hello and welcome. it has emerged that the gunman who killed a policeman and wounded two others in paris was known to the french authorities. karim cheurfi was shot dead by security forces on thursday evening after he opened fire on the champs—elysees. the paris prosecutor said he had served a prison sentence for the attempted murder of two police officers. the issue of security has dominated the final day of campaigning ahead of the first round of voting in the french presidential election on sunday. thomas fessy reports. the french prepare for an election organised under a state of emergency. armed police and gendarmes have been a common sight in the streets since the 2015 shootings in paris. 50,000 of them have been deployed across the country. security has been stepped up around famous tourist sites, like montmartre, in the capital. the french are also used to the presence of soldiers patrolling their cities.

when the campaign started, many in france believed it would be defined by terrorism and security. it turned out voters have so far been more concerned about unemployment and the economy. it remains unclear whether thursday's attack will have a last—minute impact on people's choice. we've had enough of anxiety, and things like that, with all the attacks, and so on. so just wanted to ignore it, personally. so maybe it will have an impact, but i don't know. translation: i'm not worried about sunday in particular, but i am worried, in general, for all of us. ijust don't think our politicians really have a full grasp of the problem. the most important, i think, it's economy, and economic recovery. this is the most important. more than security? yes, sure — for me. the champs—elysees have reopened, and are bustling again. but, on the pavement, a reminder of the attack, in which a police officer was killed and two others wounded. on friday, the paris prosecutor,

francois molins, revealed that the attacker had spent 1a years injail, and never showed signs of being radicalised. police questioned him again earlier this year over suspicions of terrorism, but he walked free. there was no proof to charge him. 0n the eve of the most unpredictable presidential election in years, thursday's shooting will have repercussions beyond the french capital. across france, people hope for a peaceful vote. thomas fessy, bbc news, paris. the us vice president mike pence has reiterated america's determination to curb north korea's nuclear ambitions. speaking in sydney after meeting australia's prime minister malcolm turnbull, he said pyongyang posed the biggest risk to the asia—pacific region. mr pence said the uss carl vinson

carrier group would be in the sea of japan "before the end of this month", and he talked about the chances of achieving a nuclear—free korean peninsula. for more than a generation, there has been a consensus of the world community for a nuclear—free korean peninsula. in the 1990s, it was the subject of negotiations and an agreed framework was arrived at. six party talks would follow. sometime later, the last administration embraced a policy of strategic patience. all along the way, the regime in north korea answered the entreaties of the world community with broken promises and with a continued pursuit, a headlong pursuit, of their nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions. and as president trump has made clear, and i've made clear as i travel on his behalf throughout this area, the era of resistance is over. under the present leadership

and working closely with our allies, with prime minister turnbull, and my meetings with prime minister abe and acting president wong in south korea and others, the united states is determined to bring economic and diplomatic pressure to bear, working with all of our allies, and china, to ensure that we achieve a nuclear—free korean peninsulas. that was mike pence they're talking to australia ‘s prime minister malcolm in sydney. don't forget, you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @tomdonkinbbc. goodbye. stay with us because still to come — he had 13 weeks at number one. before harry came along and spoiled his easter. sounds familiar! from

ta keaway his easter. sounds familiar! from takeaway is the box sets, will undertake take to the air for some wriggle radio. on day three of the election campaign trail, the prime minister and the chancellor have given theirfirst hints about the conservative manifesto. theresa may says she'll keep the current level of spending on foreign aid, despite pressure from within her own party to cut it. but she would not commit to keep the so—called triple lock on pensions which guarantees they rise by inflation, average earnings, or 2.5% each year — whichever is highest. labour seized on the opportunity to say they would keep it. and the chancellor philip hammond has hinted that the conservatives will end the party's promise not to raise income tax, vat, and national insurance. our first report is from our deputy political editorjohn pienaar. trust me, i'm a politician. no leader stays popular forever but theresa may clearly feels she's liked enough for now to make promises that some might like but others won't. she looks confident enough and the message — one we have heard

before and will again. what drives me, the passion that i have in politics, is to make the united kingdom a country that works for everyone, and notjust the privileged few. today, that meant sticking to britain's target spending on foreign aid — spending some right—wingers want cut. we need to look at how it is spent and make sure we are able to spend the money in the most effective way. the aid budget is safe then but how will the cash be spent in future? but what about the other costly pledge — keeping up the value of pensions? again today, you are telling the country that you are a leader people can trust. so, can pensioners trust you to go on raising their state pensions year by year, just as your party and your government does now? what i would say, john, to pensioners is look what the conservatives in government have done. pensioners today are £1250 a year better off as a result of action that has been taken. we were very clear about the need

to ensure we support people in old age, and that is what we have done. that was not a yes, but here in berkshire and a lot of places, plenty of people like the idea of looking after pensioners. they have worked all their lives and paid their national insurance and paid their taxes, so i think they deserve it as much as anyone else. if you can't look after the elderly, what can you do? if it can be done, stop it for them, they don't need it. a lot of them put it straight in the bank. theresa may may be about to upset an awful lot of voters. even thinking about dropping the tories' promise to pensioners takes a leader very confident about this election, especially now she is clearly protecting overseas spending at the same time. a big lead in the polls comes in handy if you are about to annoy millions of pensioners.

a big majority in the commons — even more so if she then gets on and does it. that deserves a hug. jeremy corbyn‘s campaigning his way — to small crowds, and big ones. no talk of saving on benefits here. the corbyn way sounds like this. theresa may seems incapable of answering any question about the protection of the triple lock on the state pension. well, i give you that commitment now. labour will maintain the triple lock! standing by what's called the triple lock, pensions up every year by inflation, or average earnings, or 2.5%. can labour afford this, along with other promises? he hopes he can win this argument. sorry, i am not quite sure where i am going. but how could he? no—one does. no—one has actually voted yet. the lib dems look perky. they're sure this election will be better than last time. we are the only clear opposition to the conservatives, opposing a hard brexit, opposing exit from the single market, and being an effective opposition on every level. and on they go.

pollsters and pundits might think they know how this ends but there are 48 days until polling day. philip hammond says he would prefer that the government has more flex ability on tax. speaking to the bbc, he hinted that he would like to change the conservative's manifesto promise not to raise income tax, vat or national insurance. he was talking to our economics editor kamal ahmed in washington. it was the solemn pledge, tweeted to the voter by david cameron before the election of 2015 — no increases in tax, the vat or national insurance. will it be repeated before this election? today the chancellor, visiting washington for a meeting of leading industrialised nations, hinted maybe not. i came into politics not to see taxes rising, but to see the burden of taxation falling as our economy grows, and that remains my very clear political ambition. but you do not support specific tax

pledges not to raise income tax, national insurance and vat, because it would tie your hands. all chancellors would prefer to have more flexibility in how they manage the economy, and how they manage the overall tax burden down, than to have their hands constrained. the problem with pledges — they tend to come unstuck. here is the chancellor on budget day, announcing an increase in national insurance payments for the self—employed. there then followed a screeching u—turn, after critics pointed out mr hammond had broken that 2015 pledge. the chancellor is here in washington to talk about the global economy, but frankly, his mind is on matters rather more domestic. in his interview with me, i think he went as far as he feels able to, given that the manifesto is not yet finalised.

he is no fan of constraining promises, particularly on tax. he used one word over and over again — flexibility. mr hammond has opened up a flank, and labour attacked. i think he's recognising that he's got problems with the economy, he's got problems in the budget that he's done, and as a result of that, there will be tax rises under a conservative government if they get re—elected. this is quite a tax bombshell. as always the big test in any election, the economy. and today's poor retail figures suggested that the increase in inflation is starting to bite, and consumers are starting to feel the strain. some might say you have called this election to get the mandate before the economy truly turned sour. we've called this election because it will strengthen the prime minister's hand in the negotiations to get the right brexit dealfor britain. but, in terms of the economic data, it has been remarkably resilient over the last nine months. just this week, the imf revised

