thousands of people on the greek island of rhodes are forced to flee their homes and hotels — as wildfires continue to spread. polls have opened in spain, where prime minister pedro sanchez has cast his vote in the capital madrid. and — it's day 4 of the women's world cup where the netherlands have just beaten portugal 1—0 while france will face jamaica. hello, i'm celia hatton. firefighters on the greek island of rhodes say they expect wildfires to become more intense today, as temperatures rise. thousands of people have been evacuated from homes and hotels on the island. three hotels have reportedly burnt down and many others are in the danger zone. private boats have joined the coastguard picking people up from beaches on the east of the island.

the fires have been burning for five days now. the country's deputy fire chief says the blazes in rhodes are the most difficult greece is facing. jet2 airlines have cancelled five flights from the uk to rhodes scheduled for sunday. they are flying the empty planes to the island in order to bring customers scheduled to leave today back to the uk as planned. and our reporter, azadeh moshiri, joins us now from athens. i know that you have been speaking to the authorities. what have they been telling you? they have said that these fires have spread, that they are expecting to have to evacuate more people today, in three villages in the east, including a popular tourist destination, and they said they think it might turn into 1200 people that will be evacuated today. the problem is as they have said, even though it can dissipate in the

morning, these winds have made these files very difficult to contain. they are spreading. temperatures that are rising with these difficult weather conditions, it is going to present further problems for them. that is why they are not optimistic about the future, they believe that the situation could get worse, not only in a roads, but also in the mainland with a believe fires could reignite. earlierthis mainland with a believe fires could reignite. earlier this week that is where the focus of these wildfires was. they do believe the situation particularly difficult to contain in rhodes. we have been healing accounts from tourists who have been describing scenes of panic on rhodes. images of fire spreading quickly down beaches, people having to go into the water to try to be safe. is there any concern that this could lead to an injury or a loss of life? i spoke to a volunteer who worked

all throughout the night to help tourists, locals and firefighters. she said there were no casualties. some may have been injured but they would have been minor injuries, as they were trying to help others. in general people ended up safe. but the hellenic red cross, she and other volunteers, were providing first aid, psychological support as well, because they said this was traumatic for some people. in fact, she said 20 things back to it, it was devastating. everywhere she looked, fire everywhere. it felt like they were completely surrounded. 0f like they were completely surrounded. of course there is a real harm the that has been caused in terms of notjust physical risk, but also the trauma that these tourists experience, and the locals,. as greece getting regional help to

battle these wildfires? it is getting regional help. throughout the week, even before this fire in rhodes, european countries came in to help, italy and france sent planes to help firefighters, israel sent planes as well. there are many hundreds of firefighters who have joined from countries like slovakia, firefighters from slovakia in fact the most involved in the fires in rhodes. there were also firefighters throughout the mainland from places like poland, bulgaria. the list goes on. that is because they realise that greece does battle wildfires every son —— every summer, but the fact these wildfires have become more severe, greece needs help. we should recognise that you and your team are working under very hot conditions, 42 celsius, thank you for speaking to us from athens. andrea is a british tourist from cheshire

who is on holiday on rhodes. i spoke to her about the situation she found herself in. we were running down the beach, people had suitcases, we had towels wrapped around our head because there was ash falling on us, and then a boat arrived, which we think was from the authorities, and they were only taking women and children. a friend that i was with was having severe breathing difficulties and was in shock so i was trying to get her on the boat for them to take her. and then that was a little bit tricky and while they were dragging her up i did actually crawl under her legs, which i did more for her than anything because she actually needed me to be with her. so, we were really lucky, we got off the beach, but there were hundreds and literally thousands of people still on the beach, and everybody was screaming, they were fighting, it was... it was like armageddon. they were in the sea, there was nowhere for them to go.

and we could see that the fire was chasing us down, there was nobody there, there was no—one telling us what to do. so, this boat took us to lardos beach, they left us at lardos beach, there was no taxis, there was no phone signals, and again, i was very lucky that the guy at the apartments there knew somebody who worked at my hotel, they then sent somebody from their staff, our hotel, and the greek people, i have to say, have been unbelievable. the british embassy and tui and jet2 have been appalling. the amount of families that... so, andrea, no communication really in terms of what you should do or what the dangers might have been? nothing. no, we've not had one... not one text. nobody is answering phones, we have sent messenger messages, you can't get through to anybody, and there are coaches driving round and people are trying to scramble on them, banging on the coaches, honestly, it was like the end of the world, it was horrific. we met one family who had

