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. sport now...and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre.

there was an incredible start to the first of today's cup matches. it's the holders hibernian against aberdeen in the semifinals of the scottish cup — and adam rooney put aberdeen ahead after just 1a seconds. it's still 1—nil, with around 15 minutes gone. celtic face old rivals rangers in the second semi tomorrow. it's also fa cup semifinal weekend, with arsenal against manchester city tomorrow evening — and the the two best teams in the premier league, chelsea and tottenham, meeting at wembley this afternoon. we will play one of the best teams in europe, great manager, great players. going to play one of the best teams in europe.

players. going to play one of the best teams in europeli players. going to play one of the best teams in europe. i think tottenham is a great team, and there fighting for the title. last season, they missed it. this season, they are trying again. and that match is live on bbc one and radio 5 live — kick—off at quarter past five. tomorrow it's arsenal against manchester city in the second fa cup semifinal. tennis and great britain are trying to get back into the world group of the fed cup for the first time since 1993. they're playing romania — and jo konta is up against sorana cirstea in the second singles match. she needs a win to level the tie — after heather watson lost. she began well against the world number five simona halep but she was beaten in straight sets, taking just one game in the second set, which lasted only 25 minutes. ronnie 0'sullivan was his usual entertaining self, after reaching the quarterfinals of the world snooker championship. he only needed three frames

to complete victory over shaun murphy this morning and he hit a century break on his way to a 13—7 win, before explaining his current approach to the game. think snooker is being where the pop star. if you can make a brilliant album of the year, you've done well. so i've decided to play a lot of exhibitions and do a lot of work and it's taken the pressure off me. i don't feel a need to prove anything, so don't feel a need to prove anything, soi don't feel a need to prove anything, so i think, i'll give myself 67 weeks to practice for this. it might have made a difference, it might not. i hadn't played for the year, basically. italian cyclist michele scarponi has died after being involved in a collision with a van during a training ride. he was 37. scarponi won the 2011 giro d'italia and took victory on stage one of the tour of the alps on monday, before finishing fourth overall.

his astana team said the crash happened close to scarponi's home in filottrano. english golfer ian poulter has lost his pga tour card. he needed to finish in the top 30 at the texas open but he missed the cut. poulter, who's a1, doesn't seem ready to give up. he said: "you don't get to number five in the world and help lift a few ryder cups and disappear, you come back stronger and more determined than ever". that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. for the first time since the industrial revolution britain has gone an entire 2a hours without using coal to generate electricity. 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. earlier, i spoke to our business

correspondent, and he told me this was a significant moment in the history of this country's coal industry. britain was the first country in the world to use coal to generate industry. it was at holborn viaduct. nobody would be one of the first countries to completely phase out the use of coal. you've already mentioned some of the reasons. britain has obligations, it has promised to cut its c02 output and phase out coal entirely. it has an obligation to do so, which means it has to start weaning itself of coal. two years ago, 23% of our energy output came from coal. 0ne years ago, 9%. this year, we're heading for one or 2%, which means probably next year, it'll be around zero. so

effectively, we will have beaten our target. the ambition will have been achieved. what are the consequences in terms of reliability of energy supply and cost to the consumer? it's all about managing energy mix. you have coal, you have gas, which is still the biggest supplier of energy in this country, and you have nuclear. then the future one of renewables. we knew they'd be big income in years, but we didn't realise how fast they would come on stream, excusing the pan, and how reliable it would be and how affordable. the costs of solar panelling has gone down. the cost of wind and wave power, the giant wind turbines on and offshore, has come down, and the reliability has gone up, so we can't allow ourselves to wea n up, so we can't allow ourselves to wean ourselves off coal. 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. 0ur correspondentjustin rowlatt has the latest. the current estimates of the number of dead stand at 140 dead, as you say, mostly afghan troops. we're told by eyewitnesses that the figure could even be higher. there is a large number of injured, and one man told the bbc that he had counted 165 bodies, so this is a major attack. it's been described as the biggest attack ever on an afghan military base. very significant. as you say, ten taliban fighters appear to have entered the base, two of them blasted their way in. two suicide bombers blasted their way in. the others went in dressed in afghan army uniforms, used heavy machine guns, something called a k machine gun, which is like a heavy duty

