largest ever evacuation. 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. and i'm live at a polling station in madrid. spaniards are deciding whether to give socialist prime minister pedro sanchez for more years in office or bring the right back to power. at least one person has been killed and 19 more injured in russian missile strikes on the southern ukrainian city of odesa. and the uk government has written to banks warning them against closing accounts for political reasons after concerns were raised after nigel farage had an account withdrawn by coutts.

hello, i'm vishala sri—pathma. 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 and hotels on the island. 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. tuigroup says it's also cancelled flights to rhodes until tuesday night. thomas cook has cancelled all holidays to areas of rhodes until 31stjuly. azadeh moshiri reports these are scenes no—one wants repeated. tourists looking for a holiday escape flood their resorts in droves. as fires consume buildings. please, please, this way! thousands were evacuated by land and sea as buildings were consumed by flames in southern rhodes. some hotels burned down altogether. 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 absolutely... it was like armageddon. they were in the sea, there was nowhere for them to go. we got to the car park

where a lot of panicked people were waiting for buses. we were one of the lucky ones, we had a hire car so we could just go. we didn't have to wait for taxis or shuttle buses to get us out of resorts. a lot of people were there with wet t—shirts, through their mouth are trying to breathe more effectively, because the air by then was unbearable. so, we are one of. the very lucky ones. we managed to get on the authority boat and this is what _ we are leaving behind. that's the beach. temperatures are set to break records and people do flock to greece for its blue skies. but now, archaeological sites like the acropolis are shot during the hottest hours of the day. here in athens, people are being urged to stay at home and yet, tourists are still queueing up for hours to see the acropolis behind me in the mornings. given this could be greece's longest heatwave on record, the challenges that this country is facing are not over yet. officials are concerned

by the extreme temperatures, as well as wind, that are set to continue. they say these aren't the last evacuations we will be seeing. so, this isn't the tourist season anyone was expecting. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. our news correspondent phil bodmer is at manchester airport. phil, cancelled holidays, cancelled flights, how are people feeling? i think the thing is, people are feeling pretty disappointed. those flights that have been cancelled that are due to go to greece today, people are being advised that they can seek a refund or rebook their holidays. some airlines including ryanair are still flying to the island, there is a flight due to go off here at about 3:30pm this afternoon. as you mentioned at the top of the programme, the situation is pretty fluid and airlines are changing those plans. we have heard

aboutjet2, to tui, british airways and easyjet all advising people to check before they travel with some airlines suspending those flights for a week at least. we are expecting the first flight back from rhodes, an easyjet flight into manchester terminal one, in about 45 minutes�* time. we hope to be able to speak to passengers on that flight. manchester, at the moment, is heavy with rain. it will be a complete contrast to what people have been used to, suffering that heatwave and awful experience is in rhodes so they may welcome the damp and wet of a lancashire afternoon here on the weekend. this is a fast developing situation. the foreign office is advising passengers to check before they travel and this first light coming in in about 45 minutes�* time, i suspect may not well be the last as airlines seek to get people home who wish to come home.— as airlines seek to get people home who wish to come home. thanks for that updates — who wish to come home. thanks for that updates from _ who wish to come home. thanks for that updates from manchester - that updates from manchester airport. let's talk more about this with our

news reporter aruna iyengar. it's interesting what is going on, flights counselling, holidays. what is the latest?— is the latest? there is a significant _ is the latest? there is a significant disruption i is the latest? there is a significant disruption asj is the latest? there is a - significant disruption as you just heard there. two flights going to rhodes today. jet2 has just updated its guidance saying it is cancelling all flights until sunday the 30th of july. it was sending, it is sending five flights today but they are sending them empty so they can pick up sending them empty so they can pick up passengers from greece and bring them back to the uk. tui has said it has cancelled its flights until tuesday. it says it has 40,000 customers on the island of rhodes at the moment, a huge number. it says about 7000 of those are affected and its customers are staying in alternative hotels and business conference centres. easyjet is saying it is continuing its flights at the moment but is monitoring the situation carefully. it says it has cancelled all its package holidays until the end of tuesday. thomas

