welcome to newsday on bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl, in singapore. the headlines: polls close in mexico's elections, with expectations the country could elect its first left—wing president in decades. penalty drama at the world cup — russia knocks out former champions spain, then croatia crushes denmark's dream of progressing to the quarterfinals. i'm babita sharma, in london. also in the programme: divers explore deeper into a thai cave in the hope of finding 12 boys and their football coach who've been missing for more than a week. a huge manhunt is under way in france, after a notorious gangster escapes jail for the second time — this time using a helicopter. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday. good morning.

it's 7 am in singapore, midnight in london and 6pm in mexico city where the polls in presidential and parliamentary elections are now closing. mexico is thought to be on the cusp of a decisive political shift. the frontrunner in the presidential race is the left—wing former mayor of mexico city, who's pledged to clean up politics. it follows a campaign plagued by violence, with more than 130 candidates and party members killed. will grant is in mexico city. how soon before we start getting results in? world, this in a way this is the most sensitive part of the day, this is where mexicans get quite nervous. they do not want to

see any of that campaign violence translated to this morning, if there are any questions about people not being allowed to vote if they are in the queues. if you are in the queue, you should still be allowed to cast your all that. this is where things can get difficult and people start denouncing acts that were carried out illegally in their polling stations and so on. so far we're not hearing anything to serious and you are right, the next step is the count and that is when all collect if minds turn to now. has andres manuel lopez obrador guarded the votes he needs to make sure that these, on the third time of asking, he truly will become mexico's next president. we know corruption and violence have been a huge issue. what are voters was worried about? those in to dominate the campaign,

have dominated people's thoughts but the other thing is the economy. it has been sluggish for a while and there have been unpopular reforms put in place by these government, infrastructure projects that seem to have cost far more than they should. and the focus on andres manuel lopez obrador isn't tackling corruption and reducing inequality. if enough people have listened to these m essa 9 es people have listened to these messages and like them, and that is what people i've spoken to have said. i guess we will be finding out very shortly who the winner will be. will grant keeping an eye on the mexican elections. we will speak to

a political analyst live in a few minutes. our other top story: the hosts of the football world cup, russia, have caused a major upset by knocking out the former champions, spain. russia, who were the lowest ranked team at the start of the tournament, took spain, who were among the favourites, to extra time and then penalties. olly foster has all the latest from moscow. what a game! russia was so resolute. we expected it to be very one side. you get all the statistics thrown at you after the match and one stood out, spain tried to pass russia today, they played over 1000 passes, almost as many as russia have played in allfour almost as many as russia have played in all four matches. but one thing you cannot get away from is the shootout. russia was absolutely fabulous. and on goal to get spain into the match but it was one or by half—time with a russian penalty and

we did not know we will be getting many more in the shootout. russia scored all of theirs and their goal keeper was the hero, igor akinfeev, he saved to spot kicks. russia are going through 11—3 on penalty and they are in dreamland. the party when they got out of the saddier was of the special. that was the first knockout when since 1966 —— win. the scenes in the fence on across the way, at the fan fest in the grounds of the state university which holds a 25,000 people, were amazing. seemed replicated across the country because they are now looking forward toa because they are now looking forward to a quarter—final, theirfirst since 1970, in sochi. we can hear

the party behind you. what about the other action, it was notjust penalties? russia are now going to face croatia and croatia and denmark that went the distance. 0ne all at the end, their goal is coming early. two penalties saved in the shootout and one during play by the croatian goalkeeper was even better, saving three penalties so croatia going through. it has been a day for the goalkeepers. they get overlooked sometimes with the fabulous golf scene scored from 30 yards out and goalkeepers are always on a hiding to nothing in the shared house but we have seen them on the top of

their kraft today. and stanislav cherchesov carrying croatia through. it isa cherchesov carrying croatia through. it is a drama so far, and japan in action tomorrow and also england on tuesday. we go back to the tricky other half of the draw that still have the french in there who obviously knocked out argentina. uruguay also going through. the blue samurai,japan, just uruguay also going through. the blue samurai, japan, just squeaks into this stage after having a better disciplinary record than senegal. this could be very one—sided because belgium are looking very strong. they won a second stream against england. they scored five against tunisia. belgium looking very good and they should beat the blue samurai. brazil against mexico could see a lot of goals and should be a