to abandon, they had babies with them, they had to abandon all their luggage, they had no nappies, they had no food for the babies, everything was abandoned when they got on the boat. so we actually got back to our hotel last night, we were very lucky, they sent staff in their own cars to pick us up, this was just myself and my friend, and then we were in bed and at 1am they came banging on our doors and i opened the curtains and we could see the fire coming over, overthe hill, basically, at us, and they put us on a minibus, this was the hotel, by the way, this was not tui, i travelled with a company called tui, a british company. they still hadn't messaged... all that they have sent is a generic message that says, follow government guidelines. but there are no government guidelines. so, they put us on a minibus, we were driving round on the minibus, trying to go... there were schools, gymnasiums, they were all full of people, hundreds and hundreds of people

with just water. there were bathrooms but no toilet paper, no facilities, nothing at all. people were laying, i don't know if you've had any photographs of people just laying on the floor. voters are casting their ballots in spain, where a snap election could see the far right winning a place in government, for the first time since democracy was restored, after the death of general franco almost 50 years ago. voters face a choice between a centre—left government supported by the far—left and a conservative led government, backed by the far—right vox party. this was the prime minister, pedro sanchez, casting his vote — as his party seeks to fend off the challenge from the far right. 0ur correspondent in madrid guy hedgecoe told us more about the mood in spain going ahead to the vote today.

people are aware this is an unusual election, an election that has been called in the middle of summer which has never happened before in spain and there could be some consequences of that, for example it could affect turnout, because of the heat we are seeing, that will be up in the mid—30s today. hotter than that in some other areas of the country and many people have gone on holiday so those issues create all sorts of uncertainties surrounding the election but what we do know is what you mention is that it's been an acrimonious campaign and spanish politics is extremely polarised between the left and right and that's reflected in a campaign with a political left warning against a victory for the conservative people's party

because they say that it falls short of a majority and it looks likely they will rely on the far right vox, which would bring the far right into a coalition government potentially. that has been the tone of the campaign and certainly a lot of uncertainty around today's vote. can you tell us more about the vox party? what is on their platform? they are a nationalist, populist far—right party but they are unusual in the european context in that their initial popularity came about six or seven years ago, not because of the classic issues you tend to associate with the far right, in particular, immigration, but more they took a very fiercely unionist stance on the catalan issue and that paid off for them. in terms of votes, certainly back in 2019. and that has made them

the third biggest party in spain. they do talk about some of the other issues that far right parties talk about — they want to set up a naval blockade around the coastline to stop migrants arriving from north africa and they have been battling issues like the gender reforms introduced, the gender equality reforms introduced by this government, reforms on equality in terms of the lgbtq community, so these are the interests to them and it looks like they will be battling for the third or fourth place in this election. in russia, president putin is meeting the belarusian leader, alexander lukashenko for the first time since mr lukashenko helped end last month's mutiny in russia by wagner paramilitaries.

mr lukashenko had agreed to host some fighters and wagner's leader, yevgeny prigozhin, in his country. he told president putin — he's now having to restrain wagner fighters who are eager to move into poland — but he's keeping the forces in central belarus. polls have closed in cambodia's general election. with the main opposition party banned, prime minister hun sen is almost certain to extend his 38 years in office. he cast his vote earlier and recently said he was ready for a transfer of power, signalling that his successor could be his eldest son, hun manet. i spoke to our south—east asia correspondentjonathan head who's in phnom penh for more on this. everybody knows more or less what the result will be, and that has really suppressed the mood here. people do vote as a matter of civic duty in cambodia but there's been no sense of excitement at all. there are plenty of people who do support the ruling cambodian people's party, its message of delivering peace and growth. the fact that it is the only real source of patronage and development funds for this country does give it a strong base.

but there's no doubt that had the opposition candlelight been able to run, it would have got a lot of votes. it got about a quarter of the votes and the local elections last year. its predecessor, a previous opposition party, very nearly ousted the ruling party ten years ago. that is clearly something prime minister hun sen was not willing to risk this time. he does have factional rivals inside his own party, and he wants to cement this dynastic handover to his son in the smoothest ways possible. so he's hoping for a resounding turnout. and i think that's what's going to be interesting, given that people have no real choice. all the other parties contesting the election are very, very small, may not even win any seats in the assembly. will people choose, instead, let's say, to spoil their ballots? will they choose not to turn up and vote? those are things we don't know, and we're still not quite sure how transparent the vote count itself will be, given that most international, or respected international observers, have chosen not to monitor this election,

dismissing it really as a sham. polls have recently closed in cambodia, hun sen's party says the... now it's time for a look at today's sport with hugh ferris. the teams that finished second and third at the last world cup have made winning starts to this one. the netherlands lost the 2019 final and will be a contender this time around in australia and new zealand. they beat portugal 1—0 thanks to a first half goal from stefanie van der gragt in dunedin. it was initially ruled out but then given after a pitchside review from the referee, handing portugal a defeat in their first ever world cup match. earlier there was a 90th minute winner for sweden as they beat south africa in group g. the african champions took the lead in wellington, but amanda ilestedt headed in from a corner to complete the turnaround.

