this is bbc world news. the headlines. after a brutally—violent campaign, voting is underway in the general election in mexico. over 130 politicians were murdered in a matter of months. the front runner in the presidential race is the left wing former mayor of mexico city. and football fans in russia are celebrating. the host nation has knocked out former champions — spain — from the world cup in a major upset, after a dramatic penalty shootout. reports from germany suggest that angela merkel‘s interior minister, whose opposition to her migration policy threatens her coalition government, is not willing to accept the eu plan she and eu leaders proposed earlier this week. french police are searching for a notorious criminal who's escaped from prison by helicopter. redoine faid was serving a 25—year sentence for a failed robbery, during which a police officer was killed. at ten o'clock, mishal husain will be here with a full round—up of the day's news.

the second world war is still controversial in east asia, even as it falls from living memory. so, how is japanese cinema telling the story 70 years on? in conjunction with bbc radio 3, historian rana mitter has visited tokyo to find out. japan's never ending war contains some distressing scenes from the start. japan today is prosperous, lively, and enjoying the upside of 70 years of peace. but in the 1930s and early 40s, japanese forces swept across first china and then the pacific, until finally they were driven slowly back towards the japanese mainland and destruction. hiroshima was completely hidden by an impenetrable cloud of smoke and dust.

in east asia, the second world war is still so raw it dominate headlines. so, how the countries of the region tell themselves their war stories really matters. but as memories of the war die away, what aspects of the conflict remain in focus and what's left out of the frame? i'm rana mitter, an historian of east asia. i have come to tokyo to find out how japan tells itself the story of the war through its movies. movies that recreate an era of devastation that still shapes this country's relationship with the region and the world. this museum in central tokyo is a record of the everyday lives of wartime civilians. everything from preparing ever scarcer food to sheltering

from american bombs. and it's that perspective on the fate of japanese civilians that's at the heart of a recent surprise blockbuster. on its release in 2016, in this corner of the world seemed to catch some wider public mood and became a big hit. it's the story of a woman called suzu starting her married life near hiroshima. as the war comes closer to the islands, it brings food shortages... and worse. but at first, suzu responds with youthful creativity. have young people watched your film, how do young people react to seeing the war period portrayed on screen?

finally, suzu loses her drawing hand, and her neice who's holding it, to an american bomb. but do young people think about movies as a way to understand the war? i went to meet up with three students, akame, yuri, and haruka. in this corner of the world stays focused on the suffering inflicted onjapanese people rather than by them, but it does include glimpses of the hard edge of the regime. in this scene, the military police, the kempeitai, accuse suzu of spying for drawing warships in the bay. arai harahiko‘s movie, this country's sky, also tells the story of a young woman trying to form her personality and ideas

while surviving the dangers and deprivations during the last the last year of the war. amid the air raids, 19—year—old satoko begins a highly unconventional relationship with her married 30—something neighbour. we've heard quite a bit about films that mourn the japanese victims of the war, but some films concentrate on the soldiers. and they're not just stories of condemnation. some recent movies have found aspects of the wartime effort to sympathise with. i'm going to a place where the spirits of japan's war dead are commemorated. the yasukuni shrine is a controversial site, as it doesn'tjust commemorate the ordinary war dead, but also leaders who were indicted as class a war criminals after japan's defeat.

it's also the place where the souls of kamikaze pilots were inducted after their deaths. it has become difficult to film freely inside. but it is this place invoked in a film that makes those kamikaze pilots its heroes. in for those we love, the young men about to fly off and crash their planes into american warships, as japan struggled desperately to stall the american advance, promised to meet each other after death at the yasukuni shrine. it was written by the then governor of tokyo, ishihara shintaro, well—known for his hardline nationalist views, and his script insists on the nobility of the pilots‘ sacrifice. for those we love was not a huge box office success, but a more recent film about the kamikaze pilots proved a blockbuster hit. the kamikazes‘ plane

was called the zero, and the eternal zero was adapted from a novel from the japanese author, hyakuta naoki. however, the film adaptation took the story in a new direction. in this electrifying aerial chase sequence, the pratagonist, miabi, desperately tries to outmanoeuvre the american fighter plane on his tail. but when miabi is saved by one of his pupils deliberately crashing into the american‘s plane, he chides the badly injured young man for risking his life in direct contradiction of japan's wartime insistance of self—sacrifice. some appreciated the film's take on the pilot's noble sacrifice,

