this is bbc news. i'm nkem ifejika. our top stories: counting is underway in mexico's elections with polls suggesting the country could elect its first left—wing president in decades. germany's interior minister threatens to resign because of differences with the chancellor angela merkel over immigration policy. the us national security advisor says he believes most of north korea's nuclear programme could be dismantled within a year. and in the world cup, penalty dramas deliver a surprise win for russia and a narrow victory for croatia. hello, and welcome to bbc world news. in mexico, polls have now closed in the presidential and parliamentary elections,

and the country 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, andres manuel lopez obrador, who's pledged to clean up politics. it follows a campaign plagued by violence, with more than 130 candidates and party members killed. the bbc‘s will grantjoins us now from mexico city. are the results forthcoming? there are still a few hours to go before the official result. exit polls are merging. we have to take exit polls in mexico with a healthy dosage of salt, they are unreliable. the tendency means at least the governorships in several states may well have gone to the left. it gives

the indication he could be on course for a very positive night. we have to wait a little while yet for the official result. results are coming within a few hours. lets just speculate. if amlo wins and his party sweeps across the board, how big a shift is this? it looks like get bad night for the centre—right party, the traditional party of power in mexico, the car and governing power. —— current. if they ta ke governing power. —— current. if they take the beating they could in the congress, at a state level, in the

mayoral races going on up and down mexico today, it would be incredible. people have been talking about the redrawing of the map in mexico. that has been taking place, surely. we have talked about the violence preceding the election. what it had talking point? -- was it it. definitely. it was the most violent campaign any mexican can remember. upwards of 130 politicians killed during the campaign. in a way that was reflective of the violence of 2017 - 18. that was reflective of the violence of 2017 -18. it is that was reflective of the violence of 2017 — 18. it is looking extremely violent. that was the key issue. many people were voting on the economy, the family budgets, the huge inequalities between the rich and poor in mexico, some of the worst inequality in the americas. a lot of these issues were the ones

amlo focused on and it has gone down well with the electorate. 0k. thank you. we will bring you results as they come in. the german interior minister, horst seehofer, has offered to resign, creating more instability for angela merkel‘s coalition government. mr seehofer has been pushing for a tougher approach to asylum seekers, and was reported to be unhappy with last week's european union deal on migration. andrew plant reports. he is part of chancellor merkel‘s coalition government, but has become one of her loudest critics as well. now, horst seehofer, leader of the christian social union party, and the interior minister of germany, has offered to resign over her approach to migration. at a summit in brussels last week, an agreement was made among eu leaders to share migrants more evenly across the european union and build new

reception centres as well. the talks we re reception centres as well. the talks were prompted by italy and malta, turning away rescue boats that had picked up migrants crossing into europe from north africa. angela merkel‘s ideas for building processing centres were already a much harder stance to her previous opendoor approach, but the proposals hammered out in brussels proved a ha rd hammered out in brussels proved a hard sell back. horst seehofer had already threatened to order border guards to ten migrants away unless angela merkel got tougher, saying it would be less effective than actually just closing would be less effective than actuallyjust closing the door —— turn. that led her to say she would buy him from government and caused chaos in her coalition. it is not yet clear if horst seehofer‘s offered to resign will be accepted. chancellor merkel will be keen not to wea ke n chancellor merkel will be keen not to weaken her coalition and avoid

new elections which some fear could embolden the country's far right and lead to political instability, both in germany and the rest of europe as a whole. andrew plant, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. a suicide bomb attack in the eastern afghan city of jalalabad has killed at least 19 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 fuelling 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. we've been following the story of the 12 boys and their football coach who're trapped in a flooded cave in thailand. it's now been nine days since. 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 site. we are now at the end of the eighth day of this gruelling search for the 12 missing boys and their football coach. and here at the base for this operation, it is a lot more organised than it was, a lot less chaotic, and they are restricting the number of vehicles that come up and those that do are entirely dedicated to bringing in what is needed to keep the search going. now, there are still climbers looking around the mountain for other possible access points but everything at the moment, the biggest hope, is centred here and that is because behind these yellow lines — they weren't here before