sweden finished third at the last world cup and these two are in a group with argentina and italy. france against jamaica is the final game of the day. that kicked off in sydney around 15 minutes ago. it is still currently goalless. america's brian harman has a five shot lead going into the final round of the open golf at hoylake. chasing his first major, he's on 12 under. fellow american cameron young is his nearest challenger on 7 under. ben croucher looks ahead to the final day at royal liveprool. good morning from royal liverpool golf club we are in a few hours�* time these fairways, greens, and probably the raft, will decide the outcome of the open championship. it is the american left—hander brian harman who has dealt with everything this course could throw at him over the first three days. he has a five shot lead over the american cameron

young, who was runner—up at st andrews last year. 0nly twice in open history has a five shot lead going into the final round not lifted the claretjug at the end of the day. it has been harm and�*s composure on the greens that has backed up his success, he has not missed a putt from ten feet or less all week. but there are some low scores to be had. of the home hopefuls, tommy fleetwood was playing alongside harman, did not do a lot wrong on saturday but did not do enough right. the wait for an english champion is likely to continue. the weather could have a huge impact on the outcome of the fourth ashes test and the destiny of that famous urn at old trafford here�*s the scene at the moment.

england need to take five wickets — if the rain allows — and possibly chase a target in their second innings. that would level the series at 2—2 with the final test at the oval next week. if the rain stays... australia retain the ashes. the defending tour de france championjonas vingegaard will ride into paris later today. and be confirmed in the yellow jersey. he safely finished stage 20, the last mountain stage in the race... and will retain his title in the capital as the final day is an uncontested stage. tadej pogacar, vingegaard�*s nearest challenger, beat him to the line yesterday. but is still a massive 7 minutes 29 seconds behind the dane. british twins adam and simon yates would finish third and fourth overall. lewis hamilton will start

a grand prix from pole for the first time since 2021. the seven—time world champion was just three thousandths of a second quicker than red bull�*s max verstappen in qualifying for sunday�*s race. verstappen though has a huge 99 point advantage at the top of the drivers�* standings ahead of his teammate sergio perez. and that�*s all the sport for now. to northern ireland, where trade unions, business leaders and charities are warning that the absence of a devolved government in the country is having a significant impact on people�*s lives. the stormont executive collapsed last year, after a disagreement over post—brexit trade agreements. the latest round of talks last week failed to produce a breakthrough. 0ur correspondent chris page has more. almost 18 months have passed since northern ireland last had a fully functioning devolved government. that�*s a—year—and—a—half of delayed decisions, postponed plans and increasing frustration.

in west belfast, youth workers say vital services are falling behind. in the absence of politicians, budget cuts are being made by unelected officials. staff have been laid off and summer programmes called off. the impacts of the cuts, chris, have been huge. to say to children and young people we can�*t work with you today is awful. it�*s the most hurtful part of the job is to turn children and young people away. the cuts to schools, cuts to youth service, the cuts to early intervention and education services, these cannot be reversed without... if we don't have political institutions running and people making the right decisions, putting the funds and the access and the support in the right places. it's not going to be good. so how important do you feel it is that devolved government does come back? they have to get back in. for all of our sakes, not notjust go back to work, but commit to the process, commit to fixing these issues. we want this place to work. there are massive issues in the health service too. northern ireland has

the longest hospital waiting times in the uk by far. reforms have been planned, but they�*re being held up. health workers say the lack of action is costing lives. what i am seeing is a service that is beyond broken. nurses and doctors are trying to keep it together and struggling. there�*s not enough of them. the system is antiquated, i would say, in terms of how it�*s run. that is unforgivable. and public patience with politics seems to be running short. bit of a farce, isn't it? there's nothing getting done and all the budgets are being cut now. they still take their pay, wages. all the rest of that there. and you have nurses, doctors, all the rest i of that all out on strike, _ underfunded, overworked, underpaid. there'sjust nothing being done about it. long waiting lists and all. it�*s a disgrace.

if and when the devolved government here at stormont comes back, it�*s unlikely that all those problems will be solved quickly. but there�*s little doubt that the longer the political crisis goes on, the more its effects are being felt by people in northern ireland. the state of limbo can feel like the new normal, but workers, employers and campaigners say the doors of devolution need to reopen urgently. chris page, bbc news, belfast. let�*s get some of the day�*s other news now. in ukraine, extensive damage has been reported after russian air strikes on the port city of 0desa. authorities there say at least two people have been killed and 22 wounded. 0desa has been bombed multiple times since the start of the invasion and has been attacked repeatedly since moscow pulled out of a grain export deal last week. in mexico, 11 people have died after a suspected arson attack on a bar near the us border. authorities say a drunk young man

threw a molotov cocktail at the bar in the northern state of sonora after being ejected from the bar for harassing women. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, said he was fitted with a pacemaker on saturday night. in a video on social media, mr netanyahu said he�*d been living with a heart monitor for the past week — and when the device had beeped on saturday, it had been decided to implant a pacemaker. he expects to be released from hospital on monday — in time to vote on his controversialjudicial reforms. a decline in childminders in the uk could lead to a shortage of places, early years providers are warning. a fifth of carers have quit in the last three years — many because of low pay and a lack of appreciation. 0verall, childcare places have fallen by 2% this year, but the government says the population of pre—school children is also decreasing and the picture is broadly positive. ?0ur education reporter vanessa clarke reports.

