this is bbc world news today. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: a fresh crisis in italian politics as the man put forward to be prime minister quits after the president rejects a key minister for his cabinet. translation: as you already know, i have declined the mandate that i have been given by president mattarella to form a government of change. an hour until polls close in colombia, the first presidential election there since the government's peace deal with farc in 2016. preparations are still underway for a possible summit between donald trump and kimjong—un as us officials travel over the border into north korea. and how to help buskers in london to earn a living in an increasingly cashless society. a dramatic standoff

in rome has plunged italy into a new political crisis. the italian prime minister—designate, giuseppe conte, has given up his bid to put together a government. he'd been chosen by two populist parties in an attempt to end weeks of deadlock. the country has been without a government since elections in early march. here's conte speaking a little earlier. as you already know, i have declined the mandate that had been given by president mattarella to form a government of change. i would like to thank the president for giving me this opportunity and the leaders of the two parties. for putting moaning forward. i can assure you i have put

the greatest effort and paid the greatest attention in fulfilling this duty. i have done that in an atmosphere of full cooperation with the leaders of both parties which pointed me. mr conte made that statement after meeting with italy's president. they failed to agree on a cabinet, president sergio mattarella rejecting demands by the anti—establishment 5—star movement and far—right league to name an economy minister because he might have pushed italy out of the euro. i agreed with all the ministers accept the economy ministry. the nomination for the economy ministry sent an immediate message of trust and alarm. i asked for that ministry to be taken by a respectable person for the majority political group, someone aware of for the majority political group, someone aware of the joint programme, someone someone aware of the joint programme, someone who, regardless of the respect due to them as a

person, does not support the line often expressed by the two main parties that can lead italy out of the euro. our correspondent, james reynolds, joins me from rome. even by the standards of italian politics, this looks like a mess. even by the standards of italian politics, this looks like a messm is quite dramatic. essentially, the president, sergio mattarella, has shown the night that the job of head of state in italy is not ceremonial. it is deeply political because he has taken advantage of the powers given to him by the constitution to veto the government line—up, to say italy will not have a eurosceptic... finance minister who may sleepwalk the country out of the euro without proper debate. in other words, the country out of the euro without proper debate. in otherwords, he has toured the populists, if you wa nt to has toured the populists, if you want to get out of the euro, that is a big decision and you cannot sneak and do it via yourfinance minister, you have got to have a proper

debate. italy's president has made his position he stopped the government going ahead and, in reaction, the populists are furious the league party has called for early elections. back in march, people voted for these two parties. but visual interpretation bent of how this will play with the italian public? potentially, president matta rella public? potentially, president mattarella may have dug himself a whole because the populists will say, we told you so! we, and there are two different rival parties, each campaigned, saying that the italian system was not listening to the people are now they will say, we got a majority between us, we went our government together and the old stop them from having that government in place. that is a powerful campaigning to a potentially. so what options are open out of the president and political parties? festival, the

president has summoned a former imf economist to his palace tomorrow. it may be that this economist is given thejob of may be that this economist is given the job of stand—in may be that this economist is given thejob of stand—in prime minister. the trouble is that nomination will have to be approved by parliament in which the populists have a majority. a lot of people here in italy think that in the end the president may have to call early elections possibly later this year. there isjust one hour left to vote in colombia in the first presidential elections since the 2016 fragile peace deal that ended fifty years of civil war. opinion polls suggest those most likely to go through to the second round injune are the right—wing candidate, ivan duque, who opposes the deal, and the former left—wing guerrilla, gustavo petro, who favours it. they've both been voting today. well, following events

from neighbouring brazil is our south america correspondent, katy watson. how has voting been proceeding today? with long queues. turnout has been higher than previous elections. this is a very important election because it is the first presidential election since the peace deal in 2016 sold conflict is no longer the top priority for everybody. candidates have been campaigning for things such as equality, corruption, not just things such as equality, corruption, notjust on things such as equality, corruption, not just on security things such as equality, corruption, notjust on security nevertheless, despite the conflict is over, there is still concern. we have got the right wing candidate, ivan duque, who was very against the peace deal in 2016 and he said, if he becomes

president, he would make changes to that peace deal. gustavo petro, second in the polls, has been much more in favour of the peace deals. that is what people are deciding, someone that is what people are deciding, someone who was far more right wing conservative, especially notjust for the peace deal but concerns about venezuela and the neighbouring crisis in venezuela which is affecting colombia, or do they go down a new route with colombia, more left wing, discussing issues such as inequality? that is very important given the deep inequalities in the country. what seems extraordinary is that the outgoing president won the nobel peace prize for that deal. is itfair nobel peace prize for that deal. is it fair that the public never really bought into it and we're now seeing repercussions of that? absolutely. he's a very popular president outside colombia but, when you speak to people in colombia, it is a very different picture. the issue with the peace deal is that he achieved a