cook has come back to us today and it says it is cancelling holidays to the affected areas between now and the affected areas between now and the 31st and those customers can expect to get a full refund or an alternative holiday. those travelling to other parts of the island, it will be giving a free refund for those travelling today and tomorrow and then it will be in touch with those who are travelling from tuesday onwards. the foreign and commonwealth office has said they have sent a rapid response team to the island of rhodes to deal with passengers, independent travellers who are having trouble getting back to the uk. and really, it is a state of emergency. we have 19,000 people across the island of rhodes being evacuated, that includes locals and tourists, so really a difficult situation on the island of rhodes and holiday makers and people who

live there considerably disrupted. thank you very much for that update. speaking on cancelled flights to greece. we spoke to a tourist from glasgow in the last hour and spent the night on a mattress outdoors. she had booked with tui. tui has said "we re continuing to closely monitor the wildfires in rhodes which have led to the evacuation of a number of hotels in the south of the island.we appreciate how distressing and difficult it is for customers who have been evacuated and ask they follow the advice of the local authorities who are managing tourist movements in impacted areas. our resort teams are doing everything they can to support customers, working closely with the relevant authorities. we have cancelled all outbound flights to rhodes up to and including tuesday, and passengers due to travel on these flights will receive full refunds. passengers due to travel on wednesday will be offered a fee

free amend to another holiday or the option to cancel for a full refund. those customers currently in rhodes will return on their intended flight home. the safety and well—being of our customers and teams remains our top priority." that was a statement from the airline tui. at least one person has been killed and 19 more injured in russian missile strikes on the southern ukrainian port city of odesa. 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. our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse, sent this report from odesa. ? a familiar brutality caused by a different tactic. odesa's transfiguration cathedral hit by a russian missile, a place of worship, refuge,

now in ruins. this is a city showing its cracks after a week of sustained bombardment. translation: i think russia has chosen odesa as a main target. i they want to stop the grain agreement to 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 clean—up 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 odesa 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, odesa. 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 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. live now to madrid where we canjoin news reporter sergi forcada freixas for an update on the

spanish elections. how is voting going? we do know that i would that turn _ how is voting going? we do know that i would that turn out _ how is voting going? we do know that i would that turn out is _ how is voting going? we do know that i would that turn out is slightly - i would that turn out is slightly higher than four years ago. it is honestly lunchtime, many people behind me here, throughout the morning there has been a lot of people in and out of this polling station and it has been the same picture all across the country. there were actually concerns about the weather because this is the first time that general elections are being held injuly and particularly, in the midst of a heatwave. because of this, in places like this polling station in madrid, fans have been delivered in spain's capital madrid. 3000 airfans have been delivered to polling stations like this one, there is no air—conditioning in here so it is a way to make voting a bit more appealing to people. also, water bottles have been delivered throughout polling stations. we will have to see, though, what happens later today with the turnout because what we do know is many people

decided to vote in advance. there was a record in voting via post, 2.5 million spaniards already cast their votes in the past few days by going to the post office.— to the post office. there is a lot of talk about _ to the post office. there is a lot of talk about the _ to the post office. there is a lot of talk about the far _ to the post office. there is a lot of talk about the far right - to the post office. there is a lot of talk about the far right doing | of talk about the far right doing quite well, the vox party. what do they want to implement or implement if they get into office?— if they get into office? there is a cou - le if they get into office? there is a coule of if they get into office? there is a couple of options. _ if they get into office? there is a couple of options. right-wing i couple of options. right—wing government possibly, the party which is doing quite well according to opinion polls but falling short of a majority. here is where vox, the far—right party vox, have to decide whether they want to be part of that government, within government or giving support to the conservative candidate in parliament. it makes things quite tough relating to