have you done that? do you want to put some stickers on now? childminders tasked with the vital job of teaching and caring for our youngest children. this group of rural childminders in merseyside gather together every week. but the government�*s plan to extend funded hours to all pre—school children of working parents has made some here consider their future. this is where the children play during the day. nikki griffiths, who runs the group, is worried. it becomes overwhelming, some more may leave because they�*re thinking, oh, this funding isjust not going to be compatible or viable for me financially anymore. so if it�*s not addressed, they will, they will leave because even myself will question next year, is it going to be financially viable for me to continue? 0ne charity is predicting that in the next decade, the number of childminders will drop to below 1,000, leaving parents with little choice. those children that will flourish and grow, and have that wonderful early education and start in life

in a childminder setting will no longer have that. and that's an awful shame. and we'll look back in 20, 30 years and see the damage that caused. overall, the number of early years workers are falling. there is a big one! these children are on a mission to find some minibeasts and guiding their hands are dedicated staff... isa, have you got a worm? ..like cheryl. 0bviously, a pay rise. everyone would love that. but it�*s not... it�*s not even about that. it�*s about being recognised more. the staff here have a wealth of knowledge, but the nursery itself makes a loss with most of the children here using the government�*s funded hours. as part of a social enterprise, it�*s subsidised by nurseries in more affluent areas, a successful model but staffing is one of its biggest obstacles. we would love to expand and open new nurseries, but until the workforce problem is resolved, there�*s no hope. what is this going to look like in two years�* time? it worries me because there�*s an awful lot of women who won�*t be able to get back into the workforce

after they�*ve taken maternity leave because there won�*t be the places available. the government says it�*s rolling out the single biggest investment in childcare to help working parents and will be investing hundreds of millions of pounds each year to increase the amounts they pay providers. vanessa clarke, bbc news, milton keynes. twitter�*s logo might change as early as later today, that�*s if we are to belive the platform�*s current owner, elon musk. mr musk says that soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and gradually all the birds adding that... "if a good enough x logo is posted tonight, we�*ll make go live worldwide tomorrow." the billionaire tech entrepreneur did not provide any further details. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello there. good weather for ducks at the moment, but it�*s not all doom and gloom, the weather story for this sunday and we�*ve already had lovely sunshine in devon earlier on. there is some rain and some of it quite heavy and persistent. this was lancashire earlier this morning and most of the heavy rain across northern england, north wales and northern ireland and it is stubbornly sitting there as you can see from the latest radar picture this morning. so, to the north and south of that, it is sunny spells and scattered showers but underneath the cloud and rain it is cool and disappointing, and just on the edge is manchester and liverpool, the cricket and the golf may well be impacted today. some of the rain quite persistent, rainfall totals will tot up and we will see at least two if not three inches of rainfall before the system clears through in addition to the rain we�*ve already seen. but we will have sunny spells and a few scattered showers in scotland and the same for england

and wales and with a little more sunshine temperatures will be a degree or so higher than yesterday with top temperatures expected of 23 degrees, that�*s 73 fahrenheit. underneath the cloud and rain it�*s been a cool afternoon and that rain will continue to shift its way very slowly southwards and it will weaken a little and behind it a northerly flow will dig in and we will have clearer skies so a cooler start to monday morning across scotland, milder, with the cloud and the rain around. that front is still to clear during monday morning and really it will be across the bristol channel towards lincolnshire first thing and some showery outbreaks of rain sinking southwards. sunshine behind but because of that northerly component, it will drive in some showers across the far north—west of scotland and it will be that bit fresher. temperatures a bit disappointing for this time of year, 1a to 20 degrees as the overall high. looking further ahead, tuesday will be a quiet story

as well but as we move into the middle of the week we do it all again, another low will start to push in off the atlantic bringing yet more wet and unseasonably windy weather for the time of year, so certainly through the middle part of the week it�*s quite unsettled. sunny spells but still those temperatures disappointing for the end ofjuly.

this is bbc news, the headlines. thousands of people on the greek island of rhodes are forced to flee their homes and hotels as widlfires continue to spread. the country has been engulfed in fires for several weeks as europe continues to see record breaking heatwaves.