the this is bbc news, the headlines at 5.00. the s at 5.00. theresa may says the conservatives are a ‘low—tax party‘ as she addresses claims by labour that she's planning a ‘tax bombshell‘ if re—elected. blue have a choice between a conservative party that takes taxes down reworking people... the tories are handing 70 billion back in tax to businesses and corporations. we wa nt to to businesses and corporations. we want to do that. tight security across france as the country prepares for the first round of the presidential election. more than 100 afghan soldiers are killed or wounded in one of the worst attacks on an army base in the country. also this hour —— fans gear up for an fa cup clash at wembley. it's a clash between the premier league's top two teams — as chelsea face spurs in the semifinal of the fa cup. and romania's tennis captain ilie nastase is banned

from the rest of the fed cup —— after foul—mouthed comments which left britonjohanna konta in tears. good afternoon. 0n the first weekend of campaigning for the general election, the focus has been on taxes. theresa may in the west midlands today, refused to be drawn on whether she would raise income tax, vat or national insurance. meanwhile the labour leader jeremy corbyn in manchester, has promised that the tax burden will fall on those with the broadest shoulders, if he wins onjune eighth. here's our political correspondent ben wright. get ready for the knock at your

door. today the prime minister to her campaign message to dudley and wonderful to me have spoken for many. i couldn't understand why you cold another election with three yea rs cold another election with three years to go. i once the strongest possible negotiating hand in europe. this general election is notjust about brexit and the parties are writing manifestos for the pledges and promises. the issue of tax will be prominent and theresa may was asked whether she will be keeping the tories 2015 manifesto pledge not to raise any of the three main taxes. at the selection people have a very clear choice, between a conservative party which always has been, is and will continue to be a party that believes in law taxes, in keeping taxes down for ordinary working people by the choices are labour party whose natural instinct

is always to raise taxes. two years ago david cameron said it would be no vat, national insurance or income tax rises, theresa may ‘s comments today suggest that guarantee must not be any new manifesto and follows the chancellor philip hammond seeing you want more flexibility in managing the economy. today is a flying start saturday and a general election campaign. already on his eighth campaign visit, jeremy corbyn was in warrington. wooing voters, insisting the election was not a foregone conclusion and sketching out labour's on approach to taxes. we will produce a manifesto very $0011 we will produce a manifesto very soon and you will see all the details on that at a tell you this, oui’ details on that at a tell you this, our tax burdens will not on those on low incomes, they will not fall on

those with the broadest shoulders who can bear the greatest burden.- the last election more than 50 snp ‘s were swept into westminster and today the party and insert all but two of them have been reselected as candidates this time round. and an election that will soon have competing policies to flesh out the slogans. benjoins competing policies to flesh out the slogans. ben joins me competing policies to flesh out the slogans. benjoins me know in the studio. my favourite part was a woman doing the gardening as the prime minister walked past. a lot of people have been caught out by the selection, so far do you think it has been invigorating to capture people's votes? it was interesting in deadly when the man asked, why have you cold this and i think there is that censoring the country of either been bothered with yet another election. theresa may said it is all about strengthening her hand against head of the brexit ‘s

negotiations although interestingly an mep in brussels has given an interview for the observer in which she says this is convincing answers as far as he's concerned, this would strengthen britain's hand at all. she wants this to be a brexit election but what we have seen today already are many other questions which will poor and to this, particularly around taxes. it has takenjust four particularly around taxes. it has taken just four days for the phrase tax bombshell to be issued and it is difficult, before we have the ma nifestos, difficult, before we have the manifestos, the politicians are any tricky position because they are trying to work to know behind closed doors but they are going to promise in these manifestos and it is interesting that she is leaving open the space for her to ditch some of those main commitments that the tories madejust two those main commitments that the tories made just two years ago in 2015 election. 0n tax but also on this pensions we were talking about. jeremy corbyn has committed his

position on tax very clear but it is not so clear and comes to the conservatives. not at all. david cameron had a pledge that there would be no increase in personal income tax, vat on national insurance, tv is a's government claimed found this problematic early on philip amstrad to make a small change around national insurance and the whole thing blew up on his face when it became apparent that it was effectively breaking that tax pledge. my hunch is that when they come to the manifesto, they would be repeating it. —— want to be repeating it. —— want to be repeating it. —— want to be repeating it. there is a lot of economic uncertainty was brexit and falls and i don't think they will wa nt to falls and i don't think they will want to tie their own hands to quit the way the conservative party ma nifested the way the conservative party manifested two years ago. we have had the first of many opinion polls be looking at the next few weeks,

and theresa may's conservatives are on 45%, labour on 26% and an opinion poll ahead of that june on 45%, labour on 26% and an opinion poll ahead of thatjune the selection. it is poll results like that that perhaps inspired theresa may to call the selection. that is in line with other recent polling giving them a 20 point lead and that was playing a large part in her calculation of the product to go for this or not. we have been stung by polls over the couple of years but asjeremy polls over the couple of years but as jeremy corbyn polls over the couple of years but asjeremy corbyn conceded, he is as pretending he is not the underdog but it is not a foregone conclusion and his youth and the stage of the pre—election campaign the assumption is that theresa may has gone into this to dramatically increase the majority and she is confident that she can do that. anything can happen

an election campaign and electorate around the world is pretty volatile these days. theresa may will not be 100% confident that she is going to get dozens more tory mps anyway they clearly hope that the stage they will. we had a few fascinating weeks ahead of us. the french government has mobilised additional security forces, including elite units, to back up 50,000 police officers for tomorrow's presidential election. terrorism dominated the final day of campaigning, after the killing of a police officer in the capital on thursday. lucy williamson reports from paris. those at campaign today when supporting politicians, this rally was for the police. black balloons

for those killed in the line of duty, think for the family nearly behind. their message, the police need protecting too. one of the balloons was for a policeman targeted by a gunman on missions and easy this week. he was on duty in 2015 paris attacks and went back for a concert for brenda hall reopened one year on when he spoke to the bbc reporter. we are here and here with my friends to celebrate life and say no to terrorism. the police union say members need protecting from everyday risk, exhaustion, overworked and stressed. the state of emergency following the ataxia has taken its toll, boosting police numbers has been an issue for the president to campaigns. this election has gone beyond questions of security, the economy or immigration. it has opened up a

debate about the meaning of french values and how to do with doi define being french. all the more surprising that the number of people expected to abstain from voting tomorrow as high. people who decide tomorrow as high. people who decide to abstaina tomorrow as high. people who decide to abstain a lot people who don't ca re to abstain a lot people who don't care about politics. when you ask them why they refused to vote, they a lwa ys them why they refused to vote, they always tell you the same thing, they are all the same. they lie to us, we have tried everything, nothing changes, which are political arguments. it is not because they don't care, it is because they care a lot. across the country, buildings are being used as polling stations for tomorrow's foot. the one that still warm at in a presidential campaign when rhetoric is redundant and people are honoured as the true holders of power.

the afghan government has declared tomorrow a day of national mourning, after the deaths of more than 140 soldiers, killed in a taliban attack. it happened at a military base in the north of the country, with the militants apparently disguised as soldiers. 0ur south asia correspondent justin rowlatt reports. it was during afternoon prayers that two suicide bombers blasted open the entrance to this army base in the north of afghanistan yesterday. eight other fighters, dressed in afghan army uniforms, used heavy machine guns to attack the dining areas of the base and the mosque. afghan troops have been pouring into the area. the battle lasted for five hours, and today dozens of injured soldiers were being treated in a local hospital.

translation: when i came out of the mosque after prayