i'm rico hizon in singapore, the headlines: us officials are in north korea, trying to revive a planned summit between president trump and kim jong—un. but will it take place after all? italy's populists call for the president to be impeached — following failed efforts to establish a coalition government. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme. decoding dolphins: we find out what makes the marine world's most charismatic mammals click. surprise in singapore — was that really kim jong—un at the esplanade? hey, donald, i'm already here in singapore, look, it's fantastic. it's 8am in singapore, 1am

in london, and 9am in north korea, where a group of us diplomats are meeting officials to prepare for a summit between donald trump and kim jong—un. less than a week ago, the us president said the summit, planned forjune 12 here in singapore, was cancelled. with the latest, here's our washington correspondent chris buckler. it was only a few days ago that donald trump cancel the singapore summit, said it was not going to happen ina summit, said it was not going to happen in a very public letter to kim jong—un. but there is a very different set of communications coming out of the white house and his administration now. the state department has released a statement in which they say there is a team in place and north korea having conversations with their north

korean counterparts and that we continue to prepare for a meeting between the president and the north korean leader, almost as if that cancellation did not happen. donald trump on twitter has said: we often talk about donald trump being a reality television president but there is a soap opera quality to the relationship he has with kim jong—un, it seems to swing between love and hate and at the moment the relationship seems good. that does potentially bode well for this meeting to take place onjune 12 as planned. to get the view from seoul, i spoke to our correspondent laura bicker. for the us side it's the philippines ambassador, doing a bit of moonlighting. they crossed over into the northern side of the

demilitarised zone where president moon and kim jong—un met on saturday so moon and kim jong—un met on saturday so it's been a busy —— for the past few days. he is a seasoned ambassador, skilled ambassador and negotiator. probably one of the most skilled in the us. for the north korean side we have the lady who made headlines issuing the statement attacking the vice president mike pence, calling him stupid. when it comes to her, we should use a rising prodigal star in north korea, fluent in english and very experienced in international affairs. again these two have met before. so when it comes to the expertise leading these negotiations it looks as if with the delegates in the room they are serious. briefly, what do they hope to achieve? i think they are going

to achieve? i think they are going to try to nail down the details of any deal to prepare for the summit, is it on or off? this geopolitical roller—coaster continues. after president moon met kim jong and roller—coaster continues. after president moon met kimjong and on saturday, another historic moment here, we are now looking at the slow and steady rise towards that singapore summit. if they can get them the details of any kind of deal, perhaps then it will make it easierfor kim deal, perhaps then it will make it easier for kim jong—un to meet president trump on june 12. our other top story — italy is once again in political turmoil, after the man chosen to be prime minister by the two main anti—establishment parties said he didn't want the job. guiseppe conte had the backing of both the populist five star movement, and the anti—immigration la liga party — but the italian president refused to accept his choice of an economy minister who had previously called for italy to leave the euro. it's sparked a furious reaction — as our rome correspondent james reynolds explains. it's quite dramatic, essentially the

president has shown tonight that the job of head of state in italy is not ceremonial. it's deeply political. because he's 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 might sleepwalk the country out of the euro without proper debate. in other words he's told the populists if you want to get out of the euro it's incredibly big decision and you cannot sneak and do it via the finance minister, you've got to have a proper debate. so the italian president has made his position clear, stopping the government from going ahead and in reaction in the populists are furious and the party has called for early elections. also this hour — the right—wing's candidate in the colombian elections, ivan duque, has a lead in the contest to be the next president. with most of the votes counted, mr duque had around 39 %.

he campaigned on a pledge to renegotiate the 2016 peace deal between the government and farc guerillas, and he wants to jail former rebels for war crimes. he'll face his leftist rival, former guerrilla gustavo petro, in the run—off onjune 17. 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, say 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. in hong kong hundreds of people have taken part in the annual demonstration to mark the anniversary of the tiananmen square protests. the activists said they wantjustice for those who died in beijing in 1989 after government forces broke up a peaceful pro—democracy protest. real madrid have returned home to spain with the

champions league trophy. it was carried down the steps of their plane at the airport by sergio ramos. and in the last few hours, the players have been parading the trophy in front of the fans at the bernabeu stadium. real‘s 3—1win over liverpool in kiev was their third successive champions league victory, and their 13th european champions title overall. liverpool's star player, mo salah, has said that he hopes to be fit to play in the world cup for egypt. he was taken to hospital after suffering a shoulder injury during the match, but tweeted that he is a fighter, and despite the odds, he is confident that he will be at the tournament in russia. let's get more now on our main story this hour — the possible summit between donald trump

