this is bbc news, i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: teeing off before tackling trade — president trump takes in a round of golf with prime minister shinzo abe on his state visit to japan. it is the final day for voting for the european parliamentary elections. roulette results will be released by the end of sunday. thousands of israelis much against moves to give the prime minister immunity from prosecution. and the top prize at the cannes film festival goes to a south korean black comedy.

president trump is beginning the first full day of his visit to japan. mr trump has been playing golf with the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe. he'll also be the first world leader to meet the new emperor. thouthapan is a key us ally in the region, trade is likely to dominate their discussions. hywel griffith is our correspondent in tokyo. it has been suggested that we won't see any agreement on this visit or maybe even donald trump's next visit for 620. but i am sure in the golf course and the dinner halls, that will be the focus of this visit, nailing down what the two countries can agree. the us didn't want a multilateral deal as part of the trans—pacific partnership, it wanted a bilateral deal, and that is largely what their relationship has been

over the last few years. it has been a close friendship, they have met or talked on the phone at least a0 times. shinzo abe was in washington just last month, and now this visit to tokyo. lots of pictures of them laughing and talking together, as well as going to sumo together. expect that to be projected to both japanese and american audiences. but behind all that will be these trade negotiations. donald trump will be the first world leader to meet the new emperor injapan. what is the significance of that? it is clearly significant, arguably whoever the us president would have been they may well have been the first international guest invited to make a state visit here to japan. however, it shows that japan still considers america its closest ally, and it shows the close relationship

between the prime minister and the president, and dare i say it also plays to donald trump's feeling of status and power globally that he is the world's most powerful leader, and japan has to be very conscious of its relationship with china, but at the same time it sees the us as its natural ally. how interested are the people ofjapan in this visit, because it seems the state is really rolling out the red carpet? there were a few people there to see the motorcade arrive at the hotel, but i think the focus for japanese people will be when the president goes to a sumo wrestling competition in a few hours, where he is due to present a cup to the winner of the competition. there is some discussion about whether the proud traditions of sumo is being besmirched by someone interested in wwe wrestling.

i think there is some appeal in his strongman approach, something that people here on the right quite appreciate. voters are casting their ballots today and over 20 european countries on what is the final day of polling in the european elections. the uk was among the nations who voted a few days ago but results will not start being released until the final polls close at 2100 gmt. here is our european correspondent from brussels. the uk was in the first wave of countries to vote in these eu elections in the uk result out this evening will be watched for how far the handling of exit have impacted the share of votes won by the conservatives and labour and how people are divided between pro— and anti— works at parties. across europe, 2a or more nations, this is latvia, have already voted and today ballots are being cast in 21 more

european states. in some countries, migration tops concern. elsewhere, the numbers of unemployed young people. here in northern france, it isa people. here in northern france, it is a contest between president macron‘s pro eu movement and the anti—eu nationalists of the national front. translation: i'm going to vote. it is my duty as a citizen. but i don't know who for yet. translation: this vote will be an important point in future elections. it will give an idea of who may come out on top. and there are some early indications. in the netherlands, people were able to cast votes on trams. the prime minister's liberal party believes exit polls indicate it did well and far right populists did not break through. but dutch socialists believe they are the real surprise and shall top the results here. while in ireland, which voted on thursday, the green party

believes it has done well on the back of voter concerns about climate change. the official eu wide results will be released when polls close this evening. with 28 member nations involved, elections for the eu parliament is a massive exercise. so how does the voting process work? people across the eu have been voting for members of the european parliament, meps. the european parliament has a say over most new eu laws, it approves the budget and its top personnel. much of its work is done in brussels but it's official sittings take place in the french city of strasbourg. there are 751 meps and roughly speaking, the larger country's population, the more meps at. for instance germany, the biggest, has 96. so how does the voting work? the uk, for example, is

split into 12 large regions. some countries are just one giant constituency. most of the uk uses a system where you normally vote for a party, not a person. system where you normally vote for a party, nota person. in system where you normally vote for a party, not a person. in some other countries it is a combination. all 28 eu member states use voting systems with the number of mps reflects the share of the boat it achieves. voting began on thursday the 23rd until today, sunday the 26th. after which, official results all countries will be released. the new meps will take up their seats in strasbourg on july the second new meps will take up their seats in strasbourg onjuly the second but there is a chance that the british ones may not because the uk could have left the eu by then. 0ne ones may not because the uk could have left the eu by then. one of the first big jobs are meps will be voting on a replacement or the president of the european commission. and proving —— approving

