to safety in the largest evacuation of its kind, as crews battle against wildfires burning out of control. horrendous. absolutely... i've never been so scared in my entire life. travel chaos as a number of holiday firms cancel outbound flights and holidays to rhodes. polls will close soon in spain's general election. prime minister pedro sanchez and his main rival have cast their votes. and australia retain the ashes after rain ensures the fourth test ends in a draw. hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones. the greek authorities have declared a state of emergency in southern rhodes, as firefighters continue to battle wildfires.

greek police say 19,000 people have been evacuated from homes and hotels on the island. it's said to be the biggest such operation greece has ever carried out. some breaking news, and the british foreign office has deployed a rapid deployment team, including the british red cross, to rhodes. they will be based at rhodes international airport to assist with travel documents and liaise with greek authorities and travel operators on the ground. these are pictures from one village in rhodes where houses have been destroyed. three hotels there have reportedly burnt down, and many others are in danger. this is the damage at one hotel. here you can see cars, buildings and vegetation, all burnt out, going right up to the edge of the sea. and the fires are still burning.

you can see in this video captured by a tourist, just how thick the smoke is down by the coast. many people spent the night in temporary accommodation like this, after being evacuated from hotels. others have been forced to gather where they can, in public buildings like halls and schools. 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. a spokesperson for the greek fire services gave an update on the evacuation of residents and tourists in rhodes. translation: according to initial estimates by the greek police, - the precautionary evacuation involved some 19,000 people. 16,000 of them were evacuated by ground means, and 3,000 by watercraft.

this was the largest safe transport operation for residents and tourists ever carried out in our country. 0ur correspondentjenny hill is at rhodes international airport. what really strikes you here is just how exhausted and how emotional people are. there must be several hundred people at rhodes airport. there is very limited seating, so most of them are just squatting, or even trying to sleep on the floor. some of the people here told us they've been here since the early hours of the morning, waiting for a handful of flights back to britain tonight. although actually, i have just met a woman who sat very, very tearfully, telling me that she hasn't got a flight home until wednesday, but she doesn't want to go to an evacuation centre, doesn't want to try another hotel — and they're very booked up — because she is worried that the fires will simply spread further. the greek minister for tourism is here at the airport. we had a very brief word with her earlier. she told us that 19,000 people, locals and tourists, have been successfully moved out

of danger, out of those fire zones. she said there'd been no injuries during the course of those operations. she also told us that the authorities are setting up a help desk, here at the airport, for any british citizen who has lost, misplaced their documents or passport during those evacuation operations. jenny mentioned greece's minister for tourism. and i'm pleased to say we can speak to her now. the for tourism. and i'm pleased to say we can speak to her now.— for tourism. and i'm pleased to say we can speak to her now. the line is dro -|n~ we can speak to her now. the line is dronping in — we can speak to her now. the line is dronping in and _ we can speak to her now. the line is dropping in and out, _ we can speak to her now. the line is dropping in and out, but _ we can speak to her now. the line is dropping in and out, but we - we can speak to her now. the line is dropping in and out, but we can - dropping in and out, but we can speak to 0lga kefalogianni. thank you for being on the programme. can you for being on the programme. can you just tell us what is happening at the airport. are there enough flights to get people out?- flights to get people out? first, let me thank — flights to get people out? first, let me thank you _ flights to get people out? first, let me thank you for— flights to get people out? first, let me thank you for inviting - flights to get people out? first, | let me thank you for inviting me. flights to get people out? first, . let me thank you for inviting me. it has been a very difficult to 72 hours for the greek authorities. but as already mentioned, we successfully evacuated almost 20,000 people in a matter of hours. this

has been the largest mobilisation of this skill in our history. we managed to evacuate 16,000 people by road, and 4000 by c. —— of this scale. we wanted to make sure that... are first priority and concern is the safety and priority of everyone. i was at the airport earlier, and yes, it is true that there are people who don't have their passports. this is why the ministry of foreign affairs has a help desk at the airport, which from my understanding, is already in place, helping british citizens who don't have their documents to be able to fly safely back home. at the same time, everybody was evacuated, is already accommodated. ——

everybody who was evacuated. this is the peak of the summer period, and we didn't have enough rooms to host all 20,000 people. so we've tried to find hotel rooms, but at the same time, we also try to host people in conference halls, sports centres, schools. everybody was provided lodging. and everybody has access to water, food and medical supplies. and it is very important to stress that the locals have supported this procedure. that we have a lot of volunteers, and i think that rhodes has shown hospitality in extraordinary conditions. the best hospitality that you can find in rhodes any time of the year. one of the most attractive tourist destinations, and actually, right now, only a small area of the island was affected, but of course, our concern is always the safety of everyone. so this is why people

