live from washington. this is bbc news. turkey's presidential election remains too close to call with nearly 100% of the vote counted in a contest that could decide the country's political future. the country's split between these two men — president recep tayyip erdogan and challenger kemal kilicdaroglu. both say they would accept a potential run—off vote. plus, why is the governor of florida visiting the state of iowa? for the likely presidential candidate, it's about more than just the barbecue.

hello, i'm helena humphries. we begin in turkey, where a pivotal presidential election is heading down to the wire. with more than 91% of ballots counted, neither current president recep tayyip erdogan nor his fiercest rival kemal kilicdaroglu have cleared the threshold to win outright on sunday. the head of turkey's high election board said not long ago that mr erdogan was leading with 49.49% while kilicdaroglu had 4a.49% of votes. now, if neither can clear 50%, there will be a run—off election. both candidates have said they would accept a potential run—off vote, which would take place on may 28th. our international correspondent orla guerin is in ankara, and has more on what's at stake in this election. people talk excitedly a tense moment in a tight election. here in ankara, voters spotted two people in one polling booth.

the police were called in. the ballot box matters in turkey, and the opposition are on the lookout for fraud. this is a pivotal vote which could mean the end of the erdogan era. president erdogan�*s supporters insist he is going nowhere. this man tells us he will still be president tomorrow because he always wins elections, and he will keep developing turkey. the authoritarian leader voted in istanbul, looking sombre, with election officials standing to attention. he said he is praying for turkish democracy. the president's smiling secular rival, kemal kilicdaroglu, says democracy would be a lot better off without him. applause and cheering

well, kemal kilicdaroglu has emerged here now having cast his vote. everyone is trying to get a picture. he's the focus of a lot of attention here today, a lot of hopes, he's promising to bring a new beginning, to bring spring to turkey. there are 64 million turks eligible to vote, let's take a look at the leading candidates. recep tayyip erdogan first came to power in 2003 as prime minister in a sweeping electoral victory by the islamist—rooted justice and development party, commonly known as the akp. erdogan spent 11 years as prime minister before becoming the country's first directly elected president in 2014. his opponent is kemal kilicdaroglu. he was chosen as the opposition�*s unity candidate, representing six opposition parties who combined forces for this election. mr kilicdaroglu has led turkey's main opposition party, the republican people's party, or chp, since 2010.

now although a run—off remains the most likely election outcome, mr erdogan acknowledged that vote—counting is ongoing but said, "we believe that we will finish this round with more than 50% of the votes." mr kilicdaroglu, meanwhile, acknowledged the likelihood of a second round of voting, vowing to win the election in the run—off. earlier, i spoke with ozge ozdemirfrom the bbc�*s turkish service. it appears to be a very tight race, bring us the latest. it has been a tight race. the head of the official election body of turkey has announced that more than 90% of the votes have been counted. erdogan is leading the polls but is not able to cross the 50% threshold. the opposition side of the election, kilicdaroglu and his alliance, have been accusing the state agency of turkey, they have been

accusing them of manipulating the results. because turkey has been watching the results through another agency, and they are saying the agency is not giving the correct results and they have been ahead in the elections. but it seems like most probably in two weeks there will be a run—off in turkey. explain to us how that run—off would work. actually, for example, if we look at the parliamentary results, because besides this presidential election, there is an election in parliament, and it seems that erdogan�*s alliance is still very powerful in most of the cities. for example, in the earthquake zone, the votes haven't changed that much. so it's going to be tough for the opposition alliance. i want to talk a little bit...

you mention some of the issues including the response to the earthquake. how divided is the country right now? what is the atmosphere in turkey? actually, this result has been showing that turkey is still very polarised. the main issue until the vote has been the economic crisis, and of course the earthquake. last year, inflation was almost more than 100% in turkey. the youth have been very complaining about unemployment and not being able to see the future. so the opposition alliance have been promising them unity and fighting against economic crisis, and dealing with the infrastructure in turkey, which resulted in the collapse of buildings in the earthquake zone. but it seems that erdogan�*s powerful profile has still been very important for his own electoral base, actually.