kalashnikov. it's a really nasty weapon. they used that to attack afghan soldiers who had been praying in the mosque. i've seen images of the mosque and it really is riddled with bullets. they also attacked soldiers who were in the dining area. this really is a very significant attack, and it emphasises just how vulnerable afghan forces are, now that the international forces have drawn down their personnel from afghanistan over the past couple of years. and i suppose it's a reminder, although we were talking a couple of weeks ago about the arrival of the group that calls itself islamic state in afghanistan, which prompted president trump to order that dropping of that huge, biggest non—nuclear bomb the americans have. the taliban is really the problem for the afghan authorities, rather than islamic state, is that fair to say? absolutely.

the taliban control a third of afghan territory at the moment. 0nly last month, they announced they had retaken sangin in helmand province, which is an area that british troops fought very hard to defend, so the taliban threat in afghanistan. let's cross over live to dudley, where the prime minister is going to address conservative party activists in the west midlands. the west midlands is thought of as critical history between the conservative party and the labour party, in particular. the two parties pretty much cleaned up in that region at the last election. there were predictions in 2015 that

you could be two very well, not least in dudley, when it had high hopes of winning one of the two parliamentary constituencies in the borough, but that was not to be, and instead, they were held by the parties who helped them before. 2015 labour and the conservatives respectively. mrs me will be hoping that the conservatives will hold the seat and perhaps take a seat of labour as well. let's hear what theresa may has to say. thank you very much indeed for that introduction, and can i say, how fantastic it is to see you here looking so well. it's really good. it's great to be here in dudley and i've been out knocking on doors this morning, and i knowa i've been out knocking on doors this morning, and i know a lot of you have as well and you're going to be

doing more of that in the run—up, immediately for the male role election, but we're now only 47 days away from the general election, from what i believe will be the most important election in this country in my lifetime, because this is an election which is about a future for oui’ election which is about a future for our country. and it is about making sure that this country has a strong and stable government, strong and sta ble and stable government, strong and stable beta ship in the national interest. and every vote that is cast for me and the conservatives at this forthcoming election will strengthen my hand in the negotiations, with the prime ministers and presidents and chancellors of europe as we sit down for those negotiations over the coming months. every vote that is cast firmly in the conservatives will be a vote for a strong and sta ble will be a vote for a strong and stable leadership to take this country through brexit and beyond. and every vote that is cast for me

and the conservatives will be a vote for strong and stable leadership in the national interest. and it is only the conservatives who can provide that strong and stable government. applause if you just look at what happens under the conservatives, we can show that this is what we deliver. when i became prime minister, there we re when i became prime minister, there were claims and predictions that we we re were claims and predictions that we were going to see immediate financial crash, we were going to see economic damage, but actually, under the conservatives, what we have seen is consumer confidence remaining high, record numbers of jobs, and the economy actually growing beyond all expectations. when i took over as prime minister, everybody said the country was divided, it wouldn't be possible to bring it back together again, but what are now see that the country is

a real unity of purpose for us to get on with the job of brexit and make a success of it for the future. applause and when i took over as prime minister, i think what was needed was clear vision, was strong leadership to get on with thatjob of delivering brexit, and that is just what the government has done. that is a security gate with a strong and stable government. it's what leadership looks like, actually. and at this election, that is going to be a very clear choice, and it's a choice between strong and sta ble and it's a choice between strong and stable government under the conservatives, or a weak and unstable coalition of chaos run by jeremy corbyn. applause make no mistake, that is what is on offer, because we have already seen