and kimjong un. the us is hoping to persuade north korea to denuclearise in return for an easing of economic sanctions. our china correspondentjohn sudworth has travelled to north korea's border with china to look at the impact of sanctions. just a few metres away, a north korean fisherman wades into the water. from the chinese side of this river, you can gaze into the harsh reality of north korean life. a nuclear—armed state with not a tractor in sight. an impoverished country where, we're told, the toughest sanctions ever are pushing its leadership to the negotiating table. in the bustling chinese border towns, though, we find another side to the story. north korean seafood, added to the un sanctions list last year,

is an abundant supply, openly advertised on this sign. could you get into trouble for selling them? "rarely", he tells me. this chef even shows me how to cook the sanctions—busting crab. so, these crabs have been smuggled? "of course they're smuggled", he tells me. with china and north korea making public displays of their friendship, the us president has been voicing his concerns that sanctions are slipping. china, though, may have good reason to tread a careful line. for now, north korean guards keep the flow of refugees to a trickle. if their country collapsed, it could turn into a flood. the fences on this board are pretty flimsy affairs. porous to both goods and people. in some places, there

are no fences at all. it's an illustration of the us president's suspicion, that china has no real intention of isolating north korea, and that the old alliance still stands. in one chinese city, we find more evidence of the continuing cross—border trade links. north korean workers. "what's it like working here?", i ask. they don't want to talk. workers like these face slave—like conditions, most of their wages go direct to their government. and, on the north korean side, the economy is quite clearly still sputtering along, with building sites and factories belching smoke. the future of this antiquated military state is now centrestage, and china is showing it's the only power that can really tip the balance. john sudworth, bbc news on the china—north korea border. earlier i spoke to chiew—ping hoo

from the national university of malaysia and i started by asking her if she thinks the summit will go ahead. ido i do think that given what has been happening over the weekend there is a very high chance that the summit between the us and north korea will resume. what you think china makes of all of this? i think china wants it to work even though north korea right now is unclear, to move things forward is crucial for the right now is unclear, to move things forward is crucialfor the peace process and china needs to prepare for the starters go change the matter the outcome. at the heart of this is the issue of denuclearisation of north korea, how

likely do you think that will be when we look at the talks which will potentially be held in a few weeks' time? i do think kim jong-un wants to talk about denuclearisation bat he needs some credible assurance from the united states before he can concede to the first step of the process. i am keen to find out from you if i can the difference or torn we are seeing. we talked earlier about china but we've seen the leaders south and north meeting, the torn from donald trump changing, what is your assessment on how this is now progressing?” what is your assessment on how this is now progressing? i find it unusual that north korea is showing an interest in resuming the summit and trying to show trump good intent by having another one with moon, it is quite unclear what kim jong—un wa nts to is quite unclear what kim jong—un wants to get out of the united

states so an absolute security guarantee would be a game changer in northeast asia. give us a sense of how unusual this is, for north korea to come to the table in this way?” think because kim jong—un thinks the nuclear weapons programme has been completed so he can change the diplomatic outreach and engage with neighbouring countries and especially the great powers. so it's really unusual in a sense that we may be embarking on a new direction of how the north korea problem can be handled. chiew—ping hoo from the national university of malaysia. former us president george bush senior has been taken to hospital in maine. a family spokesman tweeted that president bush , who's 93 , had experienced low blood pressure and fatigue but was alert and not in any discomfort. the former president, seen here at the funeral of his wife, barbara,

last month was hospitalised in texas the day after and stayed there for nearly two weeks. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: singapore used to have the world's most useful passport but we find out which country has taken the crown — and why. also on the programme: they're amongst the most intelligent and social creatures — but what makes a dolphin happy? from the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people taking part in sponsored athletics events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers hope will be thousands of queues started forming at 7am. pointing led to scuffles,

scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and into the enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn this tragic death. he was the father of the indian people from the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes to an end after 25 years and more than four and a half thousand episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri halliwell has announced she is leaving the spice girls. i don't believe it. not geri, why? this is newsday on the bbc. i'm in singapore. i'm in london. our top stories. us officials are in north korea, trying to revive a planned summit between president trump