big step for presidents not achieved at the would—be concessions and his critics say there were too lenient on the former guerrilla members. that has been a big concern and one of the issues that we might see changing if the likes of ivan duque ta kes changing if the likes of ivan duque takes power. it has been a slow process. it has had its problems. it is still an issue of violence in the country despite the fact that there is no conflict as such but there is still drug trafficking and that causes violence in the country and that's a big concern for people in colombia and that is what we might see reflected in vote. to get your analysis and we will be keeping across this in the coming hour or so. “— across this in the coming hour or so. —— good to get. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. as many as nine russian troops have been killed by militants in syria. a number of government soldiers also died in the attack. it happened in deir al—zour province in the east of the country, where the islamic state group continues to pose a threat.

the death toll from cyclone mekunu, that battered southern 0man and the yemeni island of socotra on friday, has reached 11. the category two cyclone recorded winds of up 170 kilometres per hour. two indian sailors are among the dead and a further eight are still missing after their boat got into difficulty off the socotran coast. china has accused the united states of infringing its national sovereignty after two american warships sailed close to the disputed paracel islands. china, which controls the islands, says its forces had to warn the us vessels to leave the area. in a statement, the us pacific fleet said it regularly conducted freedom of navigation operations in the area and it would continue to do so. pressure is mounting for northern ireland to liberalise its strict abortion laws. it follows the historic referendum in the irish republic that overturned that country's ban. however, the democratic unionists, the largest party in the north,

said it should not be bullied into accepting abortion on demand. emma vardy reports. this was a seismic moment, marking a shift away from the country's once strict conservative beliefs. two thirds of irish voters backed repealing the ban on abortion and the reverberations of this decision are felt elsewhere. this has very much been a national debate, people all over the island have been talking about the need to support women and our policy is the same from the north through to the bottom of ireland, we need to show care and compassion towards women. ice cream! in belfast today, a sense that the debate moves here. northern ireland remains the only part of the uk where abortion is illegal unless it is a risk to the life of the woman. i would love to see a referendum up here.

again, it probably will never happen. but hopefully it will start a conversation going. i would love to see it up here. could it happen? not with our government! northern ireland's devolved government collapsed 16 months ago and the largest party here does not want restrictions on abortion to change. the dup leader arlene foster has said her party will keep its pro—life position and that friday's referendum in the south will have no impact on the law up here. i think there is a lot of people who would never vote for the dup who would share my analysis of life and when life begins and the need to protect life. i think it is a popular opinion throughout northern ireland that we should not have a liberalised abortion regime and we should not have the 1967 abortion act here. as i say, in the absence of a devolved assembly, there is no possibility

for discussion on those issues. the priority is to restore devolution, say number 10, so northern ireland politicians can decide. but a number of mps, including some within the tory ranks, believe westminster should pass more liberal legislation for northern ireland. compassion does not equal abortion, so now that the eyes are turning to belfast and westminster, we would say that, because both lives matter, there is a better story and we would ask our politicians to respect democracy and devolution, to give people a chance to decide what goes forward in northern ireland and do not impose anything on us. but the result in the south means there's growing political pressure for those who seek northern ireland drastically out of step. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: chris froome has won the tour of italy bike race.

together with other titles, he now makes history in the cycling world. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletics events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars will be thousands of queues started forming at 7am. the liverpool fans broke out of the area and into the juventus enclosure. broke out of the area and into the juventus enclosure. belgian police lost control. the whole world will the tragic death today, the father of the indian people on the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes to an end after 25 years and more than a500 episodes. the chat

show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri halliwell has announced she has left the spice girls. i do believe! -- i don't believe it. this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines: italy's prime minister—designate, giuseppe conte, has withdrawn his bid to put together a government. it's less than an hour until polls close in colombia. the first presidential election there since the government's peace deal with farc in 2016. us officials have crossed into north korea for talks on a possible summit between president trump and kim jong—un. president trump has tweeted that the

tea m president trump has tweeted that the team have arrived in north korea and he says, i truly believe that north korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial nation one day. so much more words than we had a few days ago last week, when president trump said that that meeting was off. the former american ambassador to south korea, sung kim, will be meeting the north's vice foreign minister. it could mean the summit, which is officially cancelled, is now back on track. embracing for a second time. the two korean leaders looked much more like new friends instead of decades—old enemies. the meeting was called by kim jong—un, who seems eager to salvage his summit with president trump. translation: kim jong-un reaffirms his strong will for denuclearising the korean peninsula. that's what the white house wants to hear. and they have sent a team of officials to the northern side of the demilitarised border for talks about the summit.