the other parties lining up to prop up the other parties lining up to prop upjeremy the other parties lining up to prop up jeremy corbyn. we've seen it from the lib dems, we've seen it from nicola sturgeon and the snp as well. what is clear is that they will do anything they can to disrupt the brexit negotiations and to frustrate and undermine the task ahead and to stop us undermine the task ahead and to stop us from leading britain into a stronger future. i am us from leading britain into a stronger future. lam not us from leading britain into a stronger future. i am not complacent about this forthcoming election, because remember, the opinion polls got the general election wrong in 2015, they got the referendum wrong. asjeremy 2015, they got the referendum wrong. as jeremy corbyn has 2015, they got the referendum wrong. asjeremy corbyn has himself 2015, they got the referendum wrong. as jeremy corbyn has himself said, he was a 200—1 chance from a reader leadership, and look how that went. so we will not be complacent. we will be fighting for every single vote and every single vote at this election will count, because it is about building a stronger future for this country. it's about getting the

best possible deal with the eu, a deal that works for every single pa rt of deal that works for every single part of our country. across our country, in towns and cities and rural areas. north and south and every part of the uk. and it's only by having a strong and stable government that people get that right deal and it's only with that leadership that we secure that right toa leadership that we secure that right to a future. brexit is notjust a process, it is an opportunity. and we did to be able to take that opportunity. it's an opportunity to change this country for the better for the future. it's an opportunity to make sure this really is a country that works for everyone and notjust the privileged country that works for everyone and not just the privileged few. applause but to do that, we do need the certainty that this election will bring over the next five years,

because that will enable us to stick to our plan for a stronger britain, and that is a plan to make sure we can improve lives and show a brighter future can improve lives and show a brighterfuture for can improve lives and show a brighter future for ordinary working people up and down the country. that does mean getting the right deal abroad, it does mean making sure that we take back control of oui’ sure that we take back control of our money, of our laws, of our borders. and that we negotiate the right deal with these european union, that we have that deep and special partnership that they want for the future with those european neighbours. it also means striking export deals with countries around the world, notjust export deals with countries around the world, not just with the eu. export deals with countries around the world, notjust with the eu. it means leading the world, it means preventing terrorism and fighting modern slavery. and building here in britain the most secure and safe and strong country in europe. but it is

also about what we do here at home for ordinary working people, and that's about building a stronger economy, an economy that creates high—paid jobs, secure jobs. it's about an economy where prosperity and growth are spread across the whole of the country. it's about providing opportunity for all, making sure there is a good school place where every child, but also that we're building enough affordable housing for people for the future. and it's also about building a more united and secure nation, and that means, it does mean taking action against the extremists who try to divide us. but it also means standing up to the separatists who want to break apart are precious union. if we're going to seize those opportunities, we do need the strong

and stable leadership that only a conservative government can bring, because it is only a conservative party that has that plan for a strong britain, it's only the conservative party that has shown that strength that will deliver for the future. that's the message we're going to take out and about over the remaining 47 days till the general election. i'm not complacent about this result, i believe we need to go out and fight for every vote and show people the sort of government we will be on the stronger future that we can build here in this country for everybody across the whole of the country. my message is simple, it's only the conservatives have the plan for a stronger britain, is only the conservatives that have that strong and stable leadership to provide that secure government we need to ta ke that secure government we need to take us forward into the future and builds that stronger britain. but of

course, it's only you the people that can give us a mandate to do that. so my message for the 8th of june is very clear, vote conservative for strong and stable leadership in the national interest. give me the mandate to lead britain, give me the mandate to speak for britain. give me a mandate to fight for britain and give me the mandate to deliver for britain. theresa may addressing party activists and supporters in dudley in the west midlands, where it she is going to be targeting the campaign trail, is one of those key marginal seats between the conservatives and labour. jeremy corbyn and the lib dems also out and about. we will see pictures ofjeremy corbyn later and hear what he had to say in a visit to the north—west of england. we will see a lot more of these kinds of appearances by the party leaders.