earlier, i spoke to james f jeffrey, former ambassador for the us to iraq and turkey, and special envoy to the global coalition to defeat isis. there is some optimism that with kemal kilicdaroglu, a lot of the rhetoric that is very anti—western from erdogan and his people people will fall away dramatically. but i've heard some people close to him, many things we are concerned about, policies around iraq, syria, relations with the anti—islamic state syrian democratic forces, the kurdish pkk offshoot... and cyprus... those issues will continue because they are national issues not erdogan's issues. washington can manage them, it has been managing them with erdogan.

in terms of putin, erdogan has been next to the united states the most effective container of russia in a broad area. erdogan has been next to the united states the most libya, north—west syria, the caucasus, and of course in ukraine. he has also been one of the biggest helps of russia, which is important to note. he is both on our side importantly, but he keeps one foot in the other camps. kilicdaroglu is less likely to do that. 0n the other hand, he is inexperienced and i know from insider reports that putin is very cautious around around erdogan's turkey, so whether putin would be happy or sad to see him go, i'm not sure. to the coastlines of bangladesh and myanmar, where at least five people are reported dead as a powerful cyclone, cyclone mocha, continued

to inundate parts of both countries cutting communications and destroying buildings. the city of sittwe is said to be deep in water with 200 kilometres per hour winds causing chaos. and in bangladesh, fears for the nearly one million rohingya refugees living in flimsy camps in the region proved unfounded but more than 1,300 bamboo shelters in cox's bazar, the world's largest refugee camp, have been destroyed. from cox's bazar, rajini vaidyanathan sent this report. cyclone mocha arrived with great force. winds gusting at high speeds. it hit the bangladesh—myanmar coastline. as the cyclone intensified, so did the panic. here in southeast bangladesh, hundreds of thousands left their homes in coastal areas for shelter. some even brought their livestock. janat carried her two—month—old baby from their home on the banks of a river. every classroom in this school is absolutely

packed with people who've left their homes, seeking shelter from the cyclone. there are many mothers with babies, there's young children, the elderly and the sick. almost everyone here is from a low—lying coastal area in fishing communities, and they're terrified about whether their homes will still be standing once the cyclone passes. for now, it's about finding a space to settle here. we metjanat again as she searched for a place to sit with her baby, imran. for her, this cyclone is part of an endless cycle. translation: last year, another cyclone destroyed my house. - we repaired it, but now i fear it is damaged again. how can i live if this keeps happening? i can't afford to rebuild it. we are very poor. nature was also punishing the poor in the world's largest refugee camp nearby.

hundreds of bamboo shelters damaged by the storm. rohingya refugees who'd fled persecution in myanmar more than five years ago already live in miserable conditions. this cyclone just made things worse. as families return from the shelter, relief that no—one was killed in the storm here. evacuations are credited for saving lives as the extreme weather continues to disrupt them. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, cox's bazar, bangladesh. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. for these midwives from east kent, sea swimming at this time of year is a simple affair. the water's cold. so you've just seen

the getting—in bit. now it's all about the few short minutes of having the water to de—stress from a difficult pressurised environment on a hospital labour ward. good for the soul. itjust gives you such a sense of well—being and togetherness. and i think coming together as a team, it really helps with the teamwork side of things, and it'sjust a chance to get away from the work stress. a recent society of occupational medicine report highlighted two concerns. the first, that stress at work for midwives leads to mental—health problems and burn—out. the second, that individual midwives had a responsibility to engage in appropriate self—care and develop a tool box of stress management. but who needs a tool box when you have the ocean? you're live with bbc news. to thailand, where initial election results indicate voters have rejected the military—backed government.

