but that's the past, that's the past, mr letta.o be the next prime minister of italy... july the 20th is not the past. it was exactly what happened, to have this crazy situation. you know, we had draghi as prime minister. draghi means to have ronaldo or messi as prime minister. and they decided to topple draghi and to say, "now, game over with draghi". i think it was an irresponsible choice. and we decided to say, "ok, we are accountable. "linear continuity. "we think that we were right, not wrong in the decision. "you were wrong when you decided to topple "the government." would it be fair to say that your chief tactic in this election campaign is try to scare italians? try to frighten them with the prospect of a far—right government, which some in your own party describe as neo—fascist? it is the reality. i think it's not a scare, it's not scaring. the reality is the fact that italy will choose in the next elections. as you said, there's the constituencies, so the first—past—the—post constituencies, then the situation is a situat

you can watch the full interview with enrico letta on hardtalk, here on bbc news.l with a chinese detective. but this is no ordinary sleuth. he's a pet detective. george w bush: freedom itself was attacked this morning, - and freedom will be defended. the united states will hunt down and punish those responsible. bishop tutu now becomes spiritual leader of 100,000 anglicans here, of the blacks in soweto township, as well as the whites in their rich suburbs. we say to you today- in a loud and a clear voice, "enough of blood and tears. enough!" _ translation: the difficult | decision we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage. it's an exodus of up to 60,000 people caused by the uneven pace of political change in eastern europe. lam free! this is bbc news. the latest headlines: britain's new prime minister, liz truss, is beginning her first full day in the job. she's promised to address the challenges facing the uk. among the many challenges demanding liz truss's attention is the brexit rules affecting northern ireland. the need for checks

meloni's closest rival was enrico letta. 19% of the vot, while the populis five-star movement got about 15%. mr. letta has since announced that he will step down as party leer. also in the party -- >> this was a failure of the pro-european camp that failed to unite. there is a blame game going on now between opposition parties. we should focus on uniting. >> the results of the election marked a return of silvio berlusconi, nine years after he was kicked out for fraud. >> everybody will have some influence on anybody else within the coalition, as it has always been with different balances for 25 years. the coalition of center-right rules many regions today in central italy and has a long history of work. >> there is a concern about her party's links to fascism. >> she says she has jettisoned fascism, has consigned fascism to the history of italy, but there are those who believe it is not so simple. there are the echoes of italy's very dark past that is still pervading parts of her party. she described herself as a modern cons

the left-leaning democratic party is banking on former prime minister enrico letta, whose governmentnths in 2013 and 2014 but lacks a strong coalition partner. while polls show that the five-star movement has lost some support, and many italians are frustrated. >> translator: neither giorgia meloni nor letta, nor conte, i don't feel represented at all. >> reporter: with some voters saying they're undecided and others say they won't vote at all. and, you know, kim, that's probably the most important thing about this. a lot of people may not vote at all. a lot of people are undecided and there's a huge fraction of those people who could swing the way this race goes. it's supposed to be really bad weather tomorrow. a lot of people might not go out and vote at all. it's really up for grabs in some ways if you look at it. >> interesting. looking at the country, the political climate in the country is so different since the last election, you know, post-covid. you talked about the ongoing war and all of its effects. so is that why italians are sort of looking for something, a different typ

ms meloni's closest rival was enrico letta from the centre left.vement won about 15%. mr letta has since announced that he will step down as party leader. also in the party is lia quarterpelle. this is her reaction. i would say this was more a failure of the pro—european camp to fail to unite, there is a blame game now going on between opposition parties, i think we should really focus on uniting. the results of the election mark a return to the senate for silvia berlusconi — nine years after he was kicked out for fraud. deborah bergamini is an mp for his forza italia party. everybody will have some influence on anybody else within the coalition, as it has always been with different balances for 25 yea rs. the coalition of centre—right rules many regions today in italy and has a long experience of working together. despite georgia meloni's recent attempts to soften her image, there is real concern about her party's links to facism. here's the bbc�*s mark lowen. she says that she has jettisoned, fascism and she has consigned fascism to the history o

fighting them is enrico letta, pro—europe and pro—civil rights but he failed to form a broad centre—lefting its social welfare policies will save it now. so, how will the poll affect the war in ukraine? mario draghi has been a big supporter of kyiv and while giorgia meloni backs that, her coalition partners have had close ties with vladimir putin and salvini has even suggested dropping sanctions on moscow due to the energy crisis. so, this election matters, both here with italy perhaps about to elect its first woman prime minister and first far—right leader since mussolini, and abroad with implications for its relationship with europe. but this country has had almost 70 governments since the second world war, so we mightjust be back here again next year. that was the bbc�*s mark lowen. nasa has called off another scheduled launch of its historic uncrewed mission to the moon which was due to take place on tuesday — that's because of tropical storm ian, which could become a hurricane as it approaches florida. it's the third delay in a month for the test flight, which suffered a fuel leak a