great match. also this hour: reports from germany say the interior minister horst seehofer has offered to resign because of his differences with chancellor merkel. mr seehofer is said to have made the offer at a meeting of his csu party, which is part of germany's governing coalition. he was reported to be unhappy with this week's european union deal on migration. a suicide bomb attack in the eastern afghan city of jalalabad has killed at least nineteen people. most of them were members of the country's sikh minority, including the only sikh candidate in the parliamentary elections due in october. they had all turned out to welcome the afghan president, ashraf ghani, who had visited the city hours earlier. hot weather and drought conditions are fueling wildfires across the western united states. hundreds of firefighters have been battling more than a0 big wildfires. thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes so far, with almost half a million acres burned. briton's andy murray has withdrawn from the wimbledon tennis tournament that starts on monday.

the two—time wimbledon champion posted on his facebook page that it is too soon for him to return to five—set grand slam matches. the 31—year—old came back last month to a warm—up tornament for wimbledon after almost a year out, during which time he had hip surgery. and climbing season is underway at mount fuji for trails on the yamanashi prefecture. 0n the first day, a crowd of a 150 people gathered at the summit of japan's highest mountain and cheered as the sun came up. last summer around a quarter of a million people climbed the mountain, which is a designated unesco world heritage site. it's now nine days since twelve boys and their football coach were trapped in a flooded cave in thailand. china is sending robots to assist with the search as divers continue their efforts to save them. but nobody knows which part of the cave they're in,

or even if they're still alive. jonathan head sent this report from the cave. we are now at the end of the eighth day of this gruelling search for the missing boys and football coach. it was more organised than it was, less chaotic and they are restricting the number of vehicles coming up and those that do are entirely dedicated of bringing in what is needed to keep the search going. there are still climbers looking around the mountain for possible access points but everything at the moment, the biggest hope, is centred here and thatis biggest hope, is centred here and that is because behind these yellow lines this is where the divers go in to the main entrance to the cape and they have been making much more progress to date than in previous days. —— today. there is pumping

going on. less rain. the divers are telling us they have now reached a third chamber. they have built a base and they are moving on towards the area where they think the boys. it isa the area where they think the boys. it is a high, drying area. no one knows if they are there. there are two kilometres of underwater tunnels they will have to manage if they are going to reach their but they are making progress and they have a small window of opportunity right now. weather forecasters saying we may have heavy rain again in three days so a tremendous sense of urgency not just because days so a tremendous sense of urgency notjust because of the time the boys have been in it but also because of this spell of fine weather. let's get more now on our top story: mexico's election, in which anti—establishment leftist andres manuel lopez 0brador looks poised to sweep into power. joining me live from mexico city is political

analyst gena ro lozano, who voted earlier in the day. how did the vote go for you?m how did the vote go for you? it has been a very happy day for mexicans elections. many people are very hopeful that andres manuel lopez 0brador will become resident of mexico by a wide margin. —— president. there are still some polls open in parts of the country but most are close. in a couple of hours more, they will all close. the first exit polls are showing that andres manuel lopez 0brador‘s party, morena, will win six states in this election. including mexico city. the

pod alliance will retain one state. there are still no expert polls for the presidency but a few days before the presidency but a few days before the election, andres manuel lopez 0brador was ahead by 20— 25 points ahead of his next competitor. it will be a party, a celebration, went mexico —— went mexico the gathering. listening to the message from andres manuel lopez 0brador. it is an historic election the many reasons. 0ne historic election the many reasons. one is because it is the biggest election in history, over 90 million people were called to vote today. we still do not have numbers. but mexico, over 65% of electoral

participation is normal. it is also the biggest election in mexico because of the number of people who we re because of the number of people who were going to be elected to different officers around the country. more than 3000 elected officials... were getting a sense of the scale of this election, like you said, and many people saying this is oui’ said, and many people saying this is our moment of history in the making. cannot verify the x at polls, we are still waiting. they just cannot verify the x at polls, we are still waiting. theyjust close and it may take some time. if your predictions are correct, and you believe andres manuel lopez 0brador is on his way in, some up permit what kind of a moment this would mean the mexico and its people?m would be the first time that a candidate from the left would take the mexican white house, the first