the two progressive opposition parties, move forward and pheu thai, have surged ahead of the incumbent thai prime minister's party, and appear to be set for coalition talks. the move forward party, led by former businessman pita limjaroenrat, is set to be the largest party in the country's parliament, followed closely by its fellow opposition party pheu thai, led by paetongtarn shinawatra, daughter of the ousted former prime minister thakshin shinawatra. the results make it all but certain the conservative prime minister prayuth chanocha, who seized power in 2014, has failed to win another term in office. live now to bangkok, and our correspondentjonathan head. looking at these early counts, it seems thai voters has rejected the military backed government, why? i rejected the military backed

government, why?- government, why? i think probably _ government, why? i think probably a _ government, why? i think probably a number- government, why? i think probably a number of- government, why? i think- probably a number of reasons. one, simply the length of time 0ne, simply the length of time it has been there. pius cha—cha has been serving for nine years. —— player cannot chair. he led a coup against the previous government. people were willing to give him a chance to try as an elected politician to see whether he could make significant differences to thailand's current trajectory. we have had the covid pandemic, he was unlucky with his timing, but there was sent his government was cumbersome ponderous coalition, and his rather gruff military style wasn't always responsive to the concerns of voters. ijust think responsive to the concerns of voters. i just think the mood changed. and it was led by young people. remember, we had massive protests on the streets two years ago, youth led, saying there needed to be a wholesale change in thailand, a more democratic culture, more openness talking about the behind—the—scenes power structures, the monarchy and

the military. what seems to have happened during the campaign, young people have thrown their weight behind move forward and have bought a lot of older thais with them, sensing there is a need to change. it is one of the fastest—growing countries in the world, its economy has been stagnant almost a decade, it is rapidly ageing, very unequal. a lot of grievances not addressed for a long time, and it was a moment when people said, we need big change, not the small changes offered by other parties. changes offered by other arties. , ., . . changes offered by other arties. , ., ., ., changes offered by other arties. ., ., ., parties. jonathan, you are talkinu parties. jonathan, you are talking about _ parties. jonathan, you are talking about momentum | parties. jonathan, you are - talking about momentum that we appear to see talking about momentum that we appearto see in talking about momentum that we appear to see in thailand, with young and old appearing to come together at the ballot box. but in terms of the coalition talks now, how will they proceed? i don't think they will be that straightforward. because pheu thai and move is forward —— and move forward are both antimilitary... the party that

carried the mantle of fighting against authoritarian rule, they are perhaps going to have to be used to being second fiddle, pheu thai, they have fewer seats than move forward. no one party could form a viable government with other parties without the other, so they realise they have to come together. what they could do now, which is very important in the thai context, they are facing this military appointed senate of 250 senators who may be opposed to reform and could block them, but if they bring in some of the middling parties with reasonable blocks of seeds into a coalition, they will have what is called a super majority, and then there would be no way the conservatives could block them in parliament. whether something else happens, we have had military coups in the past, controversial court decisions to dissolve previous iterations of both these reformist parties, that is the question thais are wondering right now with this thumping results of the forces of change

and a snub for those backing the status quo._ and a snub for those backing the status quo. jonathan head keein: the status quo. jonathan head keeping us — the status quo. jonathan head keeping us up-to-date, - the status quo. jonathan head keeping us up-to-date, thank| keeping us up—to—date, thank you. (earlier, we heard from the leaders of both opposition parties move forward and pheu thai about what a potential coalition might look like. we have enough seats to push forward. we can govern in the coalition in a sense that what we have promised, it would be without the military backed system, and it would be like a western democracy which is transparent, expectation management of what can be done. translation: the voice of the eo - le is translation: the voice of the pepple is most _ translation: the voice of the people is most important. - people is most important. however the people trust the most should be able to choose the prime minister of that party. live now to virot ahlee, associate dean of international affairs at bangkok's

