the chief executive of the british bank natwest resigns after admitting she was the source of an inaccurate bbc story about high—profile client, nigel farage. frankly, because of how they behave, i think they should all go. with one year to go until the paris olympics, we look at the excitement, and controversy, in the lead—up to the games. hello, thank you forjoining us. we show you some live pictures that are coming into us from rhodes, where the fires continue to rage. authorities in greece have warned of extreme danger of fire in six of the country's 13 regions. there is still very much a dangerous situation.

those are the live pictures from rhodes. it is another day of searing and potentially deadly heat for many people across southern europe. wildfires are burning in at least nine countries around the mediterranean. amongst the hardest hit is greece, which we've been watching. plumes can be seen approaching this village on the island of rhodes. the greek armed forces are observing three days of mourning after two pilots died battling the flames. their aircraft crashed on tuesday. this is the italian island of sicily, where fires raged near the ancient sanctuary of tindari — a popular tourist attraction. palermo airport also had to close for several hours. but the worst—affected areas are the islands of rhodes and evia where the fires have been burning for days. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri is in rhodes. the fire service thinks this could be the most dangerous situation experienced yet. the wind is not...

this fire behind me isjust spreading all over the place. there is a big flare—up there. but if you come across with me here and look across the hillside behind me, you can see several really extensive flare—ups. a moment to go, you can see the flames spreading it down at the hillside there. a helicopter just came up, presumably to dump water on to the flames below. this pie is moving back and forth crosses area. and you can see it has really been here. look at the scorched earth. down here, you can see the extent of the disruption. no curious —— no tourists here now, ordinarily this would be full of them enjoying the summer sun this would be full of them enjoying the summersun and this would be full of them enjoying the summer sun and the sparkling sea. that is what is really worrying the greek authorities. this is not the greek authorities. this is not the image that this tourist island once the world to see. jenny hill there.

our weather presenter — sarah keith—lucas — gave us more details on what we can expect in the coming days. well, nancy, i think we have now seen the peak of the heat wave across the mediterranean and southern parts of europe, too. so yesterday was another day of extreme heat. we had those temperatures from the mid 40s to the high 40s across the likes of greece, the far south of italy, towards sicily as well. but we are seeing an end to this extreme heat wave over the next 2a hours or so. so what we've got at the moment, we've got mistral winds that are funnelling between the alps and the massive centrale in france. so they're coming down from the north. they're bringing cooler air, at the moment, into the central mediterranean, so it's already turned cooler for the likes of sardinia, although still quite breezy. we've still got the wildfires burning across sicily as well. but this cooler air is going to start to spread its way through southern italy towards greece. for the likes of rhodes, for instance, temperatures will come down, but not quite yet. today, these are the sort of temperatures we're expecting. for sicily, again, where there are some

wildfires still burning, 39 degrees, probably not going to quite hit the a0 degrees mark there. but still across parts of greece, towards roads, for instance, temperatures are going to be above a0 degrees. so 44 celsius, possibly 45 for the likes of larissa or somewhere like that in the east of greece today. but you can see the extent of these red colours really sitting across the balkans. so it's the likes of ukraine, for instance, romania, bulgaria, towards turkey, that's seeing the really intense heat holding on for another day. but let's fast forward to tomorrow and you can see it's not quite the extreme red colours, they're sitting off across central parts of turkey. so by tomorrow across the region, those temperatures will be back down, eventually under a0 degrees. and we've had fairly light winds out there actually as well today, lighter winds, they could pick up a little bit tomorrow across the likes of rhodes. but we are expecting, again, with the breezy conditions, at least a drop in those temperatures. so quite an extreme drop in temperatures across parts of the balkans. so let me take you to bucharest, for instance, today, a0 degrees.

tomorrow, a 17—degree drop at about 23 degrees. now, with the drop in temperature does come some severe storms, particularly across parts of the balkans, but it does look like, for the likes of rhodes towards sicily, for the islands in the central parts of the mediterranean, that those temperatures are coming down and winds should be relatively light as well. so some respite in sight, i think, nancy, as we head through the next couple of days. sarah keith lucas at that look at what is ahead. the right—wing former leader of the brexit party nigel farage has welcomed the resignation of the chief of natwest, after she admitted she was the source of an inaccurate story about the closure of his accounts at coutts bank. dame alison rose had passed on information about the private dealings of the right—wing former leader of the brexit party, nigel farage. mr farage said he was pleased she had resigned but said it wasn't enough. here he is speaking to bbc breakfast earlier. the most extraordinary thing

is a statement from the board at six last night defending her position. the first rule of banking is client confidentiality. she over a sociable dinner with simonjack, the bbc business editor, said things that were not wise. the bbc were belt and braces on this and this was confirmed by the ceo of bbc news in a letter to me. they rang her the next morning and said, are you ok with this information being published? she said yes. simonjack put it out. you cannot do that, you cannot be in banking at any level, from cashier right through to the boss of natwest, you cannot breach confidentiality. it is right she has gone. however, it brings into question the whole of the board. the chairman of the natwest group, ceo of coutts, the subsidiary. frankly, because of how they behave, i think they should all go.

the labour leader sir keir starmer says it's wrong for banks to refuse people accounts — whatever political views they hold. i certainly don't think anybody should be refused banking services because of their political views, whoever they are. i don't know the extent of this, but that certainly shouldn't be the case. i mean, that, save in extreme circumstances, you know, terrorism, etc. but as a broad principle, nobody should be refused banking because of their political views. have they got too much power when it comes to individual people? well, i'm surprised to hear these stories of banks taking into account political views, if indeed they are... i don't know that we have got to the bottom of this. but, you know, that shouldn't happen and it certainly shouldn't be a reason for refusing someone banking services. live now to our newsroom in salford and let's speak to peter ruddick who is following this story.

quite a lot of reaction that we have heard there from nigel farage and serkis dharma. natwest share price has fallen by nearly 3%, so there is a lot of reaction to this story. —— cert keir starmer. a lot of reaction to this story. -- cert keir starmer.— a lot of reaction to this story. -- cert keir starmer. yes, those banks are actually — cert keir starmer. yes, those banks are actually doing _ cert keir starmer. yes, those banks are actually doing pretty _ cert keir starmer. yes, those banks are actually doing pretty well, - are actually doing pretty well, probably the —— profitability wise, given the high interest rate, so the percentage drop for natwest is surprising. this reflects the past 2a hours. at 5a0 2p and yesterday we had this statement from natwest, saying that dame alison rose had been the source behind this inaccurate bbc report about why nigel farage had his account closed. the board of the bank said that we have consonant in alison rose to continue leading the bank. nigel farage got his own tv show, and went on that show to say that it wasn't good enough. he said that she broke client conventionality and that she

needed to go. a few hours later, there was an emergency board meeting, at1:20pm, —— 1:20am, there was an emergency board meeting, at1:20pm, ——1:20am, a bizarre time to get statements, let alone from this kind of country, we got a statement to say that she had departed. bbc news had understood that downing street had serious concerns about her leadership. why does that matter? because the uk taxpayer is still a a0% shareholder, the major shareholder in natwest. when you have lost confidence in terms of your major step shareholder, the government, then you have to go. it was right for her to go, but there are questions now of what happened behind—the—scenes to lead to these changes in status, fought nigel farage, and he says, for thousands of other people like him. we for thousands of other people like him. ~ . ,, ., ., ~ him. we had keir starmer talking there saying _ him. we had keir starmer talking there saying that _ him. we had keir starmer talking there saying that no _ him. we had keir starmer talking there saying that no one - him. we had keir starmer talking there saying that no one should l him. we had keir starmer talking l there saying that no one should be

de—banked for their positions. we de-banked for their positions. we know de—banked for their positions. - know that the city minister has been very vocal on this, he said he has been feeling very similar to keir starmer, he said it is not ok to stop offering an account because of your political views. he is meeting five of the major banks this afternoon, we are expecting a meeting from him to find out how that went, within the next hour or so. it should be said that you are allowed to have your bank account closed for various reasons, however, clearly, there are also rules in place that allow you freedom of expression, freedom to hold various opinions. that is clearly what is at odds here. nigel farage claims that banks were using rules around financial crime and stopping holding him accountable for someone committing financial crime, but... there is clearly an investigation

going on at natwest and i wouldn't be surprised if we hear from andrew griffith, the city minister, if you want to hearsimilar griffith, the city minister, if you want to hear similar inquiries, similar statements from other leading banks in the uk. thank you very much. — leading banks in the uk. thank you very much, peter— leading banks in the uk. thank you very much, peter roddick. - junior doctors in england will be staging a four day strike from the 11th to 15th august. it is their fifth round of strikes in this year's pay dispute. the british medical association has asked for a 35% pay rise to restore pay to 2008 levels after a series of below—inflation pay rises. the government is giving them a 6% pay rise this year plus a lump sum of £1,250. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. we ta ke we take a look now at some of the making news the uk.

a public consultation into the proposed closure of hundreds of ticket offices in england is set to be extended. that's according to the chairman of network rail. train companies have faced legal challenges over the process with concerns that closures will affect disabled people. but the train operating companies' body, the rail delivery group, has defended the proposals. police officers in england will no longer respond to concerns about mental health if there is no risk to life or a crime being committed. the government says the policy could save one million hours of police time every year. senior officers admit forces have "lost their way" by dealing with less serious mental—health problems. but mental—health charities have expressed concern over the changes. trying to secure rental accommodaton is becoming more competitive. that's according to new data seen by the bbc. there are around 20 requests to view each available property. and the number of requests to see each home has tripled since 2019.

you're live with bbc news. in the uk, a man who spent almost two decades in prison for a rape he says he did not commit will have his case heard by the court of appeal today. andy malkinson will hear if three of the most seniorjudges in england will quash his conviction for rape after 20 years of protesting his innocence — 17 of them from inside prison. live now to our reporter frances read outside of the court of appeal in london. what can you tell us about this case? . , what can you tell us about this case? ., , ., ., ., case? that is what the court of a- eal case? that is what the court of appeal is _ case? that is what the court of appeal is currently _ case? that is what the court of appeal is currently hearing - case? that is what the court of appeal is currently hearing at l case? that is what the court of i appeal is currently hearing at the moment. andrew malcolm since said he spent 17 years in prison for a crime that he said he never committed. in a 200a, mr makinson was jailed for life after being found guilty of raping a mother of two in salford in greater manchester, back in its 2003. that was done on a majority verdict, at the time. andrew parkinson has always denied

committing this crime. he said it was a case of mistaken identity and that he was an innocent man. despite his minimum sentence being seven years, he actually spent 17 years in jail because he refused to admit to doing a crime that he said that he never committed. his convictions were referred here to the court of appeal, on new dna evidence, which has actually linked another man on the national dna database, potentially to that crime, and greater manchester police has said that they have arrested somebody else, pending further inquiries. andrew malcolm is an�*s legal team have stressed no dna evidence ever linked him to the case at all. —— andy malkinson. there was never a match for him, he says this was a case of mistaken identity. in court this morning, he said, this was an historic case and an historic

justice, that has wide implications for the, just as system. the crown prosecution service said it will not be protesting andy malkinson�*s case. a previous conviction is quashed, but it will be the longest miscarriage ofjustice, if quashed, in history. thank you for setting out why this is so important. these are some live pictures from the court. those from inside the court of appeal in london. of course, when that appeal happens, we will be able to bring you the results of this. of course, this is, as frances said, if this conviction is quashed, this will be the longest miscarriage ofjustice in history. andy malkinson has spent 20 years protesting his innocence, 17 of them from inside prison. we will give you more information on

that as soon as we get it, but those are live pictures from inside the court of appeal in london. the british prime minister rishi sunak will give evidence under oath today at a public inquiry into what's been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the nhs. 30,000 people were infected with viral hepatitis or hiv in the 1970s and 80s after being given contaminated blood products. now the families of those affected want downing street to respond to the compensation recommendations made by the inquiry. live now to rosamund cooper who is one of the victims of the contaminated blood scandal. thank you very much forjoining us. and for speaking to us. do tell us how you have been affected by this? i was born with a severe bleeding disorder. it was diagnosed when i was about six months old. as a result of that, i had a lot of

bleeding problems with nosebleeds, internal bleeding, joint bleeding, and for those, i had a treatment which was made up of part of the blood i needed to help my blood to clot. i had multiple trips to hospital, as a child, multiple injections of this wonderful clotting product that was the thing that would stop me bleeding, that would keep me healthy. and ifound out when i was 19 that i had been given hepatitis c multiple times through this treatment. the hepatitis c itself has had a massive impact on my life, i had to deal with finding out accidentally, not from my own doctors, that i had this virus and that it had an impact on my future, a massive impact, that i thought i was going to die, in my 20s, thought i was going to die, in my 205, i thought i was going to die, in my 20s, i was planning my funeral. i

continued to work until i was able to, because of ill health. i had two rounds of treatment for hepatitis c, that was incredibly toxic, that has made me a critically ill, and has been a huge long—term in fact this which has made me infertile, so i have not been able to have any children, and i've spent the last 29 years trying to achieve an understanding of what actually happened and why it happened. and also to get some form ofjustice and acknowledgement of the stakes —— mistakes that were made. acknowledgement of the stakes -- mistakes that were made. rosamund, it is impossible _ mistakes that were made. rosamund, it is impossible to _ mistakes that were made. rosamund, it is impossible to fathom _ mistakes that were made. rosamund, it is impossible to fathom the - it is impossible to fathom the impact that this has had on you. what are you hoping to hear from the prime minister? is there anything that he can say that you would like to hear? , , ., , to hear? firstly, i would be interested _ to hear? firstly, i would be interested to _ to hear? firstly, i would be interested to know - to hear? firstly, i would be interested to know if - to hear? firstly, i would be interested to know if he - to hear? firstly, i would be| interested to know if he has actually watched any of the evidence that we of the victims that make we

as the victims have given over the last four years. if he has, he will have a level of understanding that, if you haven't listened to it, you wouldn't have an understanding. i think it is important that he has done that or does that to really get to grips with the hideous nature of what has happened and how this has destroyed lives. i would like a commitment from him to let us know, is the victims, which of the recommendations that they had from sir brian langstaff, that was from march this year, that they are actually putting in place. which of them they are not able to, because then we know, the main problem at the moment is completely... with every four days of delay, another one of our community dies. if this is even afterjust the summer recess, that is another devon desk.

i want to have some appreciation from him of the urgency, and some acknowledgements that when the government say they are working swiftly and at pace, that is really... after the summer recess, that would be another seven deaths. rosamund, thank you for sharing that story. it appears we have lost that line. this time next year the paris olympics will get underway, a games which has already been a labelled a blueprint for the future, with environmental sustainability at the heart of it. but as our sports news correspondent alex capstick reports it wouldn't be an 0lympics without some controversy in the build—up. a games fit for the future in the heart of historic paris, with a promise to be the most sustainable 0lympics and paralympics ever. the man making it happen

knows a thing or two about a successful olympic games. tony estanget is a three—times olympic champion. for me, it is a great combination of iconic images, we want to demonstrate that paris and france can deliver the games in a different way than in the past, and it is this best balance of the passion of the games. but also the purpose. we have to be engaged in a new model of delivering the games. a big part of that new model is a laser focus on the environment. 95% of the venues already existed. the largest of only a few new construction projects is the athletes�* village, but here wood has replaced steel, there is low—carbon cement and natural cooling instead of air—conditioning. elsewhere, the games will be the first to be run renewable energy. reducing our emissions by 50% is one of our most important objectives. major events cannot be run the way they were run before, not with the current climate and environmental issues that we are seeing. one of the existing venues is the river seine, which is being cleaned up to host

the open—water swimming events. but it will also take centre stage for the first ever opening ceremony outside a stadium. more than half a million spectators are expected on the banks of the river, which, in light of france's historic issues with security and civil unrest, has raised concerns. when you organise an event, the first things you have to be sure, it's the place that you are welcoming athletes and spectators, that it will be safe. that is the first part and the major one. so we work on that point essentially to be sure that we will be able to do it in a full security aspect. security is not the only potential problem. 0rganisers face allegations of corruption. this building behind me, their headquarters, was recently raided by police, and they face complaints over tickets being too expensive, although in response they say prices are the same as at previous games.