up its forecast for britain's economy this year to 2%. the chancellor will return from his us trip at the weekend, back to an election battle where the promises the party makes to voters will be key. as far as mr hammond is concerned, the fewer, it would seem, the better. an egyptian—american charity worker, who spent three years in a cairo jail, has been welcomed to the white house after being acquitted of human trafficking charges. it's understood that president trump helped to secure the release of aya hijazi, when he met the egyptian president earlier this month. barbara plett—usher reports. we are very happy to have aya back home. first of all, the trump administration will say this is a sign of the successes diplomacy on human rights. raising concerns in private that not

publicly criticising the president is like the above organisation did. good job, right? a is like the above organisation did. goodjob, right? a wonderfuljob. but that probably wouldn't have worked if donald trump hadn't brought abdel fattah al—sisi in from the cold, welcoming him into the white house, promising him support, praising him as a fantastic leader. you have a great friend and ally in the united states, and in me. in the end, this exposes the sweeping and arbitrary nature of mr al—sisi's domestic crackdown against alleged threats. after three years in prison with virtually no evidence or due process, the charges against aya hijazi were simply dropped when it suited him. and thank you very much. the pentagon says american troops have killed a leading member of the so—called islamic state group. abdul rahman al—uzbeki was reportedly targeted during a commando raid near mayadin in syria. the pentagon says al—uzbeki was involved in plotting the new year attack

on a night club in istanbul which killed at least 39 people. this is bbc news. the headlines — officials in paris say the gunman who shot dead a french policeman was a convicted criminal. theresa may has ruled out cuts to the uk foreign aid budget if she wins the election but doubts have been cast on other existing conservative pledges. the world is watching to see if france becomes the next major country to challenge liberal values and the political establishment, when it goes to the polls on sunday. the fatal assault on a policeman by a paris gunman has only heightened the uncertain atmosphere. the bbc‘s karin giannone has been examining how the french presidential election system works. the next resident of the building behind me, the elysee palace, will

behind me, the elysee palace, will be one of the most powerful people in the world. as leader of one of its largest economies, country where the state still plays a huge role and the presidency itself is extremely powerful, much more so than in many other democracies. as well as being in charge of the nuclear forces, he appoints well as being in charge of the nuclearforces, he appoints prime ministers, directs foreign policy and can dissolve parliament but he 01’ and can dissolve parliament but he or she can also declare a state of emergency, like the one that's been in place here in france since the attacks on paris in november, 2015, and the evidence that heightened security is all around, particularly at the moment. the first directly elected president in modern times was this man, general charles de gaulle in 1965, war hero and founder of the current fifth republic. each president is elected for five years up president is elected for five years up to president is elected for five years uptoa president is elected for five years up to a maximum of two terms. if

there is no overall majority for one candidate in the first round, the top to go to a second and final round of voting and this is to ensure the president france ends up with abbey of the process always has the support of a majority of voters. so what makes this election such a rollercoaster ride? the current president, francois hollande, from the left—wing socialist party is deeply unpopular, he isn't even standing for a second term and the two main political blocks that have dominated french politics for decades have suffered dramatic falls in support. during the campaign they found themselves overshadowed by candidates previously considered outsiders. but there's another factor adding to the unpredictability, the undecided. their number is huge, some polls put it as high as 30%. so after a year of political drama elsewhere in the

world, we should prepare ourselves for at least the possibility of another surprise. karin giannone there with that look at how the french presidential election system works. turkey's largest opposition party will meet later to discuss its next move after sunday's referendum. a slight majority voted in favour of new powers for the country's head of state, a campaign spearheaded by president erdogan. 0ur correspondent ben james reports from istanbul. cancel the referendum, the message at the heart of this protest in istanbul's besiktas restrict. those here are against a new powers for tu rkey‘s here are against a new powers for turkey's president. afraid of transforming this role from symbolic head of state to executive leader. but sunday's count left the no campaigners on the losing side... just. these people feel they were cheated out of the result they wanted, they say they didn't get the media exposure the no campaign

deserved, they complain some of their leaders were in jail and the a cce pta nce their leaders were in jail and the acceptance of unstamped ballot papers made a crucial difference to the result. now they're working out what to do to challenge the official outcome. a relatively small street protest is one thing. 0pposition politicians also talk about making their case at the european court of human rights. but how do you oppose a president who is undoubtedly popular and powerful? translation: we need a political superman, someone translation: we need a political superman, someone who translation: we need a political superman, someone who can translation: we need a political superman, someone who can reach a kurd in the south—east, a nationalist in the west, and not alienate a voter in the middle of the country. we believe the president has nothing new to say and that will help us wind the next election. at the last one they were 16 points behind the party this man helped to found. and supporters of president erdogan said the referendum was fair and square and that yes was the will of the people. it doesn't matter if

it's 1-0 of the people. it doesn't matter if it's1—0 or 5—0, says the president, the ultimate goal is to win the game. the discussions to come will tell us how his opponent will prepare for the next encounter. ben james, bbc news, istanbul. a community fridge has been installed in south london allowing people to leave unwanted food for those who need it. crowd funding has paid for the people's fridge, which allows small traders and members of the public to lend a helping hand. i like the mango. wow. i have taken some carrot. the weather is so nice, i will make some salad. anyone can come and use the fridge. we don'tjudge people for doing so. so, if you are hungry, come and use the fridge. if you see something in there you like, come and use the fridge. we pick up a lot of produce that is going to waste,

on british farms, and therefore there is always some produce that we can't sell. we pick up a lot of produce that is going to waste, on british farms, and therefore there is always some produce that we can't sell. today we had a few surplus tomatoes, apples and pears from a supplier in kent, and some onions, as well, from suffolk. food service is a really unsexy issue. it's about dusty warehouses, and vans, and moving tons of products between where they originally were, to where they could go next. the fridge is part of helping people understand that they, at an individual level, can pressure their supermarket, pressure their local restaurant, that they shouldn't be tipping food

out of their homes into the waste bin without thinking about what the impact of that is. i think it's brilliant. i've been here before, when i brought the grandchildren here, to show them. and it helps people. ooh, lots and lots of really delicious looking apples. surplus food is super food, in that we should all share it, rather than it go to waste. it's a crying shame that it goes to waste. the duke and duchess of cambridge have made a surprise appearance on bbc radio 1. kate and wills gave an insight into their social lives as our royal correspondent peter hunt reports. please welcome to radio 1 the duke

and duchess of cambridge. oh, my god! with a destiny to fulfil, some dj—ing in the meantime. these are royals bringing their message about mental health to a young audience, and a confession about listening habits. i have texted in, yep. under a different name? obviously, i wouldn't tell you who i was. definitely not! what are you doing texting in your car? obviously i stopped in a lay—by. i have not texted while driving, because that is illegal. the princely fan, who seeks shout—outs, and who was castigated when he missed a royal event for a skiing and clubbing trip, loves going to gigs. it's not something you can really do all the time? no, and you know, i've got in enough trouble with my dancing recently, so it's kind of best to keep away from that, to be honest. the price of such airtime, questions that wouldn't have amused victoria, like what takes their fancy for a tv supper. yeah, i'm not so good with the spicy food, though. i'm not good at spice. if you do a takeaway, they must never believe you when you're ordering it to the palace, right? it doesn't usually get

ordered to the palace, chris. right, i see. we tend to go and pick it up, not ourselves. i've got you, got you. go for a little visit around the area. he's not going to go to chicken cottage, is he? laughter. the professionals changed. the royals remained, and were set to work. the official chart with greg james and the duke and duchess of cambridge — go. he had 13 weeks at number one, with shape of you, before harry came along and spoiled his easter. sounds familiar! laughter. radio bringing together briefly two national institutions, the monarchy and the chart show. so, number one is ed sheeran, shape of you. for a couple facing a life of pomp, this was pure pleasure. when i'm on holiday, would you mind stepping in? to be honest, we could probably do a betterjob. peter hunt, bbc news. it was rather, an unusual sight on the streets of hull last summer, thousands of naked people painted blue. now they're finally getting to see themselves as others did all in the name of art. colin paterson reports from the city of culture. what makes 3,200 people strip off their clothes

and paint themselves blue? that's me... laura dykes, support worker, hull resident and now hanging in a gallery. i really wanted to be on a piece art work in ferens art gallery, that's what drew me to it. i have a little boy who's about eight. i wanted him to come to the art gallery, and me to say, "that's me." it was july last year when people came from as far as japan and australia to take part in artist spencer tunick‘s latest photographic extravaganza, sea of hull, featuring four different shades of blue body paint. well, i was trying to bring the sea back into hull, over paved and concrete landscapes, and i think it worked out well. cheek—by—jowl—by—buttock, from a distance, it looks like a gigantic smurf nudist colony. i'm quite, obvious, just there. but, with so many people from hull taking part, it led to more than a few awkward moments. i actually bumped into somebody from work, which was a bit awkward. but no, not really.

everyone was there to do the same thing. so once everyone was kind of in the same situation, and they'd got their kit off, it was fine. how did the conversation go when you bumped into them? it was very much eye—to—eye, and everything was kept above the neckline. all the participants have been invited to this evening's launch, to find out which parts of them have made the final photos. i was kind of way down there, way off towards... you would think there might be some kind of nervousness or awkwardness, because you had to ask strangers help you do the bits you couldn't reach. but again, because everybody was in the same situation, it was just — i'll always look back on it fondly. the day hull turned blue, now making a lot of people happy. colin paterson, bbc news. it's time for the weather now with sarah keith—lucas. hello there. we may well be heading towards the end of april now, but the weather is feeling a little bit wintry.

particularly next week, we have got some fairly chilly weather on the cards. during friday there was some glimpses of sunshine. this was the view taken in south yorkshire by one of our weather watchers. and through the weekend there will also be a bit of sunshine, and things will be mostly dry. but temperatures still on the cool side, not quite as cold and frosty as it was earlier on in the week. now, during saturday, then, we've got this weather front working its way slowly south across parts of england and wales. so that is going to introduce a bit of cloud, perhaps the odd spot of light rain here. northern ireland also seeing a bit of cloud and a few spots of drizzle. and then, through the day, some showers pushing into the north of scotland, but elsewhere, actually quite a good deal of dry weather. so this is at a:00pm saturday afternoon. fairly cloudy for a time across central, southern parts of england, perhaps the odd light shower here or there, and temperatures up to 15 or so. sunshine in east anglia, the midlands, parts of north wales, too. mostly cloudy for northern ireland but there could be some brighter spells. and for scotland and northern

england, some sunshine, but i think towards the north of scotland we'll continue to see some of these showers, and perhaps even a little bit of snowfall on top of the mountains. then moving through saturday evening and overnight we'll continue to see the showers in the far north and north—east of scotland. the winds tend to come down the east coast, too, so it will be quite chilly around that east coast. and clearer skies, so first thing sunday morning, temperatures lower than this, i think, in the countryside. but even in towns and cities, down to around five or six degrees, so a cold start to sunday morning. if you're planning on running or spectating the marathon in london, then you might want to wrap up warm first thing. but by the afternoon, once the sunshine breaks through, it that should lift the temperatures into the mid—teens. across much of the country sunday not looking like a bad day. there will be a fair amount of sunshine, some rain for the far north of scotland. most other places dry, and temperatures typically between around 11 or 12 in the north, perhaps 15 or 16 further south. high pressure not far away as we look through sunday night and into the new working week, and then we see low pressure moving in from the north.

and this is when we introduce that very cold air. look at the blue colours, and those northerly arrows returning to the map for monday into tuesday. we could even see some sleet and some snow showers around, too. so monday into tuesday, then, one or two wintry showers, particularly in the north and the east. further south, it's colder, and there will still be some sunshine in between those showers. so to summarise the weather into next week, then, it is staying pretty cold, there will be a bit of sunshine around, wintry showers, and most places largely dry. bye— bye. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm tom donkin. the gunman responsible for the attack in paris on thursday has been named as karim cheurfi. a handwritten note defending the so—called islamic state group was reportedly found near where he was shot. investigators are trying to establish whether or not he had any accomplices. the us vice president mike pence has reiterated america's determination

to curb north korea's nuclear ambitions. speaking in sydney after talks with australia's prime