tumahsot university. thank you for being with us to put all of this in context. firstly, do you think this is a turning point for thailand? indeed it is. it has been a big shock because the party have won all the elections in the last 20 years. for them it was a great shock, this particular period, where you can see the move forward party, which has been around for the past five years, has captured the hearts and minds especially of the younger people, working people and so on. even in many, many places... the military party won seats previously, everyone voted for the move forward party. people want real change. it is important, because pheu

thai has always won elections on an economic platform, but move forward have been focusing on political reform. this time, people voted for that. people wanted to see how the move forward party can really change the political structure which has been a problem for the past 20 years, and has led to what we call various military coups and so on. for the move forward party, asjohnston said, it's not that simple in order to be able to maintain. —— as jonathan said. the current government has appointed many quasi—or as agencies, the courts, election committees and so on. —— quasi—autonomous. we can still be not very sure whether this coalition would work in the long—term or not. but at the moment, everyone in thailand is quite happy with the election results. [30

thailand is quite happy with the election results.- the election results. do you anticipate — the election results. do you anticipate a _ the election results. do you anticipate a smooth - the election results. do you l anticipate a smooth transition of power?— of power? not at all. not at all. of power? not at all. not at all- the _ of power? not at all. not at all. the problem _ of power? not at all. not at all. the problem is, - of power? not at all. not at all. the problem is, move l all. the problem is, move forward party has been very clear in all of their policy proposals. they have also made a lot of promises, saying they would not bejoining certain groups of parties that has worked with the military coup or the parties which are what we call related to the military generals themselves. at the same time, the current coalition has also put up some conditions against the move forward party as well. especially regarding to the amendment of the lese majeste law. so far the numbers are at 229 out of 750. so on the other hand, if they cannot get another party, for example one

with the current government, to join the coalition, it would be very difficult. even though they could have the government, but at the same time, to move forward certain policies which you need senators�* votes as well, it would not be possible if they disagreed with the laws and so on... for this democratic coalition, you need to have at least 376 in order to have at least 376 in order to bypass the senators. but if not, you can have a government but it would not be that simple. 0n the other hand, the current government military coalition, they still have the ability to join up coalition, they still have the ability tojoin up by coalition, they still have the ability to join up by using the 250 votes on the senate to support and become a minority government. support and become a minority government-— government. what would that mean, if government. what would that mean. if the _ government. what would that mean, if the military - government. what would that mean, if the military had - government. what would that mean, if the military had to i mean, if the military had to potentially play king or queen maker, for the reforms? it wouldn't work. the reforms wouldn�*t work. the reforms wouldn�*t work. the reforms would not work. if we had a minority government byjoining

with the senators, 250 of them, plus the 180 that they have at the moment... asjonathan said, there are cases... they found out one of the leaders held shares in a media company. it has been dysfunctional for the past couple of years. the ex leader of the future forward party which was banned... right, we have to leave it there. thank you so much for being with us. the us presidential election is still over a year away, but the battle for the republican nomination is already heating up. the florida governor, ron desantis, is widely expected to confirm he�*s running in the coming weeks. six months ago he was topping the polls, but since then he�*s fallen behind former president donald trump. undeterred, mr desantis has been setting

out his vision in key states such as iowa, from where our north america editor sarah smith sent this report. all right. just let her rip. there�*s only one reason why politicians come to barbecues in iowa. ron desantis hasn�*t said he�*s running for president, but why else would the governor of florida be visiting the state that will be the first to pick a republican candidate for president? there you go. deeply conservative, he says he wants to do for america what he�*s done in florida — banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, banning mention of gay and transgender issues in schools, and allowing guns to be carried concealed without a permit. he has won a huge majority in florida, so claims he�*s a winner. and you can guess who he�*s accusing of being a loser. but there's no substitute for victory. we must reject the culture of losing that has infected our party in recent years. 0bviously, he means donald trump. yet polls suggest desantis is trailing badly behind the clear front—runner.