but they are restricting access here — this is where the divers go in to the main entrance to the cave and they have been making much more progress today than in previous days. it hasn't rained heavily for a couple of days. the water levels are down. there is pumping going on 2a hours a day, to try and reduce those water level. and the divers are telling us that they have now reached a third chamber. they have built a base there and they are moving on towards the area where they think the boys are. this is an area called pattaya beach, it is a high, dry area. no—one knows if they are there. there are around two kilometres of underwater tunnels that they will have to manage if they are going to reach there but they are making progress and they have a small window of opportunity right now. weather forecasters are saying we may have heavy rain again in three days time so there's a tremendous sense of urgency not just because of the amount of time the boys have been there but also because we've got this spell without too much rain. police in india say more than a0 people have been killed when their bus fell into a gorge. the accident happened in the himalayan state of uttarakhand. at least three people have been taken to hospital with injuries. anbarasan ethirajan reports.

the passenger bus fell off a slippery road into a deep ravine. it tumbled down nearly 200 metres before smashing into the ground. the vehicle was travelling through a mountainous region in india's northern uttarakhand state. tragedy struck. there was no chance for most of the passengers. the mangled remains of the bus shows the power of the impact. it took hours for the emergency services to recover the bodies. the unusually high number of casualties has raised questions. translation: it is a remote area and it is being noticed that overloading isa it is being noticed that overloading is a norm in these areas. that is definitely what we have received in terms of information, that the bus was double what it could accommodate. i have ordered an

enquiry into the matter and whoever is guilty will be punished. the 28 seater bus was carrying 58 passengers. fatalities and road accidents are not uncommon in india. most of the accidents happen on poorly maintained roads and vehicles with reckless driving. india registers the highest number of road fatalities in the world. the country has enacted a number of laws to improve road safety, but they are hardly enforced. the high number of casualties in the latest accident is a wake—up call for the authorities. anbarasan ethirajan, bbc news. here in the uk more than 100 firefighters are working in what are described as "extremely testing conditions" at the scene of a huge moorland fire in lancashire. after strong winds caused two fires to merge, they say they're dealing with a rapidly developing and aggressive blaze which now

covers an eight square kilometre area. it could take at least a week to put out the flames. 0ur correspondent, sarah walton, sent this report. it's hot, sweaty work and there's no end in sight. firefighters have spent a third full day on winter hill, but despite their best efforts, eight square kilometres of moorland are still alight. this fire is over quite an extensive area on two faces of winter hill. so we've got two areas in the region of about four square kilometres each, so significant fire fronts. fire crews have travelled here from as far away as south wales and warwickshire, working in the intense heat and thick smoke, fighting flames not just on the ground but also from the air. and it's from there that the scale of the fire becomes clear. strong winds caused two separate areas of burning to merge here, and the flames you can see on the surface are only part of the problem. the fire here is spreading not just through this very dry grass, but also

underneath the ground, where the soil is very peaty. firefighters are finding they will put out one area of fire, but the ground underneath is still so hot that it will be back alight just minutes later. and that's a worry for these workers from rivington gardens, a site of national importance, now just metres from the fire. timber! they're chopping down surrounding vegetation to try and stop the flames. well, the gardens are listed at grade two nationally. they're one of the top ten lost gardens in the whole country. the gardens themselves have been listed and 11 of the structures within them mean it's a really important heritage asset. while there are bigger concerns with life and loss elsewhere, we're desperately trying to make sure that the fire does not reach here. most of the fire crews

here will have to leave the moor once the sun goes down. they'll be back at first light, but say it could be weeks before this fire is out. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: a helicopter prison break. one of france's most notorious criminals is sprung from prison and goes on the run. 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 bbc world news, the latest headlines: votes are being counted in mexico's parliamentary and presidential elections, polls suggest the country could get a left—wing president for the first time in decades. reports from germany say the interior minister horst seehofer has offered to resign because of a row with chancellor merkel over immigration policy. the us national security

advisor, john bolton, says he believes the bulk of north korea's nuclear programme could be dismantled within a year. of north korea's nuclear programme mr bolton told a us tv show the trump administration knew there was a risk that pyongyang could drag out negotiations in order to prolong weapons development, but said north korea would benefit from dismantling its nuclear programme quickly so that sanctions could then be lifted. 0ur our experts have devised as a programme that with north korean cooperation, the full disclosure of all their chemical and biological nuclear weapons programmes, ballistic missile sites... that hasn't happened yet? no, we could get physically the ability to dismantle the overwhelming bulk of their programmes within a year. 0livia enos is a policy analyst in the asian studies center at the heritage foundation. she joins me from washington. thank you forjoining us, 0livia. is