timea the mexican white house, the first time a partyjust created three yea rs time a partyjust created three years ago, morena, will rise to the presidency and apparently to the majority. it is a very important victory for andres manuel lopez 0brador and his party but also a very important moment for mexican voters. this election was a referendum on enrique pena nieto, and the way he conducted the presidency. he's not running for office. he needs to go after six yea rs office. he needs to go after six years many people were very angry at the violence, rampant corruption of the violence, rampant corruption of the administration, the killing of over 136 candidates who have been killed since the last fall. in this election many voted with anger. and also andres manuel lopez 0brador i think was able to transform that

anger into hope. voters, 22% of the, younger voters, will show that he was ahead. forgive me for interrupting. we have to leave it there but the counting is under way andi there but the counting is under way and i sure your excitement is building. thank you forjoining us and we will bring you those results as soon and we will bring you those results as soon as we and we will bring you those results as soon as we get them. thank you. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: 10,000 feet up and jumping into the jet stream, all in the name of scientific research. also... a case of real life being stranger than fiction — a nortorius gangster escapes jail

for the second time in france and this times uses a helicopter. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly, that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit, at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering a record that had stood for 34 years. and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: mexico could be on the cusp of a decisive political shift — after a day of voting in the most violent election campaign in decades. due to the celebrating, you might have thought russia have due to the celebrating, you might have thought russia have just due to the celebrating, you might have thought russia have just won the world cup. the drama steps up a gear at the world cup with two penalty shootouts — one, seeing the hosts knock out former champions, spain. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. here on bbc world news we've been reporting on the protests and commemorations surrounding hong kong's handover to china and so too has the the south china morning post.

the paper contrasts the official celebrations with a pro—democracy march, where thousands demonstrated against the future direction of the territory. the straits times reports on russia's stunning victory against spain at the world cup. the match in moscow went to a penalty shootout, knocking the 2010 world champions out of the tournament. russia are now in the quarter finals for the first time in 48 years! let's turn now to the japan times. it reports that unesco has decided to add 12 sites in southwestern japan, that are linked to the history of the country's persecuted christians, to the world heritage list. the sites include the 0ura cathedral in nagasaki, the oldest surviving church in the country. now for a dramatic prison break. french police are searching for a notorious gangster who escaped from jail by helicopter. redoine faid had been serving a 25—year sentence for a failed robbery during which a police

officer was killed. richard lister has the details. a career criminal, inspired by gangster movies. redoine faid is now on the run. his escape from this present in the paris suburbs had all the hallmarks of a film script. as he waited in a visiting area, two accomplices in a hijacked helicopter landed in the grounds. using smoke bombs and heavy tools, they broke through to faid, bundled him onto the helicopter and flew him away. the helicopter was later found 60 kilometres from the prison. its pilot had been seized as he waited to give a lesson. after flying faid and his accomplices out, he was released unharmed. redoine faid had a measure of fame after writing a book about his life of crime during a previous jail term. he revealed how hollywood had affected his robbery technique. in the book and in the documentary that followed he explained

that he was fascinated by the cinema, that he used to see hollywood movies with robert de niro. also french movies that talked about the spectacular attacks and spectacular escapes. but french police say his crimes often involve heavy weaponry and brutal violence. faid was serving a 25—year sentence of this policewoman was killed in 2010 in a raid he organised. this is actually his second jail break. last time, he used dynamite to blast off the prison doors and was on the run for six weeks. another manhunt is under way. even for a man who's used to throwing himself into thin air this was a particularly adrenalin packed weekend. swiss skydiver and pilot, marc hauser, was taken up ten thousand metres in a hot air balloon and literally threw himself into the jet stream over the skies of australia on saturday. but it wasn't just for the thrill or to break a record, this is a serious mission and could help highlight untapped energy in the jet stream and other

high altitude wind sources. i am pleased to say that marcjoins us now. tell us, how did thatjump on saturday go? we had some stress of there because suddenly all of the oxygen was leaking and at the same time, the three burners went down. so we didn't have any fire in the hotair so we didn't have any fire in the hot air balloon. sounds like a really stressful episode there, but you are fine, as we can see. described to us exactly what you are trying to achieve first of all, by doing this sort of thing. by throwing yourself into the jetstrea m. throwing yourself into the

