this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm rich preston. our top stories: europe's intense heatwave ignites wildfires. many have died in extreme temperatures across the continent. it is a real struggle for the firefighters to try and stop the blazes. the air is full of thick smoke which stings your eyes and makes you want to cough. moscow orders its forces to step up operations across ukraine as russian missiles strike several cities. president biden wraps up his first middle east tour, with a promise the us will remain fully engaged in the region. the un extends its mission in haiti for a further 12 months after petrol shortages and gang warfare

in port—au—prince, fuels greater instability. and beer for sunflower oil — the munich pub finding an unusual way to beat a frying oil crunch. hello and welcome to bbc news. a summer heatwave that has triggered devastating forest fires across southwest europe shows no signs of abating on sunday. firefighters in france, portugal, spain and greece are battling forest blazes. and new temperature records look to be on the way. the heat is thought to have claimed many lives , possibly hundreds. our correspondent, bethany bell, reports from malaga. wildfires are raging in spain

after days of intense heat. firefighters battle flames in the west of the country. in the south, in malaga, a popular tourist area, at least 3000 people have been evacuated from their homes. when we arrived, a new fire had just broken out in the woods. 0verhead, helicopters carrying water are returned again and again to try to put out the flames. fires keep breaking out in these hills and it is a real struggle for the firefighters to try and stop the blazes. the air is full of thick smoke. it stings your eyes and makes you want to cough, and it is very hot. 0n the road, we met sharon, who is from england. she lives nearby with her daughter, valentina. their home is safe but they

were out trying to round up pets and animals who were left behind when their owners. we are seeing if anyone needs help evacuating, especially animals, many were left behind. have you ever felt frightened? frightened? yes! when we first saw the fire, we thought it was coming to our house and we have many pets and animals and wondering how we could evacuate them and we had two horses, dogs, we were very frightened. with the hot weather set to continue, spain remains on high alert. bethany bell, bbc news, malaga. an amber weather warning has come into force across much of england and parts of wales as the uk braces itself for record high temperatures over the coming days. forecasters warn the worst of the heat will be on monday and tuesday, when the mercury could hit more than a0 celsius "104 farenheit —

triggering a severe red warning for the first time. 0ur correspondent, jon donnison has the latest. it is without doubt weather for mr whippy, and at roundhay park in leeds, he's been doing a roaring trade. so, yeah, it's been extremely busy. we're just working 12 hours every single day, in the heat and obviously monday and tuesday next week, itjust looks like it's going to be unbearable. here we go. keeping cool is going to be key... ..with temperatures expected to reach the high 30s and even a0 celsius. concerned about my dogs, so i'm going to get her a paddling pool, try to keep her inside as much as possible, but then also i've got a mother in a nursing home so that's concerning me. so i've got a meeting today to find out what they're going to do to make sure that the residents are kept cool. doctors have warned it's not just the vulnerable who are at risk from such extreme heat.

the uk health security agency says a far more moderate heatwave last summer led to over 1,600 excess deaths. and all this comes with hospitals already under mounting pressure because of the recent surge in covid cases and there's a particular warning from health officials today that patients shouldn't be left stuck in ambulances in sweltering temperatures while doctors wait for beds to clear inside. but speaking on a visit to the east of england ambulance trust today, the new health secretary said the government was prepared. we're putting in additional capacity, whether it's with call handlers, whether it's the number of paramedics on duty, whether it's extra capacity in 111 as well. so we're putting in that additional capacity and we're working with hospital trust leaders in terms of where we're able to increase bed capacity on the wards. at 0gmore beach, in wales, this weekend, people were enjoying the sea air. but in some parts of the uk

it is forecast to be 10 degrees hotter on monday than today, and the advice is to stay out of the sun. and forecasters say all this is 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. so, the next few days could see records broken and britain's weather move into uncharted waters. but climate scientists say extreme temperatures in the summer are already becoming the new normal. john donnison, bbc news. dr daniel kammen is a professor at the university of california, and a climate change adviser to various us administrations over the last twenty years. here he is explaining what a double jet stream is. what we have

are two high velocity streams of air, one in shetland and one south in portugal and that really helps to trap the heat and what it causes essentially is an amplification of the already heated climate that we are in, more than 1 degree celsius higher than we should be, is causing our is a focus, or a furnace if you will, over western europe and we have now been seeing this for decades. unfortunately, we expect to see it continuing as climate change gets worse and worse. as you mentioned, not for the first time we're being told this extreme weather events will be more common and more extreme. what does the latest science say about how bad these are going to be? two factors going on, one is the overall heating and the second thing is that western europe is in the crosshairs