needed to be evacuated. £31 everyone. so this is why people needed to be evacuated. of course, thank yom — needed to be evacuated. of course, thank yon i — needed to be evacuated. of course, thank you. i didn't _ needed to be evacuated. of course, thank you. i didn't want _ needed to be evacuated. of course, thank you. i didn't want to - thank you. i didn't want to interrupt, but as i say, the line is a bit difficult. but it is good enough that i think we can continue. ijust want to enough that i think we can continue. i just want to ask about the airport and flights getting out of there. we are hearing from some people who are waiting a long time as the airport. 0thers waiting on board aeroplanes that aren't taking off for various reasons. what do you know about actually getting enough flights to leave and take people with them? i understand this could be a concern, but the airport never stopped operating. there was never disruption of the flights. flights were coming in and going out, because as i said before, it is only a small area of the whole island that has been affected. so overall, the island is operating as normal. well, of course, when it comes to the flights, it is always for the

tour operators to reschedule. as i understand, some of them are flying empty planes in order to take people out of the island, and in this way, to be able to accommodate everyone else who was coming afterwards. i think that we will not be having any problems flying people safely back to their home. and as i said before, the only problem with the travel documents is also, something that can be resolved at the airport help desk. fin can be resolved at the airport help desk. ., , , , desk. on to the fires themselves, are they still _ desk. on to the fires themselves, are they still out _ desk. on to the fires themselves, are they still out of _ desk. on to the fires themselves, are they still out of control- desk. on to the fires themselves, are they still out of control and? i are they still out of control and? are they still spreading? and maybe be in a situation where more people will need to evacuate?— will need to evacuate? while, we remain very _ will need to evacuate? while, we remain very vigilant. _ will need to evacuate? while, we remain very vigilant. our - will need to evacuate? while, we remain very vigilant. our very - will need to evacuate? while, we i remain very vigilant. our very brave fireman are working around the clock to ensure that the fire doesn't get out of reach. as i said, currently, it is 10% of the island in rhodes

that has been affected. so we remain vigilant. actually, this is why we were able to have an immediate response, and it is also important to stress that greece has in place, since 2019, this three digit number, one more to forcible protection. —— 112. this notifies anyone in any affected area, for example, the evacuation. greece has such a system in place. we are vigilant, our firemen are fighting the fires, and i believe that... we will be able to have the islands back into 100% operating in a few days's time. find operating in a few days's time. and i 'ust operating in a few days's time. and i just asked. _ operating in a few days's time. and i just asked, for _ operating in a few days's time. and ijust asked, for the people who were sleeping in those conference halls and in schools last night, will they be spending another night tonight in those conference halls,

in those schools?— tonight in those conference halls, in those schools? some of them are leavinu. in those schools? some of them are leaving- some _ in those schools? some of them are leaving. some may _ in those schools? some of them are leaving. some may be _ in those schools? some of them are leaving. some may be staying for. in those schools? some of them are i leaving. some may be staying for one more night. but at the same time, we are really trying to make sure that they have access to food, water, they have access to food, water, they have access to food, water, they have showers, they have air conditioning. so, the volunteers that are really, really trying to accommodate them, the small children are having activities. so, we are really trying to make it a very hospitable environment. despite its not really being, you know, the hotel room they have booked. flit hotel room they have booked. of course. thank you so much for your time, minister. thank you for talking is through the situation on the ground there. the line improved, so i am glad we stuck with it. thank you. let's talk more about these evacuations with our news reporter courtney bembridge, who's in our newsroom. your mac lets pick up on what the great tourism ministerjust your mac lets pick up on what the great tourism minister just said there about 10% of the island is

being affected. i there about 10% of the island is being affected.— being affected. i have the mac behind me- — being affected. i have the mac behind me. these _ being affected. i have the mac behind me. these areas - being affected. i have the mac behind me. these areas in - being affected. i have the mac - behind me. these areas in orange are the fires. and you can see that while it is a small percentage of the island, it is right up to the coastline here, where of course, a lot of these tourist spots are, and a lot of these hotels are. many local residents have also been evacuated from these areas. these areas we have marked in white are all the areas where evacuations have taken place. you can see in the north, is where the airport is. i want to show you the scene of one hotel from this area here. it currently looks like this, and i know we've been looking at pictures like this, but it bears repeating. this is the situation at a hotel just a few days ago, tourists were flocking there. and now, many of them are here at the airport waiting for flights out. we them are here at the airport waiting forflights out. we have heard them are here at the airport waiting for flights out. we have heard from a lot of the major tourism operators, certainly ones that operate here in britain. this is what they have had to say. first of all, we will talk about whatjet2

