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. counting is under way in spain's snap general election, the centre—right have a narrow lead. and australia retains 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 wildfi res. greek police say 19—thousand people have been evacuated from homes and hotels on the island. the british foreign office has deployed a rapid deployment team, including the british red cross,

to rhodes. 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 the danger zone. this is the damage at one hotel in the town of kiotari. here you can see cars, buildings and vegetation, all burnt out, going right up to the edge of the sea. and some fires are still burning — these pictures have come into us from the turkish ministry of agriculture, taken from one of their planes which is helping to fight the fires. many people spent the night in temporary accommodation like this after being evacuated from hotels others have been forced to gather in public buildings like halls and schools.

and this tonight — from corfu — where an evacuation order has been issued as a blaze is taking hold. i've been speaking to olga kefalogianni — greece's minister for tourism. 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 is 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. onto the fires themselves, are they still out of control, are they still spreading? are we in a situation where more people need to evacuate? we remain very vigilant. our very brave firemen, they 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's also important to stress that greece has in place since 2019 this three digit number, 112, for protection. so this notifies anyone in any affected area, for example, the evacuation.

so greece has such a system in place. we are vigilant. our firemen are fighting the fires, and i believe that... 0k... ..we will be able to have the island back to 100% operating by a few days�* time. a few days�* time, can ijust ask for the people who are sleeping in those conference calls in schools last night, are they going to be spending another night tonight and those conference calls in those schools? some of them are living, some of them may be staying for one more night, at the same time, we are really, really trying to make sure they have access to food and water, they have showers convey air conditioning, so the volunteers that are really, really trying to accommodate them from a small children are having activities, so we are really, really trying to make it a very hospitable environment, despite it not really being the hotel room

that they had booked. let's talk more about these evacuations with our news reporter courtney bembridge who's in our newsroom. rhodes is a popular tourist destination at this time of year. the great tourism minister team to keep it that way underlining that the island is almost operating as normal and expecting that those disruptions will be limited in a few days. but we are hearing from a lot of passengers and people who are stuck there and experiencing disruption. so we'd spoken to some of the major operators, tour operators here in the uk about what is happening with their plans. let's go through them now. first off, easy jets, they have cancelled their package holidays to rhodes and tell july 25. they are still running flights and there will be extra flights and there will be extra flights put on to help bring people

back to the uk for rhodes. that's happening tomorrow and the next day. julie has cancelled their holidays and till the 25th and also jet two, they have cancelled the for at least a week. ryanair says flights are still running as normal and we have heard other lines saying the same that the schedule has not been affected. one plate that was due to take out this afternoon spent several hours on the tarmac. you can see passengers there fanning themselves with the safety instructions, and we were told that a few hours after this flight took off, it actually had to land in italy, not its intended arrival point in london because the crew had timed out. it's been so long on the tarmac awaiting departure inroads that the crew timed out. that is the expense of some tourists. others are

spending days on end here at the airport waiting for flights out. of course, we have people stationed there speaking to them. also there is the british foreign office. they've got a team that that has been sent to help people who may not have their documents. they might have left hotels in a hurry or made their way from other destinations and not been able to go back to their hotels and resorts to get the documents and baggage, so they are on hand to help that. just talking about the level of impact of this fire, after the tourism minister's comments about on the 10% being affected can see the areas are marked in fire, but it has all the way up to the seaside year where a lot of the hotels and resorts are. certainly having an impact and we know 19,000 people had to be evacuated from homes. certainly there are large numbers of people being disrupted by this. if we go to

the ionian islands here and with that italyjust over here, the island of corfu, also experiencing fires, these are some of the latest pictures that we have had here from there. this is a resort here. people eating their dinner, eating their meal while in the background, fires burn. some people have been evacuated as a precautionary measure, but they are at the stage not burning as out of control as those in rhodes. the pictures we see are dramatic of the fires burning on the skyline there. this is something firefighters will be watching closely overnight. firefighters will be watching closel overniaht. ., , ., ~ closely overnight. courtney, thank ou ve closely overnight. courtney, thank you very much _ closely overnight. courtney, thank you very much for _ closely overnight. courtney, thank you very much for that. _ live now to our correspondent jenny hill, who's in rhodes. good to see you. bring us up—to—date with what is happening there tonight. with what is happening there toniaht. . .,, ,, with what is happening there toniaht. . ,,,,_ with what is happening there toniuht. . , , ~' ., tonight. yeah, as you probably know, well over 250 —

tonight. yeah, as you probably know, well over 250 firefighters _ tonight. yeah, as you probably know, well over 250 firefighters have - well over 250 firefighters have spent — well over 250 firefighters have spent the day trying desperately to brin- spent the day trying desperately to bring the _ spent the day trying desperately to bring the fire under control. tonight— bring the fire under control. tonight they have reported what they described _ tonight they have reported what they described as large flare—ups on all three _ described as large flare—ups on all three fronts of that fire. you can see how— three fronts of that fire. you can see how windy it is right now. that wind _ see how windy it is right now. that wind is _ see how windy it is right now. that wind is expected to strengthen significantly tomorrow, making the task much— significantly tomorrow, making the task much more difficult and indeed much _ task much more difficult and indeed much more — task much more difficult and indeed much more dangerous. you mentioned that at— much more dangerous. you mentioned that at the _ much more dangerous. you mentioned that at the same time fires also broken — that at the same time fires also broken out on the island of corfu in the north, — broken out on the island of corfu in the north, forcing the evacuation of several_ the north, forcing the evacuation of several settlements there. as if that weren't enough, this region, southern — that weren't enough, this region, southern europe, is expected to be picked _ southern europe, is expected to be picked by— southern europe, is expected to be picked by yet another heatwave in the coming days, so very difficult days ahead. the coming days, so very difficult days ahead-— the coming days, so very difficult da s ahead. a, ., ., , days ahead. moving on to the plight of --eole days ahead. moving on to the plight of peeple who _ days ahead. moving on to the plight of people who are _ days ahead. moving on to the plight of people who are there _ days ahead. moving on to the plight of people who are there on - days ahead. moving on to the plight of people who are there on holiday. of people who are there on holiday trying to get away. he been at the airport, we been speaking to passengers stuck there for 27 hours already. is there any glimmer of

hope or good news for them? depends who ou hope or good news for them? depends who you ask- — hope or good news for them? depends who you ask. some _ hope or good news for them? depends who you ask. some people _ hope or good news for them? depends who you ask. some people did - hope or good news for them? depends who you ask. some people did get - who you ask. some people did get away— who you ask. some people did get away on _ who you ask. some people did get away on flights this evening back to the uk, _ away on flights this evening back to the uk, but some of them have been waiting _ the uk, but some of them have been waiting at— the uk, but some of them have been waiting at the airport since the early— waiting at the airport since the early hours of this morning. they were _ early hours of this morning. they were evacuated from their hotels. they didn't — were evacuated from their hotels. they didn't really have anywhere to lo, they didn't really have anywhere to go. so _ they didn't really have anywhere to go. so they— they didn't really have anywhere to go, so theyjust went to the airport and slept— go, so theyjust went to the airport and slept on the floor. surprisingly few seats, — and slept on the floor. surprisingly few seats, actually commit roads airport _ few seats, actually commit roads airport. people were just squatting down _ airport. people were just squatting dowrr hy— airport. people were just squatting down by walls and sleeping, young children— down by walls and sleeping, young children irr— down by walls and sleeping, young children in particular covered loosely— children in particular covered loosely by blankets while their parents — loosely by blankets while their parents sat and worried. those peopie — parents sat and worried. those people are the lucky ones, the ones who either— people are the lucky ones, the ones who either got a flight out this evening — who either got a flight out this evening or know they have a flight out in _ evening or know they have a flight out in the — evening or know they have a flight out in the coming days. i've spoken to so_ out in the coming days. i've spoken to so marry— out in the coming days. i've spoken to so many people today who say, well, _ to so many people today who say, well, we _ to so many people today who say, well, we are here till next week, but we _ well, we are here till next week, but we are — well, we are here till next week, but we are not in our hotel any more — but we are not in our hotel any more we _ but we are not in our hotel any more. we fled with a passport and a phone, but— more. we fled with a passport and a phone, but left everything else including our valuables in the room. they say— including our valuables in the room. they say what are we supposed to do? we speht _ they say what are we supposed to do? we spent a _ they say what are we supposed to do? we spent a little time at the airport— we spent a little time at the airport this afternoon, but also

some _ airport this afternoon, but also some time in an emergency shelter and accommodation shelter. it's normativ— and accommodation shelter. it's normally a — and accommodation shelter. it's normally a basketball court, the kind which is surrounded on four sides— kind which is surrounded on four sides by— kind which is surrounded on four sides by plastic seating, and we met peopie _ sides by plastic seating, and we met people there who said as they were betting down for the night on the court. _ betting down for the night on the court, some of them told us that the night _ court, some of them told us that the night before they were so many peopie — night before they were so many people that they actually had to sieep _ people that they actually had to sieep on — people that they actually had to sleep on the plastic chairs around the side _ sleep on the plastic chairs around the side of— sleep on the plastic chairs around the side of the court. it was extremely hot. there were mosquitoes, very unpleasant for trying _ mosquitoes, very unpleasant for trying to— mosquitoes, very unpleasant for trying to sleep. people were very conscious— trying to sleep. people were very conscious of the fact that they had a very— conscious of the fact that they had a very difficult night ahead of them — a very difficult night ahead of them. that is before you add in the mentai— them. that is before you add in the mental stress of them not knowing whether— mental stress of them not knowing whether they can get back into their hotel. _ whether they can get back into their hotel, whether they are going to be able to— hotel, whether they are going to be able to get home. a lot of people expressing real frustration and indeed — expressing real frustration and indeed anger with some of the two are companies saying that they hadn't — are companies saying that they hadn't been on the receiving end of any communication at all, all the white _ any communication at all, all the while we — any communication at all, all the while we were in that particular emergency shelter, some british government officials arrived to start _ government officials arrived to start to — government officials arrived to start to give people a little bit of

advice _ start to give people a little bit of advice at — start to give people a little bit of advice. at the overwhelming sense was, _ advice. at the overwhelming sense was, really — advice. at the overwhelming sense was, really one of exhaustion, first of ad _ was, really one of exhaustion, first of ad most — was, really one of exhaustion, first of all. most people just haven't stept _ of all. most people just haven't stept ahd — of all. most people just haven't slept and they've been through a traumatic— slept and they've been through a traumatic experience in some cases, but also _ traumatic experience in some cases, but also the — traumatic experience in some cases, but also the sense of frustration at not knowing what is going to happen next _ not knowing what is going to happen next its— not knowing what is going to happen next. it's probably also worth pointing _ next. it's probably also worth pointing out that a lot of people over the — pointing out that a lot of people over the course of the day have expressed _ over the course of the day have expressed to us a lot of gratitude for iocai— expressed to us a lot of gratitude for local people who they say have taken _ for local people who they say have taken them in, hotels which open their— taken them in, hotels which open their doors— taken them in, hotels which open their doors to hundreds of tourists who are _ their doors to hundreds of tourists who are left without accommodation, for example are people who just gave them food _ for example are people who just gave them food and drink or were volunteering at the sort of emergency shelters. a lot of those tourists— emergency shelters. a lot of those tourists are — emergency shelters. a lot of those tourists are also saying that you know, _ tourists are also saying that you know, west they found themselves in a difficult _ know, west they found themselves in a difficult situation, they were sparing — a difficult situation, they were sparing a _ a difficult situation, they were sparing a great deal of thought for peopie _ sparing a great deal of thought for people here who may well have lost their livelihoods or indeed all of their— their livelihoods or indeed all of their possessions in this wildfire. jenny, _ their possessions in this wildfire. jenny, thank you so much for that. jenny, thank you so much for that. jenny held live in rhodes.

let's go to spain now, where more than half the votes have been counted in the snap general election called by prime minister pedro sanchez. the centre—right people's party are just ahead of the governing socialist party. we think they are just ahead. things are close. these are the headquarters there at the centre right party. people are pouring over the numbers trying to work out the different permutations here, because what we know our the two major parties don't have enough seats individually to form a government. so coalition talks will now get under way. these are the life pictures we have been flicking back and forth between of the two major parties and their their parties effectively, but how much do they have to celebrate, well, it is not quite clear yet, but we don't have long to wait. we can speak now to maria ramirez,

managing editor of the spanish newspaper el diario. thank you for coming on the programme. the votes are almost all counted. have you got the latest, where we are at the moment? yes. counted. have you got the latest, where we are at the moment? yes, we are at 9696 of — where we are at the moment? yes, we are at 9696 of the _ where we are at the moment? yes, we are at 9696 of the votes _ where we are at the moment? yes, we are at 9696 of the votes counted. - are at 96% of the votes counted. spaniards count very fast. i now come it seems that the conservatives, mainstream, centre—right party is the first party, as you say, they have not enough votes to form a coalition. the second largest party is the current prime minister heidi, the socialist party, and he actually has room to form a coalition. it could be a very torturous route, so probably what we are hearing is a few weeks of early talks to try to form this coalition and may be another election because the numbers

are really, really dire. and we still have some bids and other countries, including the uk, where there are many spaniards. it is so tight that time will be important. it's ironic, we are so close, we are very, very soon going to find out the actual results, but in terms of who forms a government, who lead spain, as you say, it could be weeks of coalition talks ahead, and then potentially, if it all falls through, another election at the end of the year. what do you think the appetite is in spain for a second election? ~ ., . ., appetite is in spain for a second election? ~ ., .., , election? well, that could be what would happen _ election? well, that could be what would happen because _ election? well, that could be what would happen because simply - election? well, that could be what would happen because simply if i election? well, that could be what| would happen because simply if no party manages to really find a way to convince enough parties, that could be the only way, then we will have another election in december, so i need this campaign has been exhausting, notjust for exhausting, not just for journalists,

exhausting, notjust for journalists, also for voters, as it's been very intense debates, sometimes very aggressive campaigning, sometimes misinformation. so a big appetite for another election, but there is no way that any politician could manage to convince the parties. particularly smaller parties. we are talking about the smaller parties in catalonia, in the basque country. they could have the key particularly for pedro sanchez to form another coalition with their support. knowing the coalition as we have, we have a coalition formed by the prime minister party and another party on the left, and then other smaller parties, but they are not part of the coalition.— parties, but they are not part of the coalition. fik. that will happen the coalition. ok. that will happen aaain the coalition. ok. that will happen again step interesting, thank you very much for coming on the

programme. live now to madrid to our europe editor katya adler. yes, iam yes, i am outside the headquarters of the populist party here in spain, the conservatives. they are celebrating, lots they had been predicted in the puls to become the biggest party, and they have managed that but it is a bittersweet victory. they have been hoping to get enough votes to govern with... it is so tight, nothing is clear at this moment. so it's only half a party here tonight. the coalition building starts tomorrow where we are still hoping —— where they are still hoping to have a chance for

governance. if no one gets the numbers to form a government, so not only does this country remain deeply divided between right and left, for now, it is an unstable country to. thank you so much for that, battling against the noise and the party atmosphere there, but as was said, it is a strange one because they were expected to do probably a little better than they have done, certainly the opinion polls leading up to today's general election had to be pp party they're doing a little better. as was mentioned, tomorrow starts the negotiations and we will see. keeping an eye on that for the next couple of hours. we are a 96% of so of the vote, when we get the results through, we will head back to spain. ukraine has accused russia of a war crime after the largest orthodox church in odesa was badly damaged by missile strikes. the transfiguration cathedral is in odesa's historic city centre, which is a world heritage site.

at least one person was killed and 19 were injured in the attack. russia has been bombarding odesa, after pulling out of an agreement allowing wheat exports to be shipped from the port. our ukraine correspondentjames waterhouse is in odesa.? not even places of worship are immune from the attrition of this invasion. one of odessa's main cathedrals in southern ukraine. it has ties to moscow, yet this morning was hit by a russian missile. translation: this was our favorite l place to walk, my children and i. l this was the center of our city. a place dear to all of us. i think the russians are just taking revenge on us for notjoining them. this is a city showing its cracks after a week of sustained bombardment. moscow has blamed, without offering evidence, ukrainian air defenses. but the damage here is colossal,

as the mayor sees for himself. |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've attacked innocent people. the speed of the clean up is remarkable, and there's 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 odesa is at the sharp end. tens of thousands of tonnes of grain have reportedly been destroyed this week. this was once an area which had a diplomatic shield. that protection is no more. after an initiative which allowed grain shipments to leave ukrainian ports ended, moscow pulled out to the anger of the west. the grain also feeds some of the world's poorest.

the kremlin is frustrated with western sanctions. it's a decision which affects ukraine's economy, its farmers and the tens of millions of people who rely on its grain. it also means port cities like odesa are targets again. james waterhouse, bbc news, odesa. the israeli president isaac herzog is holding an emergency meeting with benjamin netanyahu at the hospital where the prime minister is recovering from an overnight operation to fit a pacemaker. it comes as thousands of israelis are continuing protests in a number of locations, most notably outside parliament, where a debate is continuing on a controversial bill that's the first part of the government's planned overhaul of the judiciary. mps are due to vote on it on monday. sport now and in cricket, australia has retained the ashes. no play was possible on day five 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 oval. yeah, it feels a bit weird. in some regard, whatever happened today doesn't change how we look at next week. we want to win it, so we make sure we win it outright. the weatherjust _ make sure we win it outright. the weatherjust didn't help us. he can't _ weatherjust didn't help us. he can't change that. it'sjust unfortunate. a tough pill to swallow knowing _ unfortunate. a tough pill to swallow knowing that that's obviously been the reason why we sit here with a dry. _ the reason why we sit here with a dry. but — the reason why we sit here with a dry, but we've done everything we possibly— dry, but we've done everything we possibly cut it in the hours of play that we _ possibly cut it in the hours of play that we managed to get. i thought we were completely and utterly dominant throughout the hours of play we had. turning to golf. brian harman, has won the open championship. it's the first major for the american player who finished on 13 under par. his nearest rivals were six shots behind. the 36—year—old kept his composure with a final round of 70. afterwards he admitted the course had been a real test. he also thanked his wife and family.