of the band of extra heat. this is work that has been going on for some time. there has been some new important papers published by a team from germany, uk and the united states, and it looks like we're moving into this regime as we have these hotter and hotter climates. what that also means is that we stress our infrastructure, we stress the least able to respond communities. i would say it is a double whammy. it is climate change causing additional stresses in the system. how in that case should governments be responding? there is a very simple equation, actually, but we don't seem to want to do it. that is countries and states the united states, united kingdom, us, denmark and others that have climate targets to go carbon—neutral, net—zero, they need to move those forward. in california, our target is to be a carbon neutral

economy by 2045. we are debating to move it to 2040 or 2035, and the same discussions going on in england and the moving off of russian gas in germany is also part of an effort to accelerate their programmes. and that is really the only antidote. we need to decarbonise faster and more aggressively and make the most vulnerable the communities we think about first, not last as we deal with this. you mentioned the most vulnerable. on an international scale, we know it is the poorest people in the poorest countries who are worst affected by climate change but when we have these heat waves in europe we panic and focus on what is going on at home and as a result we forget what is happening on the other side of the world. are these people losing out because we get distracted with things happening in our own back garden? i would say we are all suffering. it is horrible to see fires in expensive hills and communities in southern portugal

and spain and it is serious but particularly serious for those who cannot afford air—conditioning, in communities across east africa and north africa, where we are seeing similar effects with heat waves in europe. these are communities that do not have the technical or financial capacity to respond. this is really a case of looking after the most vulnerable first, really gets us going to look after everybody. i would say this story called the just transition, is really is one of making the climate better for all of us, notjust the least well off. and for more information about this please go to this website or the bbc app.

let's get some of the day's other news. two nigerian catholic priests have been kidnapped in the northern state of kaduna, a fortnight after three other priests were abducted by gunmen. the pair were taken while on their way to a church function. armed gangs who kidnap people for ransom are widespread in the region. a cargo plane with eight people on board has crashed in northern greece near the city of kavala. state television reported that the aircraft was flying from serbia to jordan. video footage showed the plane descending in flames before hitting the ground in a large explosion. the american fred kerley has won the men's 100 metres at the world athletics championships 0regon. his us team mates secured second and third. russia's defence minister has ordered all forces to step up operations across ukraine. sergei shoigu said it was to prevent attacks on the occupied east of the country. it comes as russian missiles struck cities right across the country, including at a space rocket and satellite factory in dnipro.

0ur defence correspondent, jonathan beale, has this report. 0n ukraine's eastern front, they're about to target russian positions... ..this time, using american—supplied howitzers and ammunition. ukraine's still vastly outgunned. these help... ..but they can't hang around. 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. gunshot. go, go, go! 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 us, where we are now.

gunshot. there's another one. this time, they miss. the howitzers get away. the artillery commander tells me the russians are regularly targeting them because of their western weapons. "because they're precise and effective," he says. ukraine's also having to learn a western way of war, the emphasis on precision. and this one's making a difference — the us himars rocket launcher. ukraine doesn't have many, but it can now strike targets from distance. but it's creating a massive logistical challenge. ukraine's now having to maintain dozens of weapons from dozens of countries, like these british—supplied armoured vehicles. each one requires separate training and spare parts. and weapons supplied by the west also use a different calibre

of ammunition, like these german self—propelled guns. the west still claims it's not directly involved in this conflict, but in truth, it's now an essential part of ukraine's war machine. jonathan beale, bbc news, eastern ukraine. this is bbc news — the latest headlines: europe's intense heatwave ignites wildfires, many have died in extreme temperatures across the continent. moscow orders all its forces to step up operations in ukraine, as russian missiles strike cities, across the country. president biden is returning to the us, after completing his first tour of the middle east since taking office. he insisted his administration would remain engaged in the region, and he's been trying to persuade gulf states to boost oil production to help cut global prices. 0ur middle east correspondent, anna foster has more details.