dismantling this programme in a year realistic? dismantling the north korea nuclear programme in a year is very overly optimistic. most nuclear aspects that have put out estimates have said it would be possible to dismantle, i.e. freeze testing of the north korea nuclear programme in a year, but the likelihood of the programme being entirely shut down ina year programme being entirely shut down in a year is nearly impossible —— experts. in fact, they estimated could take nearly six or ten years, maybe 15 years, to fully dismantle the programme. it seems like an optimistic estimate on the ability to get things done and to get north korea denuclearise. the reality is we are looking at much longer —— denuclearised. the question about whether north korea is sincere about denuclearising is still one that's very much on the table. there are

still several stages for this to happen, it has to be verified, it has to be checked, they have to make sure they can't start up the programme again. all this takes time and money as well. yeah. the estimates are that it would be billions and billions of dollars in order to completely denuclearise north korea. even some of the shorter term programmes or indicators that you would look for that north korea is in fact denuclearising are quite expensive. for example, getting iaea inspectors in to verify north korea is denuclearising, installing cameras in many clear sides to again verify that they are taking steps. the reality is there are many indications to contrary that north korea is not sincere about denuclearising. new reports suggest north korea is continuing to develop its missile launchers, and even some of the support systems for its

medium—range missile. beyond that, us intelligence is estimating north korea may have secret nuclear sites that it has not yet disclosed to the international community. there's a lot of signs that north korea may have come to the table in singapore, but the promises it made were minimalat but the promises it made were minimal at best and may not even have been made with sincerity. briefly, do you think benighted states has given away too much before any concrete steps have been taken by north korea? -- united states. it was concerning the us was willing to give upjoint military it was concerning the us was willing to give up joint military exercises at the singapore summit, that blindsided our allies and made us concerned that they weren't committed to the long—term stability of the east asia—pacific. there is concern in that regard definitely that perhaps we gave up too much, too soon. it's critical right now that the us is clear, it will maintain maximum pressure and sanctions against north korea until

it shows clear signs of denuclearising, and frankly until it fully denuclearise is at all. 0livia enos from the heritage foundation. thank you forjoining us. football, and this is becoming a world cup of big upsets. we've already said goodbye to germany, argentina and portugal. now spain have been knocked out, and it was by the hosts, russia. in the day's other match, croatia beat denmark on penalties. james burford watched all the action. they can hardly believe it. germany's group stage exit was undoubtedly the shock of the tournament, that was until now. ranked a full 60 places below spain, few thought russia could cause any sort of damage to the 2010 champions and perhaps for a time the story played out that we. an own goal and spain off the mark. but, as with all great tales, soon follows a plot twist. russian blushes spared from the spot. extra time came went without a dent to the russian

defence to produce this task, lift off in the luzhniki stadium russia in the quarter—finals of the world cup for the first time in half a century. to nizhny novgorod, denmark with the fastest goal of the tournament so far, 57 seconds when jorgensen took the lead. but this is a world cup packed with drama and mandzukic was the danish villain moments later, in fortunate fashion. midfield maestro lu ka moments later, in fortunate fashion. midfield maestro luka modric had the chance to win the match in extra time but kasper schmeichel stood firm, much to his father's delight. another penalty shootout and croatia, having spurned their earlier chance, took the opportunity. russia, not spain, will await in the last eight. james burford, bbc news. well, as you can expect the russian fans are pretty happy about knocking spain out of the world cup. steve rosenberg is with them. chanting they never stopped believing.

as they followed the big match on the big screen in the moscow fan zone, russians experienced every possible emotion. including the sweetest one of all, euphoria. screaming and cheering "it's great! he says. "we'll be the champions." well, from the way they're celebrating here, you might think that russia had just won the world cup. but this joy is understandable, because a quarterfinal place is a huge achievement for a side which went into this tournament the lowest ranked team. and russia isn't just winning matches. it's winning hearts and minds too. i'm from australia.