and north korea's leader, kim jong—un. an attempt to form a government in italy has ended in failure — after the president rejected a key cabinet appointment. and new technology means buskers in london could soon be able to accept electronic payments. until now, they've had to accept cash in return for their efforts, but a new scheme backed by the london mayor means they can be rewarded through contactless payments, wearable technology and even chip and pin cards. more on that story on bbc.com let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. most papers are reporting on the latest developments in the on—off us—north korea summit. the china daily says that china firmly supports the two leaders' efforts to hold the summit and that it expects it to be successful. singapore's the straits times has been celebrating parenthood. this happy scene shows prime minister lee at

an "embaracing parenthood" event. he announces more programmes and activities to support parents in raising their children. it's good news for commuters as the philippine star reports on the go—ahead for a monorail project between two major business districts just outside manila. this artist's impression of the sky train monorail shows the proposed link which will reduce travel time to just five minutes. what stories are sparking discussions online? this sighting in singapore of a man who — at first glance at least — looked a lot like the north korean leader kim jong un. he drew quite a crowd on sunday at the esplanade — but it soon became clear that despite the trademark haircut, he wasn't actually the real thing. it turned out he was an impersonator, who gave his name

as howard x, who'd come to singapore ahead of next month's summit — should it actually go ahead. and he stayed in character as he sent this message to president trump. hey, donald, i'm already here in singapore, look. it's fantastic. it's just like pyeongchang but singapore, look. it's fantastic. it'sjust like pyeongchang but with lots of good food. i've got you chicken rice. come on down. there are some similarities. there are some similarities. singapore used to have the most useful passport in the world — based on the number of countries which would allow someone holding one to enter, without needing a visa. but — that has changed — and here's why: japan now ranks number one in the henley passport index. japanese people can get visa—free or visa—on—arrival access to a record 189 destinations. singapore has dropped to equal second, alongside germany. a document issued by either of those nations will grant

access to 188 countries. and injoint third are south korea, finland, france, italy, spain and sweden. a little earlier i spoke to dominic volek who is from henley and partners. he told explained why japan has now taken over from singapore in the passport index ranking. what's happened is there has been a slight improvement on the methodology and the information available. this has seen another eight destinations added in total to the overall destinations available. the good news for singapore is that these eight destinations, singapore has visa free access to all of them but the difference betweenjapan and singapore which has seenjapan consolidate the position and number one is japan has visa free access to kosovo. just one country! let's talk about china, it's historically been

difficult to access, what is their current in welcoming guests without a visa? china has been active in the waiver space, currently ranked 68 in the world. relatively low in terms of these free access, only 70 countries but what china has done is be active in going to places like the united arab emirates, ukraine and having reciprocal visa free access between the countries. i have four passports with me, singapore which is number two, the united states which is number four, south africa which is number 50 and my personal philippine passport which is number 70. tell me, how hard is it for governments to secure visa waiver agreements, what's involved say for the philippine passport to go up in the ranking? it's very much depending on heads of state having a conversation. a lot of the reciprocal nature of visa free access is dependent on historic economic ties as well as security.

security comes into it. the chance of a national breaching certain visa requirements or immigration rules in another country will limit that reciprocal access. so governments have to be proactive and convince other governments it's safe to travel to the country that there are very important trade and business relations between the two sides? exactly, the united arab emirates minister of foreign affairs has actively sought to make that passport in the top five in the world by 2021 and they are going out and engaging in these conversations to sign more visa waiver agreements. have you ever wondered what makes a dolphin happy? a researcher based in paris has been looking into that question by studying the mammals in captivity — and she's found that they particularly enjoy spending time with humans they know and trust. our science correspondent victoria gill explains. dolphins squeak.

intelligent, sociable, playful. bottlenosed dolphins are the marine world's most charismatic mammals. which is why so many of them are kept in dolphinariums, like this one near paris. there are an estimated 5000 bottlenosed dolphins in captivity around the world, and it's only recently that scientists have begun to ask and investigate how these animals feel in this kind of environment. their acrobatic performances might appear enthusiastic to us, and they make dolphin shows a popular attraction. but one young scientist has spent three years at the theme park decoding dolphin behaviour, to work out what activities they like best. humans have always been fascinated with dolphins, and there's this human—dolphin affinity, but nobody‘s really looked at it from the dolphins' point of view. what do the dolphins really think of us? this was an experiment designed to assess anticipation and enthusiasm.