jetstream. there has never been a human being inside and flying in the stream, so that was the first goal, to fly inside the jetstream. stream, so that was the first goal, to fly inside thejetstream. all the wind from 100 kilometres upward is considered a jetstream. we were flying in the hot air balloon at 140 kilometres per hour ‘s. now imagine yourself standing out of the bucket —— out of the basket, already drifting with highway speed and then you exit this balloon basket and you are at 7600 metres, around everest type, —40 degrees and you fly forward without any wings. sounds utterly terrifying. but this is something you have done several times before. unfortunately on saturday you are not able to pre——— beat your previous record. give us a

sense of, as you say, 140 kilometres power. this is the speed of a formula 1 car and this is you falling at that speed. what does that do to your body? when i left the hot air balloon, it was 140 and thenit the hot air balloon, it was 140 and then it i our —— i accelerated forward to a speed of 270 kilometres per hour, which is 170 knots. i didn't break my old world record, but at the time i didn't care about any speed record at all. my friends we re any speed record at all. my friends were really into —— really in trouble up there. ijust left like a chicken and a had my safe landing with my super oxygen system, but i didn't know if they made it. interesting because you are doing this all for a mission. this is to try to get and tapped energy in the jetstrea m. try to get and tapped energy in the jetstream. tell us how does that work exactly what could this potentially do in terms of

innovating energy sources for all of us? that is exactly the point. it was never a silly stunt. the idea was never a silly stunt. the idea was always to highlight this phenomenon on this high altitude wind power of the jetstream. phenomenon on this high altitude wind power of thejetstream. there isa wind power of thejetstream. there is a huge amount of energy in it and if we could harness just one or 2% of that, then all of our energy problems would be solved in an insta nt. problems would be solved in an instant. even in switzerland we have about three start—up companies that are investigating in this field. higher you go, the more energy you can take out. and so that is the real mission. thank you. they give are coming on and explaining to us, that was an amazing dive. you have been watching newsday. coming up. stay with us, we will be back with the headlines next, see you soon. we turned up the heat on saturday,

30 celsius, 90 fahrenheit in hampshire. 31 in the midlands. there is going to be more of that sunshine over the weekend. if you are looking for rain you will probably be out of luck. 0ne for rain you will probably be out of luck. one or two isolated showers but on the whole it will be dry. the first day ofjuly brought some rain to the south—west of the uk from that area of cloud. but those earlier showers and thunderstorms as well pretty much moved away into the english channel to the near continent. probably dry on monday. a little bit of cloud may link in the far south—east of scotland but behind that cooler air. 20s across scotland. widely towards 29, 30 degrees in england and wales and 30 24 south—east wales. sunshine to end

the day, overnight we will see a little cloud coming down these coastal areas but it is staying dry and warmest of all across southern parts of england and wales, where for a little while longer it will feel rather humid. more sunshine on the way, a small chance of picking out a late shower there towards the far south—west, but otherwise it is dry, sunny and hardly a breath of wind around. strong sunshine and best averages beginning to lift a little more for scotland and northern ireland too. high—pressure is in charge of our weather, it is not particularly dominant, it doesn't need to be. nothing much is moving. hardly a breath of wind on wednesday, low cloud coming down through the north sea, but on the whole it is sunny skies and a bit of fairweather cloud is developing. showers towards the south—west and the heat continues to arrive in numbers, 29 or maybe even 30 degrees

for england and wales. little bit of a change perhaps, a fly in the ointment as we move into thursday. low pressure to the north of the uk and that whether from there is very weak, bringing a band of cloud towards scotland and northern ireland and squeezing shower out over the grampians, it is likely to be dry and long spells of sunshine, the heat is certainly still there. temperatures into the high temperatures at the very least. —— high 20s. it looks like it will be a dry first week in london at wimbledon and elsewhere, likely to stay dry with some warm sunshine. i'm babita sharma. this is bbc world news. our top story: the polls are due to close shortly across mexico, in the biggest election in the country's history. it follows a campaign plagued by violence, with more than 130 candidates and party members killed. the front—runner is andres manuel lopez 0brador, who has promised to fight corruption. two penalty shootouts see passions run high at the world cup — russia has knocked out spain in the biggest shock of the tournament so far. and this story is

trending on bbc.com... french police have launched a huge manhunt after a notorious armed robber was sprung from prison in paris by armed men in a helicopter. redoine faid was serving a 25—year sentence for a failed robbery. this is the second time he's managed to escape. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, hardtalk‘s stephen sackur speaks to computer scientist and author, jaron lanier.