it's nothing like they say, mate. russia's like one of the nicest places i've ever been to and i've been to about 20 countries in this world. and that is a public relations victory for president putin. he sees it definitely as a political victory. it is something he's achieved. they were able to get the cup and they not only were able to do that but against all predictions to the contrary, make it very successful. tonight, the whole of russia is out partying. russians are brimming with pride and daring to dream of world cup glory. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. for more on the world cup, head to the bbc sport website. you'll find team news, fixtures, match reports, all building up to the final onjuly the 15th. go to bbc.com/worldcup. 0ne

one of the biggest names in basketball, lebron james, one of the biggest names in basketball, lebronjames, willjoin the la la kers basketball, lebronjames, willjoin the la lakers in a four—year deal worth more than $150 million. the blockbuster deal means the four—time nba most valuable player, who has played in the past eight nba finals, willjoin one of the nba's most iconic clubs, adding to the legacy of legends kobe bryant and magicjohnson. the brunt james is magicjohnson. the bruntjames is considered one of the rivals to michaeljordan, retired chicago bulls player, as one of the greatest in nba history —— lebronjames. of the greatest in nba history —— lebron james. but he of the greatest in nba history —— lebronjames. but he has endured restoration with his hometown team, the cleveland cavaliers. 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. richard lister, bbc news. and finally, 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. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @nkem|fejika. i ,is

hello there, good morning. we turned up the heat again on sunday, 32 celsius, 90 fahrenheit in hampshire. london, 31, through the midlands in the strong sunshine that we had here. and there's going to be more than sunshine over the week ahead, if you're looking for rain, you're probably going to be out of luck, just one or two isolated showers, but on the whole it's going to be dry. now, the first day ofjuly did bring some rain in towards the south—west of the uk from that area of cloud there, about half an inch of rain in devon, for example. those earlier showers, some thunderstorms as well, have pretty much moved away out into the english channel over towards the near continent, so probably going to be dry on monday. a little bit of cloud mayjust linger in the far south—east of scotland and behind that we've got some slightly cooler air, so low 20s across scotland. but widely towards 29, 30 degrees in england and wales. 32 perhaps towards south—east wales and midlands. so, sunshine to end the day then for most areas. 0vernight we'll see a little bit more cloud coming down these north sea coastal areas but staying dry and warmest of all again across southern parts

of england and wales, where, for a little while longer, it will feel rather humid. more sunshine on the way for tuesday. there's still a very small chance of picking out a late shower there for the far south—west but otherwise it's dry, very sunny out there on tuesday, hardly a breath of wind around. strong sunshine and those temperatures beginning to lift a little more for scotland and northern ireland too. now, high pressure is sort of in charge of our weather over the weekend. it's not a particularly dominant area of high pressure, but it doesn't need to be. nothing much is moving, there's hardly a breath of wind again on wednesday, a bit of low cloud coming down through the north sea, but on the whole it's sunny skies, a bit of fairweather cloud developing, few if any showers towards the south—west and the heat continues to arrive at the numbers of 29, maybe even 3a england and wales, mid—to—high teens for scotland and northern ireland.

little bit of a change perhaps and a fly in the ointment as we move into thursday. low pressure to the north of the uk. that weather front there is very weak, it will bring a band of cloud towards scotland and northern ireland, may squeeze a shower out over the grampians, but further south, it's likely to be dry, some long spells of sunshine. the heat is certainly still there, so temperatures into the high 20s at the very least. so it's a very quiet week ahead. i'm going to stick my neck out, looks like it will be a dry week in london at the wimbledon tennis championships and elsewhere likely to stay dry with some warm sunshine at times. this is bbc world news. the headlines: votes are being counted in mexico's general election, the biggest in the country's history. thousands of political offices are being elected, but the main focus is the presidency. the front—runner going into the vote was the left—winger, andres manuel lopez 0brador, who campaigned on a message of radical change. reports from germany say the interior minister horst seehofer

has offered to resign because of his differences with chancellor merkel over immigration policy. mr seehofer has been pushing for a tougher approach to asylum seekers and was reported to be unhappy with this week's european union deal on migration. russian football fans have been celebrating their team's unexpected triumph over spain in the world cup. russia won the match in moscow in a penalty shoot—out, eliminating the former champions. in the quarter—finals, russia will face croatia, who beat denmark, also in a penalty shoot—out. now on bbc news: it's time for a look back at the week in parliament.