the dolphins' body posture, activity and where they look provided a measure of how much they were looking forward to three different things. an interaction with a familiar person, time spent playing with a toy, or being left to their own devices. so, we found a really interesting result was that all dolphins waited around most for the event where the trainer would come and play with them. and we've seen it in other zoo animals, other farm animals, that better human—animal bonds equals better welfare. the aim is to use these findings to improve the lives of captive dolphins around the world. but for critics of this industry, a concrete pool can never be an acceptable home for these marine creatures. i think the study can't necessarily tell you if a dolphin in captivity is happier than if it was in the wild.

i think that's one of the things we have to bear in mind, that this study is very much telling us how we can manage animals in the best possible way, if they are captive. i don't think the study can tell us whether these animals are happier in captivity, or nearly as happy as they would be in the wild. the much larger question remains, of whether these animals are here to educate people about life in the oceans, or simply for our entertainment. but this research, watching and listening to them, could help our understanding of how to make them happier. victoria gill, bbc news. a pair of premium melons from hokkaido in northern japan, has fetched a price of 3.2 million yen, or about 30,000 us dollars, in this year's first auction. they were among about 500 yubari melons auctioned at a wholesale market on saturday. the melons were grown by farmers in yubari city. the winning bidder said he wanted to support local farmers, and would share the melons for free among the local people.

i love watermelons but i cannot afford down! you have been watching newsday. stay with us. coming up, zte crisis. we'll see how president donald trump's decision to ban us companies from selling hi—tech parts and software to zte teaches chinese companies a lesson. parts of the uk have been involving beautiful sunshine but they have also been suffering from incredible lightning storms sweeping across the uk this weekend. 15,000 strikes recorded in just four hours on saturday night. many people said they were utterly insane. thank you for joining they were utterly insane. thank you forjoining us, see you soon. 0nce

once again the thunderstorms of this holiday weekend have certainly been making the headlines, we are not alone, quick look at western europe and you see there are plenty of thunderstorms to be had, great rafts of cloud across france and germany, the low countries too, in the forthcoming week i expect we will see further storms in places, it will be on the warm side initially, like winds and mist and fog in the forecast. low clout to start the day. elsewhere are lots of sunshine to start the day, once that pours on through into the middle part of the afternoon we will start popping showers, parts of east anglia, perhaps the southern counties are into wales. the eastern shore played in places by that low cloud but elsewhere much of scotland, the north of england, england wales and over to northern ireland dry and fine and sunny and really very warm as well. 20—something in a number of

places. the showers will go across the southern counties for a good pa rt the southern counties for a good part of the evening and the low cloud will pour in the north sea, no great surprise see the overall setup because we've got this big area of low pressure dominating western europe and around its northern flank we bring the one side of the continent over a warm north sea, the moisture condensing and you form the cloud. tuesday will start cloudy for a greater part of the british isles, eventually it retreats back to eastern shores, we import more showers later in the day, temperatures maybe not as high as monday but still on the warm side for the time of year. moving into the middle part of the week not a great deal changes, still the low pressure throwing showers at the british isles, dull tapping into the warmth from the continent. showers more widely available you would be glad to hear, as we get on into wednesday, some of them intense, thunderstorms are bound to the

northern parts of scotland and eventually down into eastern england, top temperature around about 22, maybe 23, many into the teens. cooler conditions you have to goa teens. cooler conditions you have to go a long way to find, northern parts of scandinavia in the middle pa rt parts of scandinavia in the middle part of atlantic but much of the near continent and we ourselves till seeing those temperatures above the seasonal norm, not a great deal of change is far ahead of thursday, doesn't show any sign of changing at all, lots of thunderstorms. towards the weekend we will build high—pressure tending to suppress the shower activity but still keeping it on the one side. this is bbc world news. our top story. us officials are in north korea, trying to revive the proposed summit between president trump and kim jong—un. the discussions on the northern side of the demilitarised frontier are thought to be focussing on details of a possible denuclearisation deal. the summit was originally scheduled for the 12th ofjune. an attempt to form a government in italy has collapsed after the president rejected a key cabinet appointment.

party leaders say he's betrayed the state, and are calling for him to be impeached. and this video is trending on bbc.com real madrid have returned home to spain with the champions league trophy. the players have been parading the trophy in front of the fans at the bernabeu stadium. real‘s 3—1win over liverpool in kiev was their third successive champions league victory, and their 13th european champions title overall. and the top story here in the uk. the result of ireland's abortion referendum has no impact on the law in northern ireland, according to the leader