so is it all back on? we're looking at june 12th in singapore. that hasn't changed. and it's moving along pretty well. at the border, tourists from the south come to catch a glimpse of a land they have never known. it often feels like the razor wire and landmines don't exist. and when their leaders meet so easily, at such short notice, it makes them feel that one day that might be possible. i worked at the border here 30 years ago. things are much better now. every day, we worried about what could happen any time but now i am thinking unification could happen soon. thinking unification could happen soon. i was not born in north korea. i want the two careers to live in

harmony so we i want the two careers to live in harmony so we can go i want the two careers to live in harmony so we can go back and forth between the two countries. each one of these ribbons tied to the barbed wire fence represents a hope for peace. and if they were looking for signs that this time might be different, they got it. kim jong—un is showing that he's willing to engage on a level that his father and his grandfather never were. fundamentally, one problem remains. is he willing to give away his nuclear weapons? many believe kim jong—un will never give up his weapons in the way the us wants and a deal is not possible. people here are eagerfor the us and north korea to at least try, as this is the closest they've come to peace in decades. chris froome has become the first british man to win the giro d'italia after cruising home in sunday's processional stage in rome. the 33—year—old joining the exclusive list of cyclists to complete a grand tour hattrick. froome in fact just the seventh

man to win the vuelta, giro and tour de france. his italian success adding to his 2017 vuelta victory and four tour de france wins. froome finished a6 seconds ahead of dutch defending champion tom dumoulin in the overall standings and becomes only the third man in history to win three grand tours in succession, an achievement he's particularly proud of when he spoke to the bbc after the race. ten have won three grand tours in a row now, there is no bigger goalfor professional cyclist. to be the holder of the those jerseys, i'm still pinching myself, these last a8 hours especially had been a roller—coaster and this is definitely the hardest grantor for me to win. this race is so unpredictable so, to be here in a pink journey unpredictable so, to be here in a pinkjourney in rome, it feels incredible. —— jersey. couple of big shocks on the opening

day of the french open with defending champion jelena 0stapenko the biggest casualty. the latvian fifth seed was stunned by world number 66 kateryna kozlova. this time last year, a then unseeded 19—year—old 0stapenko beat current world number one simona halep to take the title in paris. but her roland garros 2018 adventure lasted just 95 minutes as ukraine's kozlova came through 7—5, 6—3. meanwhile, ninth—seeded venus williams is also out, beaten in straight sets by world number 91 wang qiang of china. to formula 1, and red bull's daniel ricciardo was the master of monaco as he took the chequered flag in the principality. the australian picking up his second win of the season after holding off sebastian vettel and championship leader lewis hamilton, who had to settle for third. 0ur formula 1 reporter, jennie gow, was there. daniel ricciardo is a monte carlo grand prix winner, and that is something really special. it was not the greatest of races, it was not a

showpiece overdramatic. he just did what he needed to do to make sure he could cross the line in first place ahead of sebastian vettel and lewis hamilton. so all important for the champion ship will be that lewis hamilton still leads the way, his lead cut to 1a points but damage limitation on track the know does not suit them. sebastian vettel came in second place which is why that gap closes up. daniel ricciardo, is he still in contention? he is 2a points behind sebastian vettel, and i think it could well be in contention. next up, montreal, a track that has lewis hamilton's name all over it. he has won the many times but can he do it again? the party in monaco for daniel ricciardo will go on into the night but for us it is time to pack up until two weeks' time for the next race. england's cricketers succumbed to a miserable nine—wicket defeat at the hands of pakistan on the fourth day of the first test at lord's.

the hosts resumed on sunday morning with a slender lead thanks tojos buttler and dom bess' century stand the previous day. but it proved in vain as england added just seven runs for the loss of four wickets, leaving pakistan to chase down 6a to win. they lostjust the one wicket as they sealed victory 90 minutes into the day. it means england can only draw the series with one test remaining. it is very disappointing. we have been outperforming another three environments for stop and a first innings in particular, showed character in that second innings, but you have to be better. there have been a number of collapses recently. we have got to find a way asa recently. we have got to find a way as a group and that is a very individual thing but ultimately, working out the tumour together, being more patient, and taking our opportunities when we get them. —— out there together. and just to let you know that australia's will power has in the last few minutes won the indy 500. that's all the sport for now. london has introduced a contactless