usain bolt was on hand to mark the official countdown. new stars and stories will emerge, with a changing game, and france embracing the revolution. i spoke to our paris correspodent, hugh schofield, who told us how things are shaping up. everyone is optimistic, but then they would be. i won't give out any signals are having speaking of anything going wrong, but what use hear from the organisers and there are a couple of voices in that package, they are upbeat, things are on track, they promised to hold down carbon emissions, it is apparently holding good. certainly, it is true that the ambition... the ambitious remodelling of the city, which has been the hallmark of so many previous 0lympic been the hallmark of so many previous olympic games, that is not there today. they are using existing infrastructure, by and large, with

just a couple of big projects. redevelopment is very much needed in the city, and so many would say that the city, and so many would say that the mood in the city is one of expectation and the mood in the organisers of�* camp is one of, fingers crossed, but so far, so good. fingers crossed, but so far, so aood. �* ., ., , , . .,~ good. and how are the public taking to the message _ good. and how are the public taking to the message of _ good. and how are the public taking to the message of the olympics? i to the message of the olympics? especially at a time when there are serious challenges afoot, whether it is the of living, all the political situation? . is the of living, all the political situation?— is the of living, all the political situation? ., , ., ., situation? that question asked a coule of situation? that question asked a capple of years _ situation? that question asked a couple of years ago, _ situation? that question asked a couple of years ago, it _ situation? that question asked a couple of years ago, it did - situation? that question asked a l couple of years ago, it did provoke a certain amount of doubt and scepticism. there was a strand of opinion, and there still is, that says that these extravaganzas are not what we particularly want. either for ourselves for the planet. i think, given the commitment of the organisers to keeping carbon used

down, with the deadline approaching, with games coming up as well, the clear sense that the city is bracing for a big event in a yearfrom now, i don't sense that the tide of scepticism is getting any bigger. i think people are ready for it and the games, when they happen, everyone will be on board. studio: hugh schofield reporting there on how the olympics are shaping up in a paris club of this environmentally conscious theme. very important as the world continues to face the consequences of climate change, battling those fires, for example, in southern europe. at least nine mediterranean countries are struggling with those. business is up next. hello. a fairly unsettled changeable weather forjuly is continuing for the next few days. the next area of low pressure is continuing, and you

can sit on the satellite, the cloud approaching from the atlantic, before it reaches us, though, many of us have seen some early sunshine and many of us will keep the blue skies and sunshine this afternoon. this was the picture from essex. we have already had the rain coming in from northern ireland, south—west england as well, and western areas, wet and quite breezy, but for much of scotland and eastern england, it stays dry, but some sharp showers this afternoon. temperatures at a little on recent days, looking at highs of 2a in the south—east, but in the cooler air mass up in the northern isles, just 13. into the evening, this area of rain reaches eastern parts of the uk, spreading across all areas at some stage of this evening and overnight, as it makes its way eastwards. lots of low cloud, mr and makes its way eastwards. lots of low cloud, mrand mark makes its way eastwards. lots of low cloud, mr and mark lingering at tonight. it is quite a humid air mass, so temperatures in double figures. —— murk. tomorrow, we see

low pressure lingering with the frontal system sitting across scotland and the far south of england. early rainfall southern england, clearing away from the south coast but lingering at longest in the channel islands and scotland it will be quite murky and drizzly as well, especially in the north—west of the rain could be persistent. after a grey, murky morning, the sunshine should start to break through, there'll be some showers creeping up through the afternoon, and temperatures are between 16—2a. still a little cooler for the northern isles. friday, we are between the areas of low pressure, the next one comes in from the west, the breeze comes from the south—west, not much rain on friday, but there will be some showers, hit and miss, potentially quite heavy for eastern scotland. pushes around 15-2a. for eastern scotland. pushes around 15—2a. warmerfor the for eastern scotland. pushes around 15—2a. warmer for the south on friday. at the weekend, the low pressure moves in from the west, and quite a few isobars you can see, so a breezy spell of weather. the

weather fronts are not too active through saturday, but there will be some showers around and an unsettled picture, some sunshine and showers into the weekend.

the boss of the natwest steps down — after admitting to being the source of an inaccurate story about nigel farage's finances. and, red card for the owner of tottenham hotspur, afterjoe lewis is charged with insider trading in the us. welcome to world business report, i'm ben thompson. we begin with news that the chief executive of natwest group, dame alison rose, has resigned after admitting she made a "serious error ofjudgement". she had been heavily criticised for being the source of an inaccurate bbc report about mr farage's account at coutts, which is part of natwest group. after the announcement, natwest shares fell more than 2.5%. the uk government currently has a 39% stake in the bank, but has been selling down its holding over the past few yea rs. dame alison was paid just over

£5 million last year.