the final brexit deal, whenever that happens. there will be full coverage of the european parliamentary election results later on sunday here on the bbc. uk audiences will see the results in a programme and global viewers there will be a special programme presented from roz _by special programme presented from roz —— by roz atkins from inside the european parliament. of course the uk is expected to leave the eu at some point in the next few months. failure to deliver a clear plan has cost theresa may herjob. in the race to succeed her has intensified. more candidates are entering the field. the former brexit secretary dominic raabe and the former leader of the commons of the latest to say they will stand for conservative party leader. another brexiteer, michael gove, will dig claire his candidacy later today. —— claire his

candidacy. —— declare his candidacy. people in ireland have voted overwhelmingly in favour of making it easier to get a divorce. with nearly all the results now in, the ‘yes' vote stands at 82 %. it comes after the public backed legalising abortion and gay marriage in other recent votes, as our correspondent louise cullen explains. divorce only became legal in the republic of ireland over 20 years ago and that referendum in 1995 past bya ago and that referendum in 1995 past by a tiny margin, just 50.3%. here we are some 23 or 2a years later and 110w we are some 23 or 2a years later and now we are looking at more than 88% supporting these changes to the timeframe required for couples to have lived apart. it is a massive amount of change and social upheaval, really. voters were asked to vote not just upheaval, really. voters were asked to vote notjust on the timeframe but on two changes, the change to the timeframe but also changes to the timeframe but also changes to the rules recognising foreign

divorces. to make those recognised by the constitution. it seems to have been a period of rapid transition from a country that was largely dominated by the catholic church to a country that is very much loosening those ties and making an emphatic statement about the loosening of those ties by changing those laws on various social issues. there are few, if any, developed nations i would argue that have actually made these changes at such actually made these changes at such a pace. now let's get some of the days of the news now. representatives of the venezuelan governments in norway will return for a second tour —— round of talks. the opposition leader said his aim was to secure free elections and are negotiated and to what he called the did tater ship of president nicolas maduro. the day after being sworn in again as the south african president, he is expected to

reshuffle his cabinet. his party, the anc, won the election earlier this month and the president promised to reduce the size of cabinet and promised to reduce the size of cabinetand and promised to reduce the size of cabinet and and the culture of corruption. ukraine has called on russia to comply with an order from an international tribunal to release the ukrainian naval personnel seized off the coast of crimea last november. the president said it would allow russia to signal that it was ready to stop the conflict with the ukraine in a civilised way. russia said the tribunal had no jurisdiction in the case. the incident in november dramatically escalated tensions between russia and ukraine. the ukrainian vessels had tried to pass through the kerch strait the only access to ukrainian ports on the sea of azov. russia has controlled the strait in its entirety since annexing crimea from ukraine in 2014. moscow saw the attempted passage as a provocation.

its coastguards fired on the vessels, injuring several crew members, before boarding the ships. ukraine turned to the international tribunal when other efforts to secure the release of its sailors had failed. the courts did not uphold ukraine's request for moscow to suspend proceedings against the servicemen. they're accused of breaching russia's maritime border. but the judges backed kiev on its key demands. by 19 votes to one, the russian federation shall immediately release the 2a detained ukrainian servicemen and allow them to return to ukraine. ukraine's deputy foreign minister hailed the outcome. for us, this is a pure victory. how russia will act, this is not a matter of this tribunal. this is up to russia, how to release, what kind of actions to do.

but the main thing is that they have to do this immediately. russia, like ukraine, is a signatory to the un convention on the law of the sea, but it said the court had no jurisdiction in this case and declined to participate. the united states special representative for ukraine acknowledged that russia was unlikely to comply. of course, families in ukraine of the sailors and the public opinion generally is very concerned about the fate of the savouries and russia is using this as a pressure point. there is nothing legal whatsoever about russia's action. it's an early test for ukraine's new president, volodymyr zelensky, who was sworn in on monday. mr volker said he believed mr zelensky would stand up to moscow on this issue and others. some critics fear he might be more accommodating to russia than the previous incumbent. mr zelensky himself said that by allowing the servicemen and boats

to return, russia could send the signal on stopping the conflict with ukraine in a civilised way. we will see, he said, what path the kremlin chooses. danny aeberhard, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, the end of an american tradition. wild this will be the last memorial weekend when these bikers roll into washington. —— why this will be. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletic events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars hope will be thousands of queues started forming at 7:00am. taunting which led to scuffles, scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot, as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and into the juve ntus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn the tragic death of mr nehru today.

