the future after the summer peak, but if you have already travelled or your flight has been cancelled, you are waiting for your money to come in, your refund from the airline, and airlines are overwhelmed at the moment, they cannot cope with the number of refund requests coming in and a lot of people who have been due hundreds, sometimes thousands of pounds in refunds, are still waiting for that money to come back and it's going to take some time for the airlines to process those. some breaking news. greater manchester police detectives say they are investigating the death of a three—year—old by this afternoon in bury after a collision with a tractor. the police were called just before 12.45 this afternoon after an ambulance had been signalled to stop

by a vehicle, in which a seriously injured child was being carried. 0fficers attended, as did paramedics, but the boy sadly was pronounced dead at the scene. police say they have cordoned off the area where the incident appears to have happened. the driver of the tractor is helping them with their inquiries, and partners for the health and safety executive are also working alongside police investigators to conduct further inquiries to find out exactly how this happened. that's the statement from greater manchester police. 3 people have been killed and 15 others injured in the ukrainian city of dnipro following a russian missile attack on the country's leading space rocket and satellite factory. ukraine says it needs urgent shipments of long—range artillery and other weapons to slow the advance of russian forces

in the east of the country as our defence correspondent, jonathan beale, reports. 0n ukraine's eastern front, they're about to target russian positions. this time, using american—supplied howitzers and ammunition. explosion. ukraine's still vastly outgunned. these help, but they can't hang around. explosion. western weapons like this have given ukraine an advantage in terms of accuracy and range, but they've also become high—value targets, with russia trying to hunt them down. they prepare to move out quickly before they become the target. explosions. go, go, go! explosions. well, that's a russian reply coming in just now. they fired their shots and, within minutes, russian artillery were responding, shells landing close to was where we are now.

gunshot.