have said. they have cancelled flights for the rest of the week, but they are sending empty flights to rhodes to pick up passengers in need. tui has also cancelled flights until wednesday, need. tui has also cancelled flights untilwednesday, but need. tui has also cancelled flights until wednesday, but is on standby to help get customers out. next, we will hear about what easyjet is doing. they are still burning flights coming in and out, but package holidays including the hotels have been cancelled. —— they are still running flights. we know that british airways, ryanair, air france and the german carrier condor are flying as normal. many carry on as normal at this stage. we also know that the foreign office has been talking about working with the greek authorities, and they are now sending in a team of at least five members of staff from the foreign office, as well as staff members from the british red cross, to try to help people who are in rhodes. that is something that has just been confirmed in the last hour or so, and we will bring you more updates as we get them. this is obviously

changing hour by hour.— as we get them. this is obviously changing hour by hour. people are caettin out changing hour by hour. people are getting out of— changing hour by hour. people are getting out of roads, _ changing hour by hour. people are getting out of roads, leaving - changing hour by hour. people are getting out of roads, leaving the l getting out of roads, leaving the airport there, and they are arriving, some of them here at manchester airport. arriving, some of them here at manchesterairport. —— arriving, some of them here at manchester airport. —— getting out of rhodes. 0ur news correspondent phil bodmer has been at manchester airport finding out what passengers have been through in rhodes. they talk about their holidays which they've saved up for all year round being disrupted by these wildfires. they talk about the sky glowing red, the moon glowing red at night. sitting out having a meal, with ash falling onto their pizzas. they could see a glow on the hills above their hotels. one man even told us he wondered if his hotel was still standing. it has been quite an ordeal. the flight back was delayed, and i think they really are relieved to be home. it's been pretty horrendous. where we were staying, it was not that bad, where like, the hotel was with fires. on our way back from the hotel, you could literallyjust see a whole cloud of smoke.

it was horrible. we had ash droppingl on our shoulders, and a lot of smoke around, so i think we've just missed it, but we're just trying to find - out whether our hotel. is actually still standing. so we're not too sure yet. the smoke was getting thicker yesterday. ash was starting to fall, and be blown across the area where we were. and no one or anybody seem to be really too concerned about it. you could see the sky. turning red and cloudy, and the mountains disappearing with the thick smoke. _ yeah, it was scary. i think there is a general sense of frustration to about a lack of communication from the authorities. some people cited the military putting roadblocks in place, and therefore, getting to the airport is even a problem. but when you do get to the airport, it is absolutely crowded and chaotic, and people don't know whether they will get there flights out essentially. this is a very fluid situation, as has been mentioned, because clearly, some tour operators are now

suspending all flights, so people turning up at the airport today are told, flights are not going now. but some airlines who are not running package tours are still flying into the islands, because as we know, it is the central part of rhodes which is the central part of rhodes which is affected. a lot of confusion about the days ahead. i suspect the flight that came in this afternoon at 330 will be far from the last. we know another one is due at about five o'clock. that will now not coming until around 615. that has been delayed too. i suspect with 19,000 people evacuated, some 3000 others by water, this will be far from the last of those flights receive from rhodes over the coming days. receive from rhodes over the coming da s. . ~' , ., receive from rhodes over the coming da s. . ~ i., ., receive from rhodes over the coming da s. . ~ ., ., receive from rhodes over the coming da s. . ., ., ., , days. thank you for that. voters in sain's days. thank you for that. voters in spain's general — days. thank you for that. voters in spain's general election _ days. thank you for that. voters in spain's general election have - days. thank you for that. voters in spain's general election have just. spain's general election have just about an hour left to cast their

votes. it 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 led by prime minister, pedro sanchez, here casting his vote, and the centre—right popular party which may go into coalition with the hard—right vox party. with an hour to go before the polls close, the interior ministry in spain said the turnout stood at 53%. that's a decline of about 5% compared to the previous election. sergi forcada has the latest. polling stations will be closing in the next hour or so here in spain, with the exception of the canary islands, where voting will last for another hour. for the first time, a spanish general election is being held injuly and in the middle of a heat wave. here in madrid, 3000 fans have been distributed to polling stations to fend off the heat.

spaniards have also cast a record number of postal ballots to escape their summer holidays. according to opinion polls, no party will have a majority, so it will all come down to negotiation, to pacts. the opposition party center right party, people's party is expected to win, but falling short of a majority. so if they want to form a government, they may need to look for support of the far right vox party, which is known for being quite tough in issues like immigration, abortion or lgbt rights. the conservatives have been leading opinion polls, but for months, the gap with prime minister sanchez has now been narrowing. mr sanchez is hoping that the alliance that he has with his left wing parties will be enough to secure four more years for him in power. but this is a parliamentary system, not a presidential one. so what really matters is who is able to form a government, not only who comes first, but who in a few weeks will be able to get a majority

in congress and elect a new prime minister. to india now. graphic accounts are emerging of further atrocities in the indian state of manipur, during an outbreak of ethnic violence. there's already been anger over a video showing two women being paraded naked and assaulted by a mob. several other incidents have now come to light. internet restrictions have slowed the release of information. 0ur 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 two and a half months now. so while some areas might be returning to normalcy, it is really hard to communicate and resume normal life.