others, not least the director of the film, mr takashi, saw it as more critical. the director of the film sat down with me. we have known each other for years. people have this perception that this film is pro—war. right—wingers are coming out and saying this is our film. he said, how can they think that? the people in that film, the kamikaze pilots, they are to be pitied, the way they died. so wasteful. how can they even think that? he was mad, offended. finally, miyabe sets out on a kamikaze mission and the film ends with a moment of emotional connection

between kamikaze pilots and today's generation, as he comes face to face with his grandson in today's japan. but in today's japan, some worry about how the war is portrayed now that almost no—one is left who remembers what it was really like, and that young japanese are dangerously unaware of the realities of war. that's why in 2015, a movie called fires on the plain confronted audiences with a vision of the war as hell. half —crazed japanese soldiers commit atrocities as they struggle to survive. the lead, tamura, is played by the film's creator, tsukamoto shinya. but there is another aspect to what war movies focus on. the differing memories of the war in other parts of east asia.

japanese movies tend to focus on the war in the pacific, rather than events like the massacre carried out by the invading japanese army in the then chinese capital in winter 1937 — an event known in the west as the rape of nanking. although japanese journalists and academics have worked extensively and honestly on this, it is not a subject that japanese filmmakers have dealt with very much. but their chinese counterparts have certainly put the subject at the heart of their treatment of the war on screen. writer—director lu chuan‘s city of life and death is a vision of unsparing cruelty as the japanese army forced chinese women into sexual slavery. and this film, the flowers of war,

explores very similar themes through the eyes of a young american. in this scene, christian bale struggles to stop a cultivated japanese officer taking away the convent girls that he is protecting to a terrible fate. sir, they're very young. i'm not sure that it is appropriate for them to attend an adults party. as their guardian and protector that is my responsibility. but we thank you very much. i am sorry. this is out of my power. the horrors visited on nanjing are also at the centre of the girl and the picture, a documentary out this year. it focuses on xia shuqin, who was bayonetted as an eight—year—old when

the japanese came to power. the film shows the woman passing on her memories to her curious seven—year—old great—grandson. that moment, to me, is the defining special moment to me, because it is this visceral moment of literally him touching the past. she was passing on a very valuable lesson to her family and the grandchild: forgiveness. and that is the purpose of this entire film and exercise — learn from history so that we can reduce the possibility of it happening again. but then to move on. there is a moment where he sort of flinches a little bit, and he's concerned about his grandmother. and what i really love is what she says. she notices his feeling and says, "but i survived."

japanese leaders have repeatedly apologised, but many feel the country has never quite fully reckoned with its war crimes. some, though, do suggest that china uses the memory of war crimes to pressure japan and ignores its more positive role since the war. and then, few chinese films confront the horrors of the cultural revolution. what's more, a reluctance to confront difficult history is notjust confined to east asia. there is no simple british equivalent to nanjing, but uk movies do often not tackle difficult subjects like the wartime famines that british policies helped to cause in bengal. this is the legendary toho studios, fronted by a statue of their most famous star, godzilla. i'm here to meet harada masato, who is cutting his latest film, to ask him about his previous film, for shochiku studios, the emperor in august.

most of the films we have been looking at have been about civilians or soldiers. but this one tries to grapple with the responsibility of the top leaders who were ruling japan at the end of world ii. and emperor hirohito's decision in 1945 thatjapan had to surrender. harada explained that one of the reasons he wanted to tell the story afresh was because of his worry that prime minister abe's government wants radically to transform japan's constitution. article nine of the post—war constitution says that japan "will forever renounce war and the use of force to settle international disputes." mr abe and his supporters consider those words a humiliation forced

onjapan by the american victors. it is a dangerous way that japan is heading. and shinzo abe's regime and administration, and i am afraid of that. why did did you think making a film about 1945 might address those issues? well, it is clearly telling how difficult it is to abandon the army once we had this organisation. the emperor had to come out and to speak out and it made such tremendous effort for everyone in the cabinet to finish the war, to end the war, and to abandon the army, to save the nation. and if japan moves that way again, to form a new type of army, i feel fear of what we're doing, that we're going to harm's way.