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 11,500 episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri haliwell, otherwise known as ginger spice, has announced she has left the spice girls. i don't believe it! she's the one with the bounce, the go, the girl power. not geri. why? this is bbc news. the headlines: a round of golf before getting down to business. president trump and prime minister abe prepare to tee off as the state visit continues. more now on that story. tomohiko taniguchi, special advisor to prime minister shinzo abe's cabinet, says this state trip

is hugely important. it is the second meeting in a short space of time, of three months. last month, both the president of the united states and the japanese prime minister met and also played golf, so this is the second golfing in about — just one month. they will meet again injune, at the end ofjune, because tokyo is going to host a g20 meeting in a place called 0saka. and president trump is going to come to japan again. so they are meeting three times in three months, but this one makes very much an important occasion for shinzo abe and donald trump to have a state visit for the us president to be granted, the first by the newly enthroned emperor. and, given the importance,

i don't think this is anything about short—term issues. rather, it is a long—term reassurance of the us—japan relationship. but why is it important, that meeting with the emperor, as opposed to the meeting between the prime minister and president trump? well, it's all to do with the enormous symbolic importance that the japanese monarchy still has in the minds of people injapan, and you could see that — similar importance you can see in the case of other monarchical countries, including the uk. so a meeting between these two individuals bears significance, pretty much. there is much being said about how donald trump feels about the trade imbalance with japan, and no doubt prime minister abe is keen to keep the relationship with us on an even keel.

is there any concern that shinzo abe will be pushed into any kind of trade concessions that — in orderto maintain their friendly relationship? the short answer to your question, which is actually relevant, is no, because both leaders have delegated the authority in forging trade deals, to ustr lighthizer, and his counterpart injapan, minister motegi. and these two men are meeting on the sidelines of the summit meeting, and they made sure that no outcome can be envisioned at thisjuncture. and i think it's going to take still more months, perhaps 11—5 months. thousands of israelis have protested against moves to give the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, immunity from prosecution. the opposition leader, benny gantz,

told demonstrators they must not let israel become the private domain of a sultan or royal family. ramzan karmali has more. chanting. these angry chants are directed at israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. thousands hit the streets of tel aviv, led by many of the country's opposition politicians. the red fez hats a symbol for turkish president erdogan. a leader they say shares many attributes with their own prime minister. i'm here to demonstrate against the laws that bibi netanyahu said that he's going to pass that will transform israel from a democratic state to some sort of a dictatorship, like we have in turkey or russia, where the officials and the politicians are above the law. in february, israel's attorney general said that he intended to indict the premier on charges of fraud, breach of trust, and bribery.

but loyalists in his likud party have pledged to seek parliamentary immunity from prosecution for him while he is in office. most of the parties expected to join his coalition have expressed support for granting this immunity, and limiting the powers of the supreme court. he has until october to face a pre—trial hearing. mr netanyahu has always insisted he has done nothing wrong, and has called the allegations a political witch—hunt. after last month's election, mr netanyahu has been trying to form a new coalition that would give him control of 65 of the 120 seats in parliament. he has until wednesday night to form his coalition. ramzan karmali, bbc news. the prestigious cannes film festival has drawn to a close and the top prize, the palme d'0r, has gone to the south korean film parasite, directed by bong joon—ho. it's a tragicomic tale, which tackles the gulf between the rich and the poor.

0ur arts correspondent vincent dowd reports. a young man from a poor background taking up a job with a rich family. parasite, the dark but comedic thriller exploring class, wealth and social dynamics in south korea, now a palme d'0r—winning film. bong joon—ho has become the first korean to be awarded cannes‘s top prize. translation: when i was a little boy of only 12 years old, i fell in love with film, and wanted to become a film director. now, it's a great astonishment to be able to hold this award in my hands. thank you very much. there was no shortage of glitz and glamour on display across the red carpet. the 72nd cannes film festival boasted its usual wide array of talent from around the globe.

french—senegalese director mati diop received the festival's second accolade, taking the grand prix for atlantics, an intense drama about young migrants and sexual politics. it is the first major award for a black female director in cannes‘s 72—year history. it's pretty late, and it's incredible that it is still an event today that a black woman — it's incredible, but i knew it because obviously i don't know any black women who came here before, so i knew it, but it's always a reminder that so much work needs to be done. emily beecham took home the best actress award for her appearance in littlejoe, while best actor went to antonio banderas for his role in pain and glory.

notably missing from the list — quentin tarantino's once upon a time in hollywood, despite the fact that the audience gave it a seven—minute standing ovation. however, it is not all bad news for the film, which stars margot robbie, brad pitt and leonardo dicaprio. it is already receiving a huge amount of oscar buzz ahead of its release at the end ofjuly. in america, it is memorial day weekend — a time to pay tribute to veterans. for the last 30 years or so, part of the commemorations has involved thousands of motorcyclists riding into washington. it is known as rolling thunder, but this year will be the last time the bikers enter the capital, as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. he's an old man now. ill—health means he has to walk with a cane. artie muller has given almost everything for his country. richard aider was our captain. we called him buck. a vietnam veteran, he lost friends in that war, friends he'll never forget.