standing side by side once again. joe biden came here to saudi arabia to mend relations with america's old ally, and the president made a promise not to desert the middle east. we will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by china, russia or iran. we will seek to build on this moment with active, principled american leadership. but some say mr biden abandoned his principles by coming here. yesterday, he met crown prince mohammed bin salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler, one to one. the cia concluded that the crown prince approved the brutal murder of the journalist jamal khashoggi in istanbul, though he's always denied it. afterwards, the president vowed to make saudi arabia a pariah. today, the saudi minister for state for foreign affairs, adel al—jubeir, told me that was simply election talk. what happens in campaigns is what i call what happens

during the silly season. but disagreement with the regime, descent, is still frowned upon and ultimately punished, so when will that change? i think we can have a discussion about this and an argument about this because that what you may call a �*dissident,’ we call a �*terrorist�*. what you may call somebody expressing their opinion, it is incitement. when somebody gives money to a group that murders people, is that expressing their opinion? or is this funding murder? but they're presented outside saudi arabia as if they're activists. many believe the president came here to negotiate for more oil. if that was the case, he left empty—handed, and that raises questions about whether this controversial visit achieved enough to be called a success. anna foster, bbc news, jeddah.

the united nations says at least 234 people were killed in gang violence over a five day period in haiti's capital earlier this month. that news comes as the un security council has voted unanimously to extend the un mission to haiti for a further 12 months and to ban some weapon sales to the caribbean nation. it's an attempt to tackle increasingly bloody gang—fuelled conflict over control of the capital port—au—prince. earlier i spoke to mathias pierre, haiti's former elections minister and asked him how bad the gang violence is. i think it is very bad, in a sense that violence, the gangs are well armed and they received a lot of weapons and ammunitions through the contraband from the us, and while the legal police force and army are not well prepared

and they are not able, since the president was there, the government of haiti was not able to legally buy the weapons and ammunition is due to some constraints with the us government. now we have a situation where the gangs are well and better equipped than the legal forces so the control of most part of the country and particularly the capital of haiti. we mentioned fuel prices and food prices. talk to us about what is encouraging this gang violence and what is fuelling it. suddenly haiti has been facing for quite a while a very tough economic situation, understanding clearly, the capital of haiti, it's where everything is happening. the gangs control most

of the strategic neighbourhoods of the country. so businesses are not able to work properly. those other businesses who are able to work have to negotiate with the gangs in their neighbourhood so they could function. so you have a decline of business in the country, decline ofjob creation and certainly you have the country facing a major issue. since presidentjovenel was assassinated last year, the local currency dropped more than 100% and the economic situation is very bad and today the country is in a food crisis. gas crisis and certainly fuel problems, and you can see where and how the population is struggling today. since 2010, haiti has received over $13 billion

sri lanka's parliament has gathered to begin the process of choosing a new president. that new leader will replace gotabaya rajapaksa who's fled the country. despite the uncertainty, it seems that weeks of anti—government protests have brought sri lankans closer and sparked unity amongst different faiths. the bbc�*s nitin srivastava reports from colombo. weekly visits to this buddhist temple were a ritual for the mighty rajapaksa clan. not anymore. the brothers dominated by tapping their traditional voter base, the majority sinhalese buddhist community. but sri lanka is a diverse country home to tamil, hindu and muslim minorities.

and it was the tamils who led a longer guerrilla war for independence which was crushed by the rajapaksas. translation: yes, there have been tensions within _ communities and the 30 year war also contributed to it. people used religion for politics, but we prefer humanity over religion. we should all live together now. the deadly easter bombings of 2019 in colombo gave rise to more friction. local members of islamic state carried out the attacks and now it was the muslim community under state scrutiny. translation: we suffered a lot as muslims, especially _ after the bomb attacks. we had nothing to do with it, but we began to be demonised to win elections. even during covid, something un—islamic was pushed on us, the burning of dead bodies instead of burying them. this is the st anthony's church, one of the sites

of the horrific terror attack. but the current crisis where people want a change, where people want a new rule of law, has brought together communities and different views together, and there is just one motto, a new sri lanka. and the army is playing its part, staying in the background even though it is dominated by sinhalese soldiers and generals. there is also i think a slow realisation among communities that unity is important, coexistence is important, reconciliation is also important. and what is happening now in terms of the protests and the spaces opening up allows people for discussion. it is quite remarkable that 13 years after the end of the war, these spaces are finally opening up a bit more. nobody ever thought soaring prices and a shortage of food and fuel would finally heal the nation. and there is growing hope that this new religious tolerance will survive