payment scheme for buskers in what the organisers claim is a world first. instead of handing over loose change, passers—by can use card readers to make contactless payments. charlotte campbell is a london busker. i asked herjust how it is going to work. i have my card reader. it will be set up with payments. it will display £1, and you can tap the card and keep going or you will stop and listen to a few more songs. but do you have to stop an impact our much money i want to give? previously, yes, but as i have developed this repeat pay, i can set up a £1 and then had to go. itjust resets every time. you are setting the bar low, you deserve more than that!” figured that £1 as the average dropout would expect and if you want to give more, they can tap twice or three times. does that stop people

patting their pockets and say, i don't have any cash? people still give that age—old excuse, but i don't have the guts to say, don't worry, i have got a card reader! tell me, since we have gone cashless, we started using a card is much more, have you noticed takings going down? i have been doing it for quite a few years and i can't say i've noticed my takings going down. it is difficult to say because perhaps i'm getting better as an artist so i hope... i expect it to go artist so i hope... i expect it to 9° up artist so i hope... i expect it to go up but they tend to stay the same, so! go up but they tend to stay the same, so i am hoping that is a result of cash free. since you have gone and got your contactless gizmo here, have you noticed more people doing it? that has really helped my

income! i want to ask you a terribly crass question so incident that i will say how generous are londoners? tourists are very generous. although i recently been playing in train stations and commuters have been quite generous. probably because you are brightening up the day. that's the aim of what i want to do. flowers a nd the aim of what i want to do. flowers and bright colours. what is the most anyone has ever given you? i have been really lucky to be part of people's proposals. somebody came up of people's proposals. somebody came up and said, i'm about to propose, will you sing? then he gave! —— benny gave me £100. that is a wonderful thing i get to be part of as well. would you mind playing a little bit for us? this is one of my own songs. i love being busker and

sharing my music, so i thought i would share thatjoy with some good streets of london. there is music on the streets of london. there is music in my heart. there is music on the streets of london. that is where we are, that is where we are! that was absolutely lovely, thank you so much. and i genuinely mean this, i don't have any cash or cards in the studio, but we can go back up to my desk. that would be great, thank you. the very talented charlotte campbell speaking to me earlier. she deserves every pound if you pass in london.

i want to update you on how we see the rest of the holiday weekend. before we look into the future, let me take you back to last night where we had the most enormous amount of thunderstorm activity gradually differing its way across the southern half of the british isles, 50,000 lightning flashes were recorded in just 50,000 lightning flashes were recorded injust a 50,000 lightning flashes were recorded in just a few hours. a 50,000 lightning flashes were recorded injust a few hours. a big area of low pressure churning away in brisk eight, throwing these thundery plumes up across the british isles. we have done pretty much the same sort of thing the first part of this evening and will continue to do so, possibly in different areas over the next few days. part of the reason for it is that things are on the mild side at the moment, even as we move towards the moment, even as we move towards the midnight hour temperatures around 20 degrees mark. what i think many more of you will notice as the thunderstorms fade away is that we will see this impression of low

cloud coming in off the north sea to give a pretty dull start across the greater part of central britain. a little bit of sunshine further south, sultry here but temperatures never lower than 15 celsius overnight. 0fficial start of the day of the northern scotland but away from the eastern shores cluelessly sunny. another close day, eventually spawning more thunderstorms across the southern counties. some places will see 27 and in northern ireland and scotland, temperatures co mforta bly and scotland, temperatures comfortably in the 20s. eventually, that low cloud appealing its way back towards the eastern shores but, as we get onto the evening and into the start of tuesday, quite a blanket of cloud comes in the north sea, pushed on by a gentle north—easterly breeze. tuesday sta rts north—easterly breeze. tuesday starts of cloudy, eventually the sunshine pop some through and eventually temperatures in the low

20s. this is the time it is the far south of the british isles is likely to see the greatest number of thunderstorms. into the middle part of the week, not great deal changes. perhaps we will develop thunderstorms drifting towards northern parts of scotland and store the threat of thundery showers in the threat of thundery showers in the southern parts as we get into the southern parts as we get into the second part of the week. this is bbc world news today. our top stories: a fresh crisis in italian politics as the man put forward to be prime minister quits after the president rejects a key minister for his cabinet. voting has almost concluded in colombia after the peace deal that ended years of civil war. the main focus of the campaign has been corruption and inequality. us officials have crossed into north

korea to make progress on the possible summit with kim jong—un. in the last few minutes, donald trump has tweeted that north korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial nation one—day. victory for real