some think it is unnecessarily anxious view of the current japanese government. to bring about the surrender, hirohito had to face down resistance at the top of his government. and harada says portraying the emperor on screen today also involved taboos. while in preproduction, i checked about the safety of making this film and asked mr hando, who wrote the book, and he asked some right—wingers and checked the situation, and maybe it is safe to show the emperor in that way. but to portray the family feud among

the emperor's family, nobody tested that water yet. maybe japan, like britain, cannot leave world war ii behind, even though it is more than 70 years ago. there are so many interesting stories and plots not being exposed yet. because injapan, like i said before, there are so many taboos, you cannot do this and do that and it existed — and it seems like now is the time to show some of those hidden truths. at the end of the war, the emperor was living in a secluded palace estate beyond this bridge, nijubashi. he then had to cross another bridge, from a warlike japan that had invaded large parts of asia, to a new country of peace and prosperity. but the legacy of the war years

has never really faded. the relationship with china has remained formal and cool. that bridge has never really been crossed. both countries are still fighting one another on screen. both countries are still mourning the losses of more than seven decades ago. but they are doing so in relative isolation from one another. if the two countries are to overcome the enormous chasm between them, they will need to learn more about each other‘s histories. and perhaps filmmakers can make that crossing a little easier. the first day ofjuly brought some contrasts. fairly cool and misty

around scotland, one inch of rain in devon but much of the country had sunshine. temperatures up to 31 in northolt and again in porthmadog in wales. hampshire, northern england, very warm in glasgow. how long does it last? potentially through the first week ofjuly and into the following week. dry, warm, sunshine. a chance of sunshine, perhaps even thundery on monday in southern england, but very well scattered. a bit more cloud moving south—west over parts of scotland, they cool day but. —— a cool day. temperatures widely in the mid to high 20s, somewhat cooler over north—eastern scotland. going into tuesday, high—pressure dominating. still

low— pressure high—pressure dominating. still low— pressure across high—pressure dominating. still low—pressure across france, giving the potential for a few shower to push their way north to the channel and affect parts of south and south—west england. you can see most places are south—west england. you can see most places a re mostly south—west england. you can see most places are mostly drive. cloud for the north west of scotland, affecting temperatures. still got those orange colours across england and wales, so little change in the temperature. bearing in mind wimbledon will be in full swing, temperatures on court around 28, 20 nine celsius. thejet temperatures on court around 28, 20 nine celsius. the jet stream is to the north which will keep the warm air building through the middle part of the week. a chance of showers bringing welcome rain in places but very well gathered at most people will be dry. temperatures dipping in scotla nd will be dry. temperatures dipping in scotland and northern england but further south is where we find the warm weather. by the end of the week, little change. dry for many of us. week, little change. dry for many of us. in scotland, temperatures closer

to 21 but still in the mid to high 20s across england and wales. the orientation of this high—pressure changes as we go through into next weekend and it means that the wind comes from the atlantic so we should lose some of the humidity which should help the night—time sleeping to bea should help the night—time sleeping to be a bit more comfortable. still going to be very warm. this is how saturday looks. fine weekend across the country. maybe more cloud in northern ireland and western scotla nd northern ireland and western scotland bringing a few showers but elsewhere dry, very warm if not hot. asi elsewhere dry, very warm if not hot. as i mentioned, hopefully feeling more fresh. by the time we get to sunday, the cloud creeping further south across them, maybe bringing showers but if you want rain, for the foreseeable future there is very little in the forecast. the temperatures next weekend, still around 30 celsius. it looks like

this high—pressure continue to go through. still got that south—westerly wind so the humidity won't be as high but still mainly dry and sunny. warm, if not hot, with a chance of thunderstorms. very little rain. the hot dry weather has fuelled the flames, making conditions increasingly difficult for the fire service. the conditions, they are tortuous, they are exhausting, and they're working exceptionally hard to try and make a difference here. with a major incident declared, we'll have the latest. also tonight. significant planning for a no deal brexit is under way in the health service, but ministers insist that's a scenario that can be avoided. cheering a penalty shoot out of dreams, russia knocks spain out of the world cup.

and no wimbledon for andy murray this year, as he pulls out on the eve of the tournament.