how are you going to get ahead of donald trump when he�*s so far ahead of you in the polls? if he really has no answer, that will be a problem. 0ne plan is to sell himself as having donald trump style policies without all that trumpian drama. for me, i feel like trump is a little too divisive. so are you still thinking you might support donald trump? possibly, yes. i haven�*t decided, though. well, i think he's a lot more i polished than trump and that he's not going to say stuff that offends people. - but he doesn�*t yet have trump�*s name recognition. he needs that. events like this, and there will be a lot of them, are a significant test for ron desantis. can he charm the voters and win them over? can he withstand the harsh glare of the national spotlight? and does he have the stomach for a fight with donald trump that could get very nasty? then mrtrump said, "you're fired." i love that part. five years ago, desantis was advertising his adoration for donald trump, and it worked — getting him elected as florida governor. desantis was saved by the - endorsement of president trump.

trump is now furious his protege is trying to steal his crown — and he isn�*t holding back. isn't it time desantis . remembers how he got to where he is? iowa is big farm country, where voters have an outsized say in who gets to be their party�*s presidential candidate. whoever wins in this state gets a big head start. persuading people like jake could be crucial. donald trump�*s personality is larger than life, and that�*s to his benefit and that�*s to his detriment. yeah, i don�*t see that in desantis. who do you think is more likely to beatjoe biden? right now, i�*d say desantis probably is more likely to beat him right now. desantis�*s team say his support will improve when he formally launches his campaign. there is a long road ahead before this contest is over. sarah smith, bbc news, sioux center, iowa. stay with us here on bbc news.

plenty more on our website, bbc.com. see you soon. hello. the weather over the weekend varied quite a bit from day to day, sunnier moments, cloudier moments, but we still managed to reach 22 celsius in kew gardens, making it the warm spot. how about monday? sunny spells in the forecast, scattered showers, too, but we�*re focusing on the dry weather, and indeed, it will be a mostly dry day for many of us. now, on the satellite picture, there is a line of cloud across the uk, that is a weather front, it�*s been bringing rain. and early in the morning, it is going to be raining across east anglia, the south east and central southern england, as this weather front gradually moves towards the east. but behind it, a large area of high pressure is building in, and that means settled

weather for many of us. so here�*s the forecast through the early hours. you can see where the cloud and the rain is. but even once the weather front clears away, still a few showers behind it. it will be on the nippy side across some parts of the country. temperatures in glasgow and edinburgh around four celsius, but in the southeast, around ten. so early in the morning, there will be some cloud and rain in the southeast. eventually that weather front clears away, and then it�*s a case of sunny spells and scattered showers maybe in northern ireland, scotland, northern england and further east as well. the temperatures pretty disappointing for this time in may, typically around about 13—14 celsius. and it will actually be quite chilly along the north sea coast, where we�*ll have a keen breeze out of the north—northwest. high pressure very close by on tuesday. in fact, light winds expected across many western areas. it�*ll feel a little bit warmer. further north, though, showers are expected across scotland, northern england, certainly into yorkshire. temperatures recovering somewhat, especially where the winds are lighter out towards the west, perhaps

as high as 17 celsius in belfast and also in cardiff. and then that high pressure is pretty much on top of us midweek, we�*ve light winds, but i think variable amounts of cloud. now, if we look at the air mass map, and that�*s the temperature of the atmosphere, you can see these yellow colours and actually a drift of warmer weather from the south. so, yes, temperatures will recover a little bit as we head towards the end of the week. in fact, that�*s reflected in the forecast here until friday. you can see we�*re sort of generally in the high teens towards the end of the week. and from the weather icons, you can gather it is going to be a mostly dry week as well. bye— bye.

welcome to hardtalk. i�*m stephen sackur and today i�*m in berlin outside the humboldt forum, one of germany�*s great cultural institutions right here in the city centre. it is home to thousands of works of non—european art. now, the thing is, many germans are now asking themselves, why is all this art here?

should treasures grabbed by european colonisers be returned to their countries of origin?