this is bbc news. the headlines at midday: 50,000 police officers and troops are deployed across france, as security is tightened for the country's presidential election. the conservatives play down speculation that taxes will rise if they win the general election. more than 100 people, most of them afghan soldiers, have been killed or wounded in a taliban attack on an army base in afghanistan. also in the next hour: phasing out coal by 2025. britain goes a whole 2a hours without using coal to generate electricity for the first time since the victorian era. and in half an hour, the click team travel to paris to investigate how the fear of cyber attacks means many people believe the way we vote is stuck in the past. more than 50,000 service

personnel and police officers are being deployed across france in preparation for voting in the country's presidential election after the killing of a police officer in paris. terrorism dominated the final day of campaigning on friday, and security has been increased before polls in mainland france open tomorrow. 0ur reporter is in paris. welcome to a busy market. right in the centre of the city. the background to this election is anything but ordinary. tens of thousands of extra security personnel are on the streets all over france. we can see armed police walking around this market at times. a real strange contrast to the

normal life revolving all—around that security. national security for us that security. national security for us to the top of the political agenda by the events of boast evening when a police officer was shot dead on the champs—elysees just a couple of miles from here. 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. merci. security has been picked up around famous sites. the french are also used to that 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. 0n

on friday the paris prosecutor revealed the attacker had spent 1a yea rs revealed the attacker had spent 1a years injailand revealed the attacker had spent 1a years in jail and never shown revealed the attacker had spent 1a years injail and never shown 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. this is a typically delightful french scene, we book buying beautiful food, flowers, cheating themselves to drinks in cafes. this might seem to represent the good life to those on the outside but it seems there is an increasing sense of pessimism amongst the french going into the selection and

generally. the country remains on high alert and earlier i spoke to claudia senik, an academic at paris school of economics, about the current levels of happiness in france. we know that france as a surprisingly low level of happiness in general and this has been going on for decades even. it probably stems from aspirations concerning the economy. related to the fact we have been unable to reduce our a high level of unemployment since the 70s. there is something like a learned pessimism about our capacity to ove rco m e learned pessimism about our capacity to overcome problems and adapt and affirm ourselves to corporate transformations of this world. are you finding some age groups are happier than others, less pessimistic than others?|j happier than others, less pessimistic than others? i would expect that the us would be more as a mistake but when you look at the

data that is not the case —— youth. it is more the people over 50 because they have the highest rate of unemployment or being out of the labour market. 0ver of unemployment or being out of the labour market. over 55 it is high. this unemployment problem is concentrated on young people and senior people. how does the actual ha rd senior people. how does the actual hard data correlate with economics? the graft that you have between economic well—being and happiness. we have a survey in france, a quarterly survey, of consumer confidence and people's happiness, well—being, aspirations. everything that concerns the economy is very dark. everything concerning social relationship is ok. everything concerning future aspirations, and expectations, is really worse than everything that concerns current life. talking to people at the market,

pretty much everybody here at least is saying that they are absolutely determined to go out and vote on sunday in the first round of the presidential elections. a state of emergency and the attack has not put them. this election campaign has been anything but typical, even without the state of emergency and the attack. nobody has any idea of what is going to be the on sunday. more than 100 people, most of them afghan soldiers, have been killed in a taliban attack on an army base in the north of the country. officials said insurgents targeted people leaving friday prayers at a mosque in the base in mazar—e—sharif. the taliban, which has been fighting a prolonged war with the western—backed afghan government, said its fighters had set off an explosion, allowing suicide bombers to breach the base's defences. for the first time since

the industrial revolution britain has gone an entire 2a hours without using coal to generate electricity. the national grid said the news was a "watershed moment" in attempts to phase out coal by 2025. taxes on co2 emissions and the falling cost of renewable energy have made coal plants less economical in recent years. joining me now is david price. he's a coal market expert at global steam coal, ihs energy. iam i am tempted to ask you, are you looking for another job? there's i am tempted to ask you, are you looking for anotherjob? there's not much of the coal to analyse. no, i have plenty to do. i cover the world markets and outside the uk there is plenty going on. why are we out of step with that movement? we are the only government at the moment that is acting to stop coal in the way

that we are. the uk has a carbon floor price which means that gas—fired generation gets in the way of coal fired and that is why so many coal plants have had to close over the last couple of years. many coal plants have had to close over the last couple of yearsm many coal plants have had to close over the last couple of years. it is because of the economic impact of government policy rather than simply the price of coal? yes. the government is designed to do what it has done which is cut c02 government is designed to do what it has done which is cut co2 emissions but essentially it is an economic tool. give us a sense of how dramatic it is. i remember being in the black country are couple of yea rs the black country are couple of years ago and it was once described as being black by day and read by night, black because of the smoke being produced by industrial activity and read at night because of the fire is burning. pretty dramatic change in the history of britain since the industrial revolution. yes. a huge change. it

has been going on for some time. cole has been losing ground since the 50s to oil. then since the turn of the decade to gas. even so, coal remains the cheapest form of generation available. that is really interesting in terms of the overall economics. is it possible some of the thinking, but in terms of other areas like nuclear and renewables and of course gas is the big one because we do not have stories necessarily to meet our needs in this country, is it possible some of the economics of this could change ain? the economics of this could change again? quite possibly. as you drive the use of the material down the

price has the fall. coal is going to be cheap for many years to come probably compared to other fuels. the game change it is probably going to be renewables. to date they are not quite as cheap as coal but they are getting there. certainly solar and wind generation costs have come down an enormous amount and when to have built the plant the poet is effectively free apart from the cost of building it. will you miss it? pardon? will you mess coal as part of the energy mix in this country?” will miss coal generally. i had certainly plenty to do and the rest of the world. i think we should celebrate the people involved in coal over the last 200, 300, 400 yea rs, coal over the last 200, 300, 400 years, who drove the industrial revolution which gave us the living standards we have today. a lot of

people risk their lives then gave their lives to make this great industry great as it was, so i think we should celebrate them. david price, former editor of the magazine coal uk, thank you. michelle thompson has announced you will be standing down and will not be eligible for election as a party candidate in edinburgh west which she represents as an independent. 0ur correspondent is in glasgow. explained the background of her decision and what the party is doing. you will remember the background to this, the success the snp had at last westminster election, winning 56 of the 59 seats in school in. this morning the national executive committee met

following the announcement of this snap general election to discuss candidate selection. in one sense they have a very straightforward decision, to put forward the 54 sitting mps that they have for candidacy for the upcoming election, but the decision they had to make was concerning the two other mps voted through as snp mps but subsequently resigned. michelle thompson and natalie mcgarry who resigned after becoming involved in police investigations. today they had that meeting and the decision was reached at the 54 would go ahead but there was no mention of natalie mcgarry or michelle thompson in the release sent out by the snp. shortly afterwards we had a statement released by michelle thompson who said she had received a phone call during that meeting this morning confirming that she would not be put forward for selection. she said she was very disappointed that this is the decision that the snp had reached. she said two was proud of

what she had achieved as an mp in westminster and she was privileged to have been the mp for edinburgh west but after consideration she had decided not to stand again. we had no mention of natalie mcgarry, no word from her, so we will wait to see what happens. the snp confirming that they would put forward their 54 sitting mps and there would be decision made on the other five seats, candidates for the other five seats, candidates for the other five seats, by the of the week. stephen, thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news this lunchtime. two men have been arrested in connection with an acid attack which left two people blinded in one eye. 20 people were hurt in the attack at the nightclub in east london on monday. the conservatives play down speculation that taxes

will rise if they win the general election. around 100 afghan soldiers have been killed and wounded in a taliban attack on an army base in afghanistan. a huge police operation is being mounted in the german city of cologne where the right—wing party alternative fur deutschland is holding a conference ahead of a general election in september. 4000 officers will be on duty to maintain order as tens of thousands of protesters opposed to the party descend on the city. us vice—president mike pence says a us naval strike group will arrive in waters near north korea in a matter of days. there had been confusion earlier this week over whether the uss carl vinson was heading into the sea of japan or not. however, in a press conference with the australian prime minister, mr pence said the us wanted to show north korea it had the resources to secure the region. all options are on the table. let me assure you, the united states will continue to work closely with australia, our other allies in the region and with china to bring economic and diplomatic

pressure to bear on the regime in pyongyang until they abandon their nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. two men have been arrested. sorry, i think i have read that already. the sun newspaper has printed a formal apology to everton footballer ross barkley. former editor kelvin mckenzie compared the footballer to a gorilla in an article for his column. ross barkley‘s grandfather is from nigeria, but the newspaper says a racial slur was never intended. kelvin mckenzie remains suspended from the sun. police in nottingham say they're treating the death of a teenager on thursday night as murder. officers were called to a housing estate in aspley following reports a 14—year—old boy had suffered a cardiac arrest. he died in hospital later. a 17—year—old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder. a sports ombudsman should be

appointed to protect athletes from abuse and bullying. that's one of the recommendations of a year—long review commissioned by the government. it was led by the 11—time paralympic gold medallist baroness grey—thompson following a spate of bullying allegations against coaches, mounting concern over the treatment of injuries, and the child sex abuse scandal in football. winning medals is something that i think everyone in the uk would support. we feel better as a nation when we are winning 0lympics, paralympics, football, you name it, it's a moment to celebrate. but i think over the last few years duty of care is something that has slipped away. i don't think it has been intentional or malicious, it's just there are hard targets out there and we want to see british athletes do well. if we get duty of care right we can do as well, if not better. as the alpine ski season comes to an end, one of the problems facing resorts is the effect of rising temperatures causing glacial melt. it's a lesser known side

effect of climate change, but some glaciers have diminished by a quarter over the past 40 years. sara thornton travelled to the austrian alps to a resort built on a glacier that's melting fast, where authorities are going to great lengths to halt its decline. for tens of millennia this tiralian glacier has carved its way slowly through the alps. a century and a half ago it covered almost six square miles. now it's less than a third of that. i'm at the top of this stubai glacier in the austrian alps at around 3000 metres high. it's an area that is very popular for skiing. and, actually, there are about 80 separate glaciers in this area. but there's a problem because in the last few years scientists have realised there's been unprecedented glacier melt. so the questions now are, how serious is that melt, and what can they do to stop it? dr andrea fischer is a world—renowned glaciologist, who's made it her life's work to halt the decline of this glacier.

and she's hit upon a surprising answer. a blanket. covering the glacier and preventing ice melt. on a very small, very local scale, we could prevent some very tiny glacial areas by covering the glacier with geotextiles during summer. but only about 1% of a glacier area of ski resorts can be preserved by this method. and, of course, it's very cost intensive and it needs much labour. to save 1% of the glacier seems almost futile, but with the local economy relying on skiing and tourism here, officials say it's worth it. it is expensive, but it is more expensive to do it not. so i think the costs of this protection is about 300,000 euros. the result is very good. on average, the melting is about one metre, 1.5 metre. with this we protect more than 50%.

there are 5000 alpine glaciers in the world, and some scientists predict that at the current rate of melting in 20 years half will be gone and those that are left will be much smaller. but it's far from clear if this expensive local solution can work on a global scale. as 0rkney celebrates the 900th anniversary of its patron saint, st magnus, a welsh stonemason artist is marking it in her own way by carrying a 30kg self—carved inauguration stone 1,300 miles from the isles to norway, and back again. in medieval times, these stones were of significant spiritual value, with kings proving their connection with the landscape and their leadership by standing in them. a 1300 milejourney from scotland to scandinavia carrying a 30 kilogram rock.

artist beatrice searle carved this inauguration stone after being inspired by 0rkney‘s beauty and will be travelling with it as part of an artistic project to norway and back in the year that the scottish islands celebrate their 100th anniversary of their patron saint st magnus. they occur in pictish history and medieval history. for the picts stones like these were associated with kingship, so the chosen king would stand in the stone in order to signify his connection with the land that he ruled. it is a 390 million—year—old siltstone selected from marwick bay on 0rkney and its voyage has only just begun. we are seeing a huge mass migration and those people moving not always doing so by choice so i think being able to carry part of a beloved landscape takes on another kind of important resonance. as i do so i will repeatedly stand in the 0rkney boat and i will invite those people i encounter to stand on it and to draw strength from their connection to it and add to its story. on day one of this lengthy project, what do 0rcadians make of the stone?

i think anything to do with st magnus' history or story, the better. i feel the warmth coming up through the stone. that kind of gives you a good feeling, yes. at the moment, just clean and refreshing. very refreshed by it. the trip has been funded by art grant and crowdfunding and the stone will be laid to rest in a rural location on 0rkney towards the end of summer atjourney‘s end. it is difficult, tiring. more tiring than expected. 0ne leg down and there is still a fair distance to go. all in the name of art. a nasa probe flying near the planet saturn is about to set its self on a path of destruction, as it runs out of fuel.

cassini will pass the planet's moon, titan, this morning. but this will cause it to change course and heading straight for saturn's atmosphere where it will be destroyed. it's hoped before its demise it will be able to make some last minute measurements of the planet's rings, rotation, and length of day. new arrivals in the neighbourhood often get people peering over the fence out of curiosity, but the latest arrivals in one village are more likely to be scurrying under them. 52 hedgehogs were released back into the wilds of east yorkshire this week after being nursed back to health in animal sanctuaries. 0ur reporter went along to meet them. residents of burton fleming await new arrivals. they are a bit prickly, apparently, but in desperate need of a fresh start. are you excited? yes. it will keep the grubs down, hopefully. from an animal sanctuary 40 miles away, they finally arrived. 52 hedgehogs, all found sick or injured across the north of england. most of these have come

in as babies, and we have hand—fed them, hand—reared them. this one... this one was in a really bad way when she came in. she was very tiny, very sick. veronica and her husband, frank, run the charity andrew's hedgehog hospital. they believe the village of burton fleming, now considered hedgehog—friendly, will give the animals the best chance. 0ur village doesn't have major roads around it, and hedgehogs need to travel and get around different gardens. provided everyone puts a hole in the garden fence, to make sure they can move around, we hope that the numbers will improve. we are going to be putting the hedgehogs in our garden, because i have three little boys who have never seen a live hedgehog before. look at his face. do you like him? assessing hedgehog numbers is tricky, but in the 1950s, it is thought there were around 30 million in britain.

but now, conservationists believe numbers have plummeted to under 1 million. we are taking all the hedgerows away, which is what the hedgehogs need. roadkill, slug pellets, strimmers, bonfires. they have a tough time. the hedgehogs are temporarily marked as male or female, so they can be released in pairs, and then it is time to say goodbye. 0h, sweetheart. they are all out having the time of their lives. we have been through so much with them. but they are now out where they should be. they are wild animals, we know they have to go. we know everyone in the village will be looking after them. other villages aiming for hedgehog—friendly status include windlesham in surrey and portreath in cornwall. we put them in this spot

because it is very quiet, and they will be happy here, and they have access into our garden, into our neighbour's garden. dusk. time to let the hedgehogs go. what is it like when you see a hedgehog returned to the wild? it is what we aim for. our whole purpose in life is to take an injured or sick hedgehog, make it better, and return it back into the wild. all ready to go. back to nature, it is hoped, back for good. those head jokes might be thinking they walk up to sin judging by the weather. it is going to feel like we have rewind the seasons, chilly and wintry. make the most of some spring—like weather to be had this

weekend. 0ur weather watchers have been catching sunny spells. that one from earlier. it is going to stay largely dried for the majority of the weekend with some sunshine. quite a lot of cloud. this weather front providing one fly in the ointment across the south—east, maybe the occasional light shower. some quote from northern ireland, patchy cloud elsewhere, spells of sunshine. this is 4pm. if you are out and about in the channel islands, the southwest, wales, quite a lot of sunshine, patchy cloud. a little more applied across the eastern side of england, showers cannot be ruled out. it will be quite chilly across the coast. northern england seeing some sunny spells. quite a lot of cloud for northern ireland. southern scotland should be dry but a lot of showers for northern scotland, some of them wintry. very cold. this evening and

tonight the showers will continue for parts of northern scotland. elsewhere largely dry with clear spells and mist. towns and cities not far away from freezing. in the countryside called on for a touch of ground frost. chilly weather is not bad news for marathon runners. it will be quite cool. writing up as the day goes on. that is the story from england and wales tomorrow, sunny spells. north—west england seeing more cloud along with northern ireland and scotland. more persistent rain and windy weather developing across the far north later. as we go through sunday night we will get this area of low pressure which will bring pretty strong winds for a while. some outbreaks of rain. this is the big story, the cold front coming southwards during sunday night on monday. a bit of rain but find it a ball up monday. a bit of rain but find it a ballup in the monday. a bit of rain but find it a ball up in the floodgates to a northerly wind, air coming from the

arctic, a colderfield northerly wind, air coming from the arctic, a colder field to the weather, overnight frosts, chilly days, wintry showers, even snow for some of us. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. 50,000 police officers are deployed across france, as security is tightened ahead of the first round of voting in the country's presidential election. the conservatives play down speculation that taxes will rise if they win the general election after the chancellor philip hammond said there should be "flexibility to manage the system" of taxation. around 100 afghan soldiers have been killed in a taliban attack on an army base in afghanistan. two of the attackers blew themselves up and seven were killed in the assault near mazar—i—sharif city which lasted several hours. for the first time in more than 100 years, britain has gone a whole working day without using coal to generate electricity. national grid said the news was a "watershed moment" in attempts to phase out coal by 2025.