migration combat lgbt issues, gender roles and they want to appeal to scrap some of the policies that prime minister pedro sanchez and his allies in the left have been doing for the past four years. already, vox has 50 mps in parliament so they already did quite well in 2019. the difference now is they might be the key makers and been the key makers they might be able to influence government a bit more than four years ago. government a bit more than four years age-— government a bit more than four ears auo. ., . ., ., ., years ago. quite a turnaround from the current — years ago. quite a turnaround from the current administration. - years ago. quite a turnaround from the current administration. in - years ago. quite a turnaround from | the current administration. in terms of the weather, you mentioned voting turnout has been pretty good. there was concerns because of the weather in july, was concerns because of the weather injuly, though, about whether people would go out to vote. exactly, actually, when prime minister pedro sanchez called for this snap election, surprisingly in may after his party didn't do very well after the regional and local elections, everyone was concerned about this, the weather, people also being on holiday. there was actually

quite a bit of criticism towards prime minister pedro sanchez for calling this snap election at this time. so far, we have seen that the turnout hasn't suffered that much. we will have to see what happens in the aftermath because for example, here in madrid, it is getting a bit hotter now that it is early afternoon and in places in the south it is quite hot. people still coming here knowing that their vote can make a difference. that is what all candidates have been saying. making calls for people to vote in this spanish election. there has also been a debate on whether this election, whether there would be more elections injuly. one of the candidates, the conservative candidate, has has said if he wins this election he will pass legislation to avoid having more elections injuly or august in the future. elections in july or august in the future. ., , , elections in july or august in the future. .,, , ,., ~ , future. hopefully you will keep h drated future. hopefully you will keep hydrated and _ future. hopefully you will keep hydrated and as _ future. hopefully you will keep hydrated and as you _ future. hopefully you will keep hydrated and as you say, - future. hopefully you will keep hydrated and as you say, it - future. hopefully you will keep hydrated and as you say, it is i future. hopefully you will keep - hydrated and as you say, it is quite busy behind you! lots of people

coming in. thank you very much for joining us. now it's time for a look at today's sport with gavin. more from the women's world cup in a moment and frustration for france, but the final round of the open at hoylake is under way and the leaders are about to get going. the man to catch is brian harman, who has a five—shot lead over compatriot cam young. let's catch up with ben croucher who is there for us. then, over to you. they were! gavin, it all comes — then, over to you. they were! gavin, it all comes down _ then, over to you. they were! gavin, it all comes down to _ then, over to you. they were! gavin, it all comes down to the _ then, over to you. they were! gavin, it all comes down to the next - then, over to you. they were! gavin, it all comes down to the next four - it all comes down to the next four hours or so. it is wet, it is wild, birdies are not easy to come by but they are out there on the course. the leaders have just taken to a very sodden hoylake. brian harman five shots clear of his compatriot cameron young. let's bring you up—to—date on that early final round leaderboard here in the open championship. brian harman with a five shot lead over the american

cameron young. one of the early movers so far on sunday is rory michael roy, winner here in 2014. he has picked up back—to—back birdies on the third and fourth to move a five under par alongside the likes of tommy fleetwood, jason day and viktor hovland. the world number one has done well today. we have seen the likes of thomas peters and others are combined to 15 overall today. i was helping searched for his ball behind me, we didn't find it. he made a double bogey. the weather here is absolutely filthy. it has been raining for a good few hours. it is making the course very, very challenging indeed. this doesn't have any water hazards on it but already we have seen bulls landing a couple of paddles behind the green such is challenge. gripping the club will be tricky, finding the speed on the greens will be tricky as well. it will be tricky for all of the golfers. not least brian harman who is one of the