, my guest today, here at the ambrosetti forum — a sort of italy—style davos gathering — is enrico letta

fighting them is enrico letta, pro—europe and pro—civil rights, but he failed to form a broad centre—left movement that came top last time, but has plummeted. it's hoping its social welfare policies will save it now. so, how will the poll affect the war in ukraine? mario draghi has been a big supporter of kyiv. and while giorgia meloni backs that, her coalition partners have had close ties with vladimir putin, and salvini has even suggested dropping sanctions on moscow due to the energy crisis. so this election matters both here — with italy perhaps about to elect its first woman prime minister and first far—right leader since mussolini — and abroad, with implications for its relationship with europe. but this country's had almost 70 governments since the second world war, so we mightjust be back here again next year. mark lowen reporting. well, our europe correspondent jessica parker is in verona for us this lunchtime. jessica, if giorgia meloni does win and italy moves decisively to the right, that could cause tensions with the european union? well, yes. italy, of course, is the eu's th

new party is the man i spoke to in florence a few years ago when he was development minister he and letta signed an agreement to have the pd as partners going into the election. then he pulled out because he did not like the other partners that pd was looking at from the left side. what does he think can be done i think he has limited aspirations of what he thinks he can do in terms of guestetting government in terms of the right wing, he has big aspirations. >> the left is going very left the right is going very right. what we need is left center. liberal center we need to carry on all of the draghi reforms and keep on being serious about meeting the commitments and do what is needed, not what is always promised during an election campaign i think this is the only new thing in this campaign our aim is very clear. if we get enough votes, then the situation, the political situation will be stuck. there will be a stalemate and we ask draghi to keep on leading a big coalition. >> reporter: i told you italian politics is complicated, didn't i? the first post or pr system? it's both. 2/3 are e

fighting them is enrico letta, pro—europe and pro—civil rights, but he failed to form a broad centre—leftpporter of kyiv. and while giorgia meloni backs that, her coalition partners have had close ties with vladimir putin, and salvini has even suggested dropping sanctions on moscow due to the energy crisis. so this election matters both here — with italy perhaps about to elect its first woman prime minister and first far—right leader since mussolini — and abroad, with implications for its relationship with europe. but this country's had almost 70 governments since the second world war, so we mightjust be back here again next year. the headlines on bbc news... labour opens its annual conference as its leader, sir keir starmer, prepares to set out the dividing lines between his party and the new conservative government. he tells the bbc he would reverse the government's cut to top income tax rate. voting is under way in italy's general election with opinion polls suggesting victory for the far right which would usher in the country's most right—wing government since world war ii. a man has

fighting them is enrico letta, pro—europe and pro—civil rights, but he failed to form a broad centre—leftg supporter of kyiv. and while giorgia meloni backs that, her coalition partners have had close ties with vladimir putin, and salvini has even suggested dropping sanctions on moscow due to the energy crisis. so this election matters both here — with italy perhaps about to elect its first woman prime minister and first far—right leader since mussolini — and abroad, with implications for its relationship with europe. but this country's had almost 70 governments since the second world war, so we mightjust be back here again next year. so that's an outline there of the challenges ahead. mark lowen spoke to former italian ambassador to nato, stafano until the opinion polls were closed a couple of weeks ago, they consistently showed that giorgia meloni was topping the polls, and her right—wing coalition look set to sweep to power. she is in coalition with matteo salvini, former interior minister, quite anti—migrant, and x prime minister silvio berlusconi of bunga bunga six party fame. here i

fighting them is enrico letta, pro—europe and pro—civil rights, but he failed to form a broad centre—leftow. so, how will the poll affect the war in ukraine? mario draghi has been a big supporter of kyiv. and while giorgia meloni backs that, her coalition partners have had close ties with vladimir putin, and salvini has even suggested dropping sanctions on moscow due to the energy crisis. so this election matters both here — with italy perhaps about to elect its first woman prime minister and first far—right leader since mussolini — and abroad, with implications for its relationship with europe. but this country's had almost 70 governments since the second world war, so we mightjust be back here again next year. and so there is really a desire for change here by a significant proportion of italians, who look at their country that has a moribund economy for the last two decades, got a massive brain drain, very sluggish growth in productivity, and they feel that something needs to change. they have tried virtually every colour of ideology and government here since the second world war, almo

the left-leaning democratic party is banking on former prime minister enrico letta, whose government2014, and lacks a strong coalition partner. while polls show that the five-star movement has lost some support. and many italians are frustrated. >> translator: neither giorgia meloni, nor let that or conte i don't feel represented at all. >> reporter: with some voters say they're undecided. and others saying they won't vote at all. and you know, kim, what's really important if giorgia meloni becomes the first prime minister here until italy which is a male-dominated society, not all women believe she represents them. she's got very strong issues on abortion rights and lgbtq rights. one of the things we have to keep in mind when you think about italian politics, the last polls published a couple weeks ago, anything could happen tomorrow. kim. >> all right, we'll be watching. barbie nadeau in rome, thank you so much. >>> just ahead, a memorable good-bye as a legendary player ends a storied tennis career. stay with us. fine lines in 1-week, deep wrinkles in 4. so you can kiss wrinklkles