live from london, this is bbc news: thousands of people on the greek island of rhodes are forced to flee their homes and hotels as wildfires continue to spread. a bridge under construction has collapsed in western greece, near the city of patras. a number of people are reported to be trapped. voters take to the polls in spain. prime minister pedro sanchez and his main rival alberto nunez have cast their votes in the capital madrid. iam i am live at a polling station in madrid. voters deciding to give socialist prime minister sanchez for more years in office or bring the right to power. long—serving cambodian prime minister hun sen declares victory in a general election. the main opposition party

was banned from taking part. and it's day four of the women's world cup. france and jamaica draw nil—all. firefighters on the greek island of rhodes are struggling to contain a wildfire that's prompted the evacuation of thousands of people. these are pictures of houses burnt in a village in rhodes. three hotels have reportedly burnt down, and many others are in the danger zone. locals and tourists alike have been evacuated from homes private boats have joined the coastguard, picking people up from beaches on the east of the island. in patras, a city on the greek mainland, west of athens, a bridge under construction has collapsed, reportedly killing one person. emergency services are at the scene. it's not yet known if the heatwave is the cause of the bridge collapse. 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. the budget airline, jet2, says it's cancelled all flights that were due to go to rhodes today. the company will instead fly five planes there with no customers on board, to bring back people to the uk. tui group says it's also cancelled flights to rhodes until tuesday night. our reporter azadeh moshiri is in athens. i asked her what she's hearing from the greek authorities. they've said that these fires have spread, that they are expecting to have to evacuate more people today. three villages in the east, including lindos, which is a popular tourist destination. and they've said they think it might turn into 1,200 people that will be evacuated today. and the problem is they've said even though it can dissipate in the morning, these winds have

made these fires very difficult to contain, they're spreading. and therefore, with the temperatures that are rising with these difficult weather conditions, it's going to present further problems for them. that's why they're not optimistic about the future. they believe that the situation could get worse not only in rhodes, but also the mainland where they believe fires could reignite. because remember earlier this week, that's where the focus of these wildfires was. but they do believe that the situation is particularly difficult to contain in rhodes, because this has been days that they've been trying to get a handle on the situation. we've been hearing accounts from tourists who basically been describing scenes of panic on roads, images of fires spreading quickly down beaches, people having to go into the water to try to stay safe. is there any concern that this could lead to a real injury or a loss of life? i spoke to a volunteer, maria, who worked all throughout the night

to help tourists, locals and firefighters. she did that on behalf of the hellenic red cross, and she said that there were no casualties, that some may have been injured, but they would have been minor injuries as they were trying to help others, that in general people ended up safe. but the hellenic red cross, she and other volunteers were providing first aid. they were providing psychological support as well, because they said that this was traumatic for some people. in fact, she said that when she thinks back to it, it was devastating. everywhere she looked, fire everywhere, it felt like they were completely surrounded. and so, of course, there is a real harm there that's been caused in terms of notjust physical risk, but also the trauma that these tourists experienced and the locals in homes where they felt safe. is greece getting any 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, for example, sent planes to help firefighters. israel sent planes as well. there are many hundreds of firefighters who have joined from countries like slovakia in. the firefighters from slovakia, in fact, were the most involved in the fires in rhodes. but there were also firefighters throughout the mainland from places like poland, bulgaria, the list goes on. and that's because they realise that greece does battle wildfires every summer. but the fact is these wildfires are becoming so much more frequent, so much more severe that greece needs help. live now to nicola mccullen, a tourist from glasgow who arrived in rhodes last night and spent the night on a mattress outdoors. it the night on a mattress outdoors. sounds like you dramatic it sounds like you have had a very dramatic time. what led to you

needing to sleep outdoors last night? we needing to sleep outdoors last niuht? ~ ., ., needing to sleep outdoors last niuht?~ ., ., ,, , night? we were more or less dumped at this evacuation _ night? we were more or less dumped at this evacuation centre. _ night? we were more or less dumped at this evacuation centre. i _ night? we were more or less dumped at this evacuation centre. i can't - at this evacuation centre. i can't thank the greek locals enough. they have got enough to deal with, this is a big tragedy. they have looked after us very well but tui has been atrocious, wejust after us very well but tui has been atrocious, we just got more or less dumped here. flan atrocious, we 'ust got more or less dumped here.— atrocious, we 'ust got more or less dumped here. can you describe the evacuation centre _ dumped here. can you describe the evacuation centre where _ dumped here. can you describe the evacuation centre where you - dumped here. can you describe the evacuation centre where you are i evacuation centre where you are right? what kind of facilities are there to help you? the right? what kind of facilities are there to help you?— right? what kind of facilities are there to help you? the locals are so lovel and there to help you? the locals are so lovely and they _ there to help you? the locals are so lovely and they are _ there to help you? the locals are so lovely and they are giving _ there to help you? the locals are so lovely and they are giving us - there to help you? the locals are so lovely and they are giving us water, | lovely and they are giving us water, they have come over with food and fruit and everything. we've not had