the uncertain economic future. nitin srivastava, bbc news, colombo. the russian invasion of ukraine has caused severe cooking oil shortages, particularly in europe which gets 80% of its oilfrom ukraine and russia. now a brewery in germany has come up with a cunning plan to make sure customers can still order the fried schnitzel they love. wendy urquhart reports. danke schon. who would have thought that the best thing to take to the pub in germany would be a bottle of cooking oil? the war in ukraine has caused a severe lack of rapeseed and sunflower oil. supermarket shelves are empty, and several shops in munich alone have slapped a limit on the number of bottles people can buy. translation: getting oil is very difficult. - you can only get small quantities in the shops. if you need 30 litres

a week and only get 15, at some point, you won't be able to fry schnitzel. now, the munich pub has come up with a novel way to make sure it has enough oil to cook tasty lunch and dinners. for the foreseeable future, it's offering people the chance to exchange one litre of oil for one litre of beer. 0ne customer bought a truckload of sunflower oil during a humanitarian aid trip to ukraine and was delighted to be able to swap them for a few cold beers. translation: i bought 80 litres i of sunflower oil and in return, l i got 80 litres of beer, or eight crates. i mixed it all a bit — a bit of wheat beer, a bit of light beer, a bit of shandy. i think it's cool because we get cheap beer and giesinger brewery is also helped because there's an oil shortage in germany.

a litre of beer costs around 7 euros in a german bar and a bottle of sunflower oil is just 4.5 euros, so it's little wonder that customers are loving it. wendy urquhart, bbc news. the rolling stones invited two ukrainian children's choirs to perform their hit �*you can't always get what you want�* together at a concert in vienna. # you can't alwaysj get what you want. the boys and girls choirs travelled from kyiv to perform the stones classic. the stones usually play the song early in their set, but they saved it for the first encore at this show before ending on i can't get no satisfaction. lots more on the stories we're covering on our website — just head to bbc.com/news or you can download

the bbc news app. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston. you've probably heard already that a national emergency has been declared on account of this unprecedented heatwave. the english temperature record, which is also that of the uk, is going to get obliterated in the next few days, as indeed will the record for wales. in scotland, probably getting there or thereabouts, northern ireland perhaps just missing out. but this is an unprecedented spell of hot weather. a met office red extreme weather warning — the first one ever issued for all these areas of england, including many of england's largest cities — that's in force for monday and tuesday, the peak of the heatwave. but across sunday through to tuesday, for england,

wales, southern scotland, we have a widespread amber weather warning. impacts to health, impacts to infrastructure are expected. over the next few hours, seeing some showers push into northern scotland. look at these temperatures — this is as cool as our weather gets for the next few days, so if you're up early sunday morning, take advantage of this cool air, open your doors, open your curtains, open your windows, let that cool air into your house and into your flat and the first couple of the hours of the morning, shut everything — shut the windows, shut the doors, shut your curtains, shut that exceptional heat out. we're going to see temperatures building widely into the 30s across england and wales as well. what follows on monday is a spell of dangerous heat. we've got sunshine across the board and temperatures hitting 40 degrees celsius or so. the current uk temperature record is 38.7, so this is going to be the hottest day we've ever had in our country. and it's notjust the daytime temperatures — overnight, 10 o'clock monday night, we're still widely into the 30s — that's going to be horrendous for getting a good night's sleep, hence the importance of keeping your flats and your houses

as cool as possible. tuesday, we start to see some storms break out in the west, bringing some slightly fresher air into western areas but otherwise, it's another day of dangerous heat. this heat is dangerous for people's health, so you can mitigate some of those problems. i've already mentioned some tips — keeping curtains closed, particularly on the sunny side of your house. 0nly open windows and doors if it is actually cooler outside — that would often only be at the end of the night. drink plenty of water and remember, a cool shower can help you cope.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the extreme heatwave across southern europe is continuing to intensify. wildfires have now spread to the coast of croatia and the greek island of crete, where they have caused widespread destruction. in spain and portugal, over 300 people are thought to have died from the heat. moscow has ordered its military to step up the offensive in ukraine as russian missiles continue to strike cities across the country. an official statement said their aim is to prevent strikes by ukrainian forces on eastern regions no longer controlled by kyiv. the united nations has extended its mission in haiti for a further 12 months after petrol shortages and gang

warfare in port—au—prince led to greater instability.