let's hear from the questions that mrs may is facing from the media. as far as the trade deal with don donald trump is concerned, isn't it the case that you do need to eat in the case that you do need to eat in the freedom to have higher taxes after the next election, that there isa after the next election, that there is a distinct possibility you're going to raise taxes? let's be clear issue of taxation. at this election, people will have a clear choice. they will have a choice between a conservative party that always has been and will continue to be a party that believes in lower taxes, in keeping taxes down for ordinary working people. we've taken 4 million people out of paying income tax altogether, 31 million people have seen a tax cut under the conservatives. and the other choices are labour party whose natural instinct is always to raise taxes. if you need evidence, look at what their former shadow chancellor said

about labour party policy. he said it could lead to a doubling of income tax, a doubling of national insurance, a doubling of vat and a doubling of council tax. that's a choice, lower tax under the conservatives or higher tax under labour. you are not ruling out all forms of tax rises. what i'm saying is that when people come to vote, they will have a choice between two parties, between the strong and sta ble parties, between the strong and stable leadership that will be in a national interests, doing the right thing for britain under the conservatives, or a weak and unstable coalition of chaos led by jeremy corbyn. a conservative party which has always been a lower tax party or the labour party 's natural instinct is to raise taxes. that is the choice people will have. sky news. to push it on the tax issue, you have said what labour will do to

taxes, but you haven't given a commitment that you're not going to raise tax. you are not being more positive, as you were the last election, on the commitment to it 110w election, on the commitment to it now reading of tax. i've set out very clearly what the choices by this election. and i say to people, just look on taxation what the conservative party has done in government. 4 million people no longer pay income tax at all as a result of decisions we've taken. 31 million people have seen a tax cut asa million people have seen a tax cut as a result of the decisions we have taken. and on the issue of pensions, again, just look at the choice people will have on the next election, between labour party, remember in government when the increase in pensions was 75p? under the conservatives, we have seen pensioners £1260 a year better off. asa pensioners £1260 a year better off. as a choice people will have at the election. i think the express and

star are here election. i think the express and starare here as election. i think the express and star are here as well. we are here in the heart of the black country. how important will this area be heading into the general election? it will be a very important battle ground. every vote cast your work—out and every vote here will be important for the future of country. it is about delivering that strong and stable leadership, a strong and sta ble and stable leadership, a strong and stable government that can take this country through brexit and beyond, that can deliver the right deal on brexit for people here in the black country, but also taken so that stronger future, a stronger britain in the future. it's only a conservative vote that can deliver that. every vote here in the black country is going to count, and every vote cast for the conservatives will

bea vote cast for the conservatives will be a vote for a stronger britain in the future. theresa may addressing party supporters and taking questions from journalists at a campaign event in dudley in the west midlands. the us vice president has confirmed that the americans will honour a promise by the former president to accept more than 1200 from detention camps. he also spoke about north korea's nuclear ambitions. from sydney, are correspondent reports. after false claims and infusion of over the whereabouts of its aircraft

carrier, the vice president said it was now under way to the sea of japan, building up its capabilities in the region. one thing the regime in north korea should make no mistake about, is that the united states has the resources, the personnel and presence in this region to seek to our interest and the security of our interests. military might was backed up with diplomatic pressure, a joint call on china to impose economic sanctions. it is self—evident that china has the opportunity and we see the responsibility to bring pressure to bear on north korea to stop this reckless and dangerous project today on which they have embarked. the fate of hundreds of refugees was also on the agenda. the agreement for america to resettle those from

australia's refugees. the united states intends to honour the agreement, subject to the results of the vetting process that now applies to all refugees considered for admission to the united states of america. the vice president will leave australia knowing he is likely to retain their support, whatever the next few months will bring. it looks lovely there. let's see what the prospects are for the week ahead. it's going to be increasingly chilly, so make the most of the weekend. 0ne showers across eastern

and south—eastern england, a rather cloudy story for northern ireland and wintry showers across parts of northern scotland, when it will be cold. 5 degrees and shetland, but 15 in london and the south. share this evening, although most of them will feed. it will be drying up, there is also cold for some frost, particularly out in the countryside. tomorrow is a fine day for many. a bit more code for wales and northern ireland. turning wet and windy across the farmer later on and on a big change as we head into monday and tuesday. some cold their works its way southwards with some wintry showers. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. more than 100 people have been killed in afghanistan after an assault by the taliban — on a military base in the north of the country.

militants disguised themselves as soldiers, before carrying out the attack yesterday evening. those targeted were leaving a mosque, after friday prayers. 0ur south asia correspondent justin rowlatt reports.