a proper meal, there is no washing facilities, the toilets are atrocious but is not the greeks fault. they are trying their hardest. tui it'sjust absolutely appalling. hardest. tui it's 'ust absolutely anallina. . hardest. tui it's 'ust absolutely a...allin_. ., , , hardest. tui it's 'ust absolutely anallina. . _ ., ., hardest. tui it's 'ust absolutely anallina. . _ . . ., appalling. what is lying ahead of ou? we appalling. what is lying ahead of you? we are _ appalling. what is lying ahead of you? we are near— appalling. what is lying ahead of you? we are near enough - appalling. what is lying ahead of you? we are near enough three| you? we are near enough three o'clock you? we are near enough three o'clock in _ you? we are near enough three o'clock in the _ you? we are near enough three o'clock in the afternoon - you? we are near enough three o'clock in the afternoon and - you? we are near enough three. o'clock in the afternoon and have spent the whole night, i didn't sleep because there is a dance all over the place, —— ants. sleep because there is a dance all overthe place, —— ants. i'm sleep because there is a dance all over the place, —— ants. i'm sitting under it she. —— under a tree to get away from the sun because it is so hot here. it is not good at all. i might have you tried to contact the uk authorities? no, we have been told and we have tried to phone and

phone lines go dead. i told and we have tried to phone and phone lines go dead.— told and we have tried to phone and phone lines go dead. i hope you will be able to find _ phone lines go dead. i hope you will be able to find your _ phone lines go dead. i hope you will be able to find your way _ phone lines go dead. i hope you will be able to find your way off- phone lines go dead. i hope you will be able to find your way off the - be able to find your way off the island. i am so sorry it has been such a dramatic water for you. fix, such a dramatic water for you. couple we got friendly with from birmingham, iam not couple we got friendly with from birmingham, i am not very good with technology but they have had a message from tui asking if they can get a flight home themselves they will refund you. i told them we have paid for this holiday and it is up to them to get us home.- paid for this holiday and it is up to them to get us home. thank you for takin: to them to get us home. thank you for taking us _ to them to get us home. thank you for taking us through _ to them to get us home. thank you for taking us through that - to them to get us home. thank you for taking us through that and - to them to get us home. thank you for taking us through that and we i for taking us through that and we will keep tabs with you and hope you can get off the island. we can speak now to lindon pronto, who is an ex—firefighter, and senior wildfire management expert at european forest institute.

it sounds quite dramatic in rhodes. is it environmental factors that have exacerbated these fires in the last 2a hours or so? unfortunately, we can't hear from last 2a hours or so? unfortunately, we can't hearfrom him. we are trying to see if that deal. what is really spotting on the was fires right now? why have they become so dramatic in the past 2a or 48 hours?

dramatic in the past 24 or 48 hours? this is basically accounted for by the weather, a combination of the relative humidity and feel most are on ground level and high temperatures and winds and these are all expected to get worse, the winds. with shifting winds you have that extreme sporting and extreme fire behaviour with the mac which makes it very difficult for firefighters on the ground to control and was forecast for more wind to come in the next hours this will only become more challenging. can you cast ahead into the future, how do you think these fires will evolve? it how do you think these fires will evolve? . , , , ., , evolve? it really depends on very local factors. _ evolve? it really depends on very local factors, topography, - evolve? it really depends on very local factors, topography, the - local factors, topography, the availability localfactors, topography, the availability of fuels and being on an island it will eventually run out of it is to burn but as i mentioned the wind will increase and change direction through the course of the day and night and with active fire

behaviour at night this is something with a fire front will also change direction so the north—westerly winds which are expected in the next hours and tomorrow will actually increase so we are the focus will be increase so we are the focus will be in trying to put out the fire but with 30 kilometres per hour winds we are very limited what you can do and have difficulty flying in high winds. you are a former firefighter and i wonder if you can which is in the shoes of those trying to fight the shoes of those trying to fight the fire. how different is it from trying to fight and opened fire? an event which takes place over a number of hours and wildfires last for days so even if you have a slight respite and perhaps a window

to get more aggressive in direct tactics along the fire front often in the early hours of the day or even at night, when you have no change in conditions are worsening conditions you are going for hours orfour days and that conditions you are going for hours or four days and that is very difficult especially in countries which have a lot of volunteers working and also in situations where there is no end in sight. it is a very dynamic hazards which is not like fighting a stationary fire, it is a moving hazard.— like fighting a stationary fire, it is a moving hazard. thanks so much for speaking — is a moving hazard. thanks so much for speaking to _ is a moving hazard. thanks so much for speaking to us. _ we will be tracking the heatwave and wildfire situation in greece and the situation surrounding the collapsed bridge and will bring you more details when we have them.