shortest hitters in the game but it is done to everyone else to come and chase him. only 1999 and 1925 has a man ever not won the open with a five shot lead going into the final round. . ~' ,. , . five shot lead going into the final round. ., ,, , . , round. thank you very much, stay d ! we round. thank you very much, stay dry! we can _ round. thank you very much, stay dry! we can see — round. thank you very much, stay dry! we can see the _ round. thank you very much, stay dry! we can see the rain - round. thank you very much, stay dry! we can see the rain on - round. thank you very much, stay dry! we can see the rain on the i dry! we can see the rain on the camera lens. whether making things tricky for a place at the open. so the weather making things tricky for players at the open and it's the rain taking the headlines at old trafford in the cricket too. england are desperate for play to get under way on the final day of the fourth test of the ashes against australia. but these have been the scenes all day so far. 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 for the rest of sunday isn't good which means australia would retain the ashes. and at the women's world cup in australia and new zealand, sweden left it late, to beat south africa in their opening group match. amanda ilestedt scored in the 90th minute to seal the win after frida rolfo had cancelled out

hildah magaia's opener for south africa. sweden got to the semi—finals of the last world cup and are one of the tounament favourites this summer. earlier, 2019 finallists 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 pitchside review from the referee, handing portugal a defeat in their first ever world cup match. jamaica held one of the top sides france to a goalless draw in sydney. france pushed for a late winner in their group f opener and hit the bar late on. jamaica had khadija shaw sent off in stoppage time, but held on. celebrations at the final whistle — they'd lost all their previous world cup games till now. and the hungarian grand prix has not long started. lewis hamilton started on pole for the first time since 2021. but max verstappen has jumped to the front there — he started second.

but he overtook at the start of the race. plus the tour de france comes to a close today — it'sjonas vingegaard in the yellow jersey sealing the defence of his title on this uncontested stage to finish in paris. that's underway a little later on. and that's all the sport for now. cheers, gavin. we will catch up with you a bit later on. graphic accounts are emerging of further atrocities in the indian state of manipur during an outbreak of ethnic violence in may. there's already been pain and anger over a video showing two women being paraded naked and assaulted by a mob. several other incidents in the state capital imphal have now come to light months after they happened. internet restrictions have slowed the release of information about the extent of the violence over the last few months. our reporter, divya arya, has more from manipur. shops are shut in this part of manipur�*s capital city imphal because another violent incident was reported here. this road leads to the airport so you do see some vehicles going from here, but mostly residents in this area are staying

indoors, stepping out only if they need some essentials. now, what really strikes you when you come to manipur is that the city and the state has seen no internet for more than 2.5 months now. while some areas might be returning to normalcy, it is really hard to communicate and resume normal life. despite the fact that there is no internet, when we travelled around the state, we found that the video that shows two women being disrobed, paraded naked and then sexually assaulted were still being shared widely and people would just take out their phones and show that video to us. it has fuelled more anger, despair and discontent amongst both communities. thousands are still displaced and in relief camps, unable to go back to their homes after they were set on fire in the violence that happened in the month of may. while there have been arrests after the video came out and there has been condemnation from both communities, especially spearheaded by women, everybody has been pointing out that the state government and the central government hasn't done enough.

the prime minister has spoken, but spoken too little and too late. until there is a concerted effort to find a political resolution to the dispute, sporadic incidents of violence can continue. we've heard of reports of fighting across the border overnight. curfew is every evening and it will be very difficult for people to go back from relief camps and even think of rebuilding their lives. 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. here in the uk, the economic secretary to the treasury, andrew griffith, has written to all major banks, warning them against closing customers' accounts because of their political views. it comes after the former ukip

leader, nigel farage, claimed his account with coutts bank which is part of natwest was closed for political reasons. with more on this is our business reporter, noor nanji. thanks forjoining us. in terms of how we got here, you've seen the letter, what does it say? this how we got here, you've seen the letter, what does it say?- letter, what does it say? this is a letter, what does it say? this is a letter that — letter, what does it say? this is a letter that is _ letter, what does it say? this is a letter that is being _ letter, what does it say? this is a letter that is being sent _ letter, what does it say? this is a letter that is being sent to - letter, what does it say? this is a letter that is being sent to all - letter, what does it say? this is a letter that is being sent to all the j letter that is being sent to all the big banks on monday. it is being sent by andrew griffith who is the economic secretary to the treasury and in this letter he says that there was significant concerns from both houses of parliament that there were concerns about the fact that the claims customers are having their accounts closed. he said there were fears that the law on the so—called politically exposed persons were being applied in a disproportionate manner by some financial firms disproportionate manner by some financialfirms and he disproportionate manner by some financial firms and he said that the government would take action to protect freedom of expression which he said was a fundamental right for