it was hard, very hard, ‘cause they're the guys i know that's on the wall. very hard. yeah, it's sad. and when we come into dc on the memorial day weekend, and you come over the bridge, it brings tears to our eyes. artie is one of thousands of men and women who come to washington every year, but rising costs and issues with the local police mean this is the end of an era. # america... a painful moment for everyone involved. it's emotional. it sparks memories in your mind that you've tried to forget, that we've tried to forget, for 50 years. and...so it'sjust — it's a hard thing. rolling thunder, named after a bombing campaign against the north vietnamese, began as a protest to highlight veterans who were missing in action,

more than 80,000 of them. most from the second world war, but there are at least 1,600 vietnam vets who are still unaccounted for. for men like artie, the struggle goes on, and this is his message to his fellow bikers. be proud to have been part of this. we've got 32 years of history, and a lot of legislation we passed and a lot of veterans and troops and their families that we've helped through the years. although the ride on washington is coming to an end, from next year, smaller events will take place across the country. veterans will still be honoured. the thunder will keep on rolling. tim allman, bbc news. 0ur our top story that we are keeping across this our coal and president trump's state visit to japan is continuing. they have been playing around of golf, president trump and

shinzo abe. they are there to talk about the issues of trade, the japanese economic minister says he doesn't think they will be an agreement. we will keep you across all of that news on bbc news. hello. for some, it's been a sunny start to the bank holiday weekend. we saw a high of 25 celsius in london on saturday afternoon. this is herne bay, in kent, around about the same time. for others, a very different story. cloudy, outbreaks of rain across parts of northern ireland, northern england and scotland, and many of us will see some rain over the next few days. it'll be turning cool and breezier, as well, but also some spells of sunshine. but the rain and the strengthening breeze comes courtesy of an atlantic front working its way eastwards, likely to stall through much of the weekend across the far north of scotland. it's certainly scotland which will see the lion's share of the rain through the early hours of sunday morning, and northern scotland will keep that rain through much of the day on sunday. rain initially across northern ireland, clearing its way eastwards and turning more

showery on its journey across england and wales. the rain quite patchy across east anglia and south—east england. some may stay mainly dry. behind that band of rain, a few showers, but also some sunshine. a fine afternoon across northern ireland, north—west england and wales, but quite breezy. some gusty winds coupled with that rain across northern scotland, so temperatures here just nine or 10 celsius. elsewhere, we're looking at 14—19 celsius, maybe 20 or 21 across east anglia and south—east england. any rain here will pull away through the evening. behind it, some clearer skies. still that rain continuing across scotland overnight, but slowly starting to become more showery. a slightly cooler night as we go into the early hours of bank holiday monday. we're looking at lows of between about 7—11 celsius. so here's bank holiday monday. still some rain across scotland, sinking its way a bit further southwards, becoming slightly more showery. elsewhere, it is sunshine and showers, and the showers most frequent the further north and west you are. not so many getting across to east anglia and south—east

england, but nowhere immune on bank holiday monday from a shower, in between some spells of sunshine. that will help temperatures up to between 1a and 18 celsius, but certainly a cooler feeling day. we keep that cooler feel as we go into wednesday. 0urwinds are coming from the north and the north—west. that's always going to continue to feed some showers across, probably not quite as many as what we'll see on bank holiday monday, but some of those showers could lingerfor a time through tuesday across south—east england and east anglia. fewer showers actually on tuesday the further west you are, potentially, but again, anywhere could catch a shower. temperature—wise we're looking at 11—17 celsius on tuesday. little change, really, wednesday and thursday. sunny spells and showers, the showers most frequent the further north and west you are, driest further south. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

president trump's state visit to japan continues with a round of golf with prime minister shinzo abe. the two leaders are also due to tackle the issue of trade imbalances. but the japanese economy minister says he doesn't expect talks to lead to an agreement. people in 21 countries are due to vote on the final day of elections for the european parliament, with nationalists mounting a strong challenge to pro—eu parties. seven countries have already voted, including britain. final results are due when polls close by the end of sunday. tens of thousands of israelis have protested at moves to give the prime minister benjamin netanyahu immunity from prosecution. mr netanyahu won a fifth term in april despite allegations of fraud and bribery, which he denies. those are the latest headlines here on bbc news. it's a little after 4:30 in the morning. now on bbc news it's click.