polls have opened in spain's snap election, which 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 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. live now to madrid where we can join news reporter sergi forcada freixas this is really being cast as a very high stake selection. can you take us through the options that spanish voters are facing today?— voters are facing today? spanish voters are facing today? spanish voters have _ voters are facing today? spanish voters have for _ voters are facing today? spanish voters have for big _ voters are facing today? spanish voters have for big parties - voters are facing today? spanish voters have for big parties they i voters are facing today? spanish i voters have for big parties they can voters have for big parties they can vote for and two of them are on the right and two on the left. this is

quite a divisive election because apparently, accordingly to the opinion polls, no one will get a majority tonight so it will all come down to pacts and negotiations. if the concept of parties do as well as the concept of parties do as well as the polls predicted and are able to win these elections they may still beat the far right vox but pedro sanchez from the socialist party will have to rely on other far left parties and maybe the nationalists in catalonia. this is not a presidential election but a parliamentary one so it falls to the groups in parliament. maybe nobody will have a majority tonight and even with the results with tonight, there might be the third option which is nothing much happens so may be new elections need to be held.

this is something that happened in 2016 and 2019, saw three options. right—wing including possibly the far right or left wing, more of the same, four more years of prime minister pedro sanchez or there is no agreement at all and new elections need to be held. i5 no agreement at all and new elections need to be held. is pedro sanchez facing _ elections need to be held. is pedro sanchez facing criticism _ elections need to be held. is pedro sanchez facing criticism for - elections need to be held. is pedro sanchez facing criticism for the - sanchez facing criticism for the snap decision to call the selection? the party did so badly in regional elections. , , , , , elections. many were very surprised when he called _ elections. many were very surprised when he called for _ elections. many were very surprised when he called for elections - elections. many were very surprised when he called for elections in - elections. many were very surprised when he called for elections in may. that was after bad results for the socialist party and the allies of the socialist party in regional and local elections but many see this as a gamble. and with a very clear message, either vote for me and the socialist party or you may end up having the far right vox in

government. he is known as being someone who takes risks and likes gambling in politics so we will have to wait and see if his gamble actually pays off. i imagine we will wait and see. it is great to hear from you. now it's time for a look at today's sport with gavin. hello there. france nil—nil against jamaica. france reached at least quarter—finals in past

it was goalless in sydney — with france enjoying much of the possession, hitting the bar in the 90th minute. a huge blow forjamaica late on though — star player khadija shaw was sent off, for a second yellow — she misses the next game against panama. a match, if they win, could put them in a great position to make the knockouts. earlier, 2019 finalists the netherlands 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 pitch side review from the referee, handing portugal a defeat in theirfirst—ever world cup match. earlier, there was a 90th minute winnerfor 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. america's brian harman has a five—shot lead chasing his first major, he's on 12—under. fellow american cameron young is his nearest challenger on 7—under. ben croucher has more on what to expect on the final day at royal liverpool. in a few hours'

time these fairways, greens, and probably the rough 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. it has been harman'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. he sits apart. —— mike on five under

par. the 31—year wait for an english champion is likely to continue. all the focus is on the weather at old trafford for the final day this fourth ashes test in manchester. a draw means australia will retain the ashes with a match still to be played. here's the scene a few minutes ago — there was no play before lunch. england must hope the rain relents so they can take five wickets, 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, but the forecast is not good, which means australia would retain the ashes. the defending tour de france championjonas vingegaard will ride into paris later on sunday and be confirmed in the yellowjersey. 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 but is still a massive seven minutes 29 seconds behind the dane. british twins adam and simon yates ensured they should finish third and fourth overall. british twins adam and simon yates ensured they should 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 though has a huge 99—point advantage at the top of the drivers' standings ahead of his team—mate sergio perez. cambodian prime minister hun sen has declared victory in a general election. with the main opposition party banned, it's been seen as a contest that has been dismissed as a one—sided sham. hun sen 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. 0ur south—east asia correspondent jonathan head says the mood is suppressed in cambodia. 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 in 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. let s get some of the day s other news now. 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. at least one person has been

killed and 19 more injured in russian missile strikes on the southern ukrainian port city of 0desa. several residential buildings and an orthodox cathedral have been badly damaged. moscow has been launching near constant attacks on the city since monday when it withdrew from a landmark grain deal which protected wheat exports being shipped out of ukrainain ports. 0ur ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse, sent this report from 0desa. ? a familiar brutality caused by a different tactic. 0desa's transfiguration cathedral hit by a russian missile, a place of worship, a refuge, now in ruins. this is a city showing its cracks after a week of sustained bombardment. translation: i think russia has chosen 0desa as a main target. i they want to stop the grain agreement and show that nothing will work without them. the most terrible thing is that

in order to achieve their goal they have attacked innocent people. the speed of the cleaner is remarkable and there is still a real risk of debris falling from the ceiling. russia is deliberately targeting ukrainian ports here and of course no building is safe. the consequences are far—reaching and 0desa is at the sharp end. tens of thousands of tonnes of grain has reportedly been destroyed this week. this was an area which had a diplomatic shield. that protection is no more after moscow pulled out of the year—long grain initiative to the anger of the west. the kremlin is frustrated with western sanctions. it's a decision which affect's ukraine economy, its farmers and the tens of millions of people who rely on its grain. james waterhouse, bbc news, 0desa. 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. 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 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, 14 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.

officials in greece say the largest ever evacuation from a wildfire is under way on the island of rhodes as crews struggle to contain the blaze which is burning out of control. tens of thousands of people have been moved to safety including both