and 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 was 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, that 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 clamped every evening and it will be very difficult for people to go back from relief camps and even think of rebuilding their lives.

to the war in ukraine. 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 ukrainian ports. here's our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse. ? 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: | think russia has| chosen odesa as the main target. 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 clean—up is remarkable and there is still the 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 have 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.

here in the uk, a treasury minister has written to all major banks, warning them against closing customers' accounts because of their political views. it comes after the former hard—right ukip leader, nigel farage, claimed his account with coutts bank was closed for political reasons. the boss of natwest — which owns coutts, dame alison rose, has apologised to mr farage. here's our business reporter noor nanji. because of the row involving nigel farage, who is the former ukip leader and brexit campaigner. now, his account was closed by coutts, which is the private bank that is run and owned by natwest. mr farage said that he fought his account had been shut

because of his political views. he subsequently obtained a document relating to his suitability as a coutts customer, and that document flagged concerns that mr farage was xenophobic and racist, and that there was reputational risk in having him as a client. natwest�*s boss, which is dame alison rose, has since apologised to mr farage for these comments, which she said were deeply inappropriate. but mr farage says that she now needs to go in front of mps to explain what has happened here. golf and american brian harman has won the open. it's the first major for the 36—year—old american. he finished on 13 under par. nearest rivals were six shots behind. he kept his composure with a final round of 70. australia has retained the ashes. no play was possible on day 5 of the fourth ashes test match because of rain. that means australia — the current ashes holders — cannot lose this current series.

with one test match left to play, they lead england by two games to one. the final game takes place at the 0val. football, and the women's world cup has been continuing down under. france were surprisingly held byjamaica in group f. the match ended goaless. the jamaica manager hailed the result as the "greatest" in his country's football history. france were one of the pre—tournament favourites. elsewhere, sweden came back from a goal down to beat south africa 2—1 in group g. the winning goal coming in the last minute for the swedes, who are current 0lympic silver medallists. and in group e, the netherlands overcame portugal 1—0. it's the first time the portuguese have featured in a women's world cup. the only goal came in the first half. max verstappen, the hungarian grand prix claimed a victory. he started

strongly passing lewis hamilton on the opening lap. the brits could only finish fourth, and the results means that red bull has set a formula 1 record with 12 consecutive victories. it's the opening weekend of two of the most talked about films so far this year — barbie and 0ppenheimer — and both are doing their bit to revive cinema. the uk cinema chain, vue international, said it had the biggest weekend for uk cinema ticket sales in four years — with a fifth of customers purchasing tickets to watch both films — in a double bill dubbed by social media as barbenheimer. it said barbie is already on track to becoming the biggest film of 2023, and possibly even one of the top 10 highest grossing films of all time. this is bbc news.

hello. rain has been a big feature of the weekend weather for many of us, but it wasn't a complete wash—out. there was a little bit of sunshine to be had. sunday afternoon brought some blue sky overhead for this weather watcher in cornwall. but on the earlier satellite picture, you can see this curl of cloud, an area of low pressure moving away. but this frontal system here left behind. it has been very, very wet again today across some parts of southern scotland, northern ireland, most especially northern england. and that rain will continue to push its way southwards through the night. 0nly moving quite slowly though into the midlands, wales, eventually the south west of england, parts of east anglia. behind it, we get into a northerly wind and that's going to make for a rather chilly night across some parts of scotland. i think some places will get down to around four or five degrees. tomorrow then, here's our slow—moving weather front, still only moving slowly southwards and eastwards.

but behind, it we get into that northerly wind, bringing some unusually cool air for this point in july. so our weather front bringing clouds and outbreaks of rain across some eastern and southern counties of england first thing. it should pull away southwards, sunny spells and showers following on behind and then perhaps some more widespread showery rain into the far north west of scotland, particularly the western isles, as we head through the afternoon. temperature—wise, pretty disappointing actually for this time of year, 14 to 19, maybe 20 degrees. that is below the average for late july. and then as we head through tuesday, some spells of sunshine, a scattering of showers, not quite as breezy, but still rather cool with top temperatures between 15 and 20 degrees. now, as we head on into wednesday, they should start on a mainly fine note, albeit with one or two showers. but we'll see cloud rolling in from the west and eventually some outbreaks of rain moving in during the afternoon. the further east you are, a better chance of staying mostly dry. and those temperatures again in a range between 14 and 19, maybe 21 degrees in the brighter spots in eastern england.

but through wednesday night, we see this next frontal system bringing another dose of rain. that should tend to clear during thursday to leave a mix of sunny spells and showers for the end of the week. but whichever way you slice it, it is an unsettled week ahead and broadly speaking, a rather cool one for the time of year.