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. elsewhere and 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 olympic silver medallists. and in group e, the netherlands overcame portugal 1—0 in dunedin. it's the first time the portuguese have featured in a women's world cup. the only goal came in the first half. motor racing and at the hungarian grand prix, max verstappen claimed his seventh successive victory he started strongly passing lewis hamilton on the opening lap. the brit could only finish fourth. the result means red bull has set a formula one record with 12 consecutive victories.

right, let's take you back to spain, because things are really heating up. the election results are nearly 100% in, still in the 90% or so. these are life pictures of madrid, basically there are two major parties fighting out this election, the centreleft, which is led by the current prime minister, pedro sanchez. he called this snap election. it was a pursuit surprise to many, but his party didn't perform particularly well earlier in the year, called the surprise election, which may complain about being at this time of year being hyped. people away on holiday. anyway, the election was called in many expected his rivals, the centre right, the pp party to perform particularly well. they haven't performed as well as many had thought. but it looks at the moment as if they are the largest party. however, that normally means

coalition talks. they are worried by those on the left and those on the right that they would have to go in coalition with the vox party, a right—wing party. but it looks like even those two parties combined may not bring about an overall majority. so, what does that mean? well, it means despite the flag—waving, tomorrow the hard work starts. coalition talks will start. if the parties cannot come to an agreement on the right centre and right of the political spectrum, then we could lead to, well, more elections. another election at the end of the year, november— decembertime. so, plenty of time to go before then. but we will bring you the final results when we get them. for the moment, this is bbc news. hello there. the full uk forecast in a moment —

but first of all, the extreme heat continues to affect parts of the mediterranean. and later on monday, we might actually see one of europe's highest ever temperatures — 48 celsius possible to the southwest of catania. now, the significance of that is the all—time european record currently stands at 68.8, so we'll be very, very close to that. on sunday, though, here in the uk, it was a very wet day across central portions of the uk. we have 91 millimetres of rainfall in preston, three—and—a—half inches — that's about a month's worth. these figures only go up to saturday, but even at that stage, there were a number of places that were getting close to double the july average rainfall. our weather pattern, then, is a bit stuck at the moment, and it was this weather from the kind of rained off the cricket in greater manchester. the front itself is starting to push its way southwards, so the rain is going to eventually swing across wales, into the midlands and parts of east anglia, with the skies clearing behind. now for scotland, northern england, northern ireland, with those clearer skies, temperatures get down into single figures, so it'll be quite chilly air. but underneath the front

into the south, it's a relatively mild start to the day for monday. cloudy, though, with further rain — east anglia, south midlands selling hounds of england. the rain then pulls away to leave us with a day of sunny spells and showers. and, ok, the showers shouldn't last too long, there'll be large portions of the day that stay entirely dry. our temperatures a little bit below average for the time of year, but still feeling ok in thejuly sunshine. now, i think there should be a bit more of that sunshine to look forward to across england and wales, with not many showers here for tuesday. further north, though, for scotland and for northern ireland, there will be quite a few downpours developing through tuesday afternoon, so another fairly unsettled day. now, heading into wednesday and thursday, another area of low pressure will form in the atlantic and move towards our shores, so we have more rain on the cards. now wednesday, it might well be to the northeast of the uk that it stays largely dry with some sunshine. but certainly further west, the cloud will gather, outbreaks of rain will swing into northern ireland, and probably reach western parts of england,

wales, and scotland. certainly through wednesday night, it turns wet for most of us, with the rain still hanging around for thursday. might start to clear for western areas with, again, the weather brightening up. but on the whole, temperatures staying below average. the weather staying unsettled.

this is bbc news, the headlines... a major evacuation operation

has been taking place on the greek island of rhodes.