all british people. in light of all that, he said that he was summoning the bank bosses to come in at the earliest opportunity to come and discuss all of this. he also urged banks to implement the new rules, stricter rules, that are being brought in around this by the treasury. brought in around this by the treasu . , brought in around this by the treasury-_ brought in around this by the treasu . , ., ., treasury. remind us how we got to? the government _ treasury. remind us how we got to? the government has _ treasury. remind us how we got to? the government has actually - treasury. remind us how we got to? the government has actually been i the government has actually been looking into all of this for quite some time but it has been in the spotlight in recent weeks because of the row involving nigel farage, brexit campaigner and former leader. that is after coutts, the private bank owned by natwest, decided to close his account. mr farage said he thought his account had been closed because of his political views. he subsequently obtained a document discussing his suitability as a coutts customer. that document said to have mr farage as a customer wasn't consistent with coutts' position given his publicly stated views. it flagged concerned that mr

farage was xenophobic and racist and said there was a reputational risk of having him as a customer. the boss of natwest group has since then apologised to mr farage for what she says was deeply inappropriate comments. mr farage says she now needs to go in front of mps to reclaim what has happened. thank you ve much reclaim what has happened. thank you very much for— reclaim what has happened. thank you very much for that _ reclaim what has happened. thank you very much for that update _ reclaim what has happened. thank you very much for that update from - reclaim what has happened. thank you very much for that update from our - very much for that update from our newsroom. you can read more about that story on nigel farage and natwest back and also the treasury calling this meeting on our website. stay with us here on bbc news.

for some of that it has been a very wet weekend. not least for northern ireland which had a lot of rain overnight and once again during today. on the earlier satellite picture, we can see this curl of cloud, area of low pressure moving eastwards stop while many places today are a little bit drier and brighter than they were yesterday, we still have this stripe of cloud in place. a very slow moving weather front across parts of southern scotland, northern ireland, northern england, that's rain getting down into north wales, north midlands but this front only slowly shifting southwards. to the south, some sunny spells but the odd heavy and thundery shower. a little warmer than yesterday, 2223 degrees. to the north of our weather front, sunny spells and showers and a decidedly cool northerly flow setting in. as we head through tonight, our band of rain syncs only very slowly southwards, behind it we are getting into some rather chilly air.

temperature easily dropping down into single digits across much of scotland into northern england too. as we head into tomorrow, here is our weather front, as we head into tomorrow, here is our weatherfront, still as we head into tomorrow, here is our weather front, still moving slowly southwards and eastward but behind it we are bringing in a feed of really rather cool air from the north. it will be quite breezy as well. during monday, we've got this band of cloud, outbreaks of rain syncing out of wales down across southern and eastern parts of england. the rain tended to fizzle as it goes. behind that, sunny spells and scattered showers, more widespread showery rain into north—west scotland later in the day but with this northerly breeze, temperatures will be well below par for the time of year. you'll be lucky to get to 20 degrees in cardiff in plymouth, most places well down in the teens. the tuesday, still in the relatively cool air though it won't be as breezy. some showers across parts of scotland and down the eastern side of england. those temperatures again for most of us between 13 and 20 degrees. then, as we head towards the middle part

of the week, here comes another area of the week, here comes another area of low pressure steaming in off the atlantic and that will bring outbreaks of rain eastwards through wednesday. wednesday night to and on into thursday. quite an unsettled week of weather ahead and it is going to stay rather cool for the time of year.

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tens of thousands of people have been moved to safety on the greek island of rhodes as fire crews battle a wildfire burning on several fronts. local officials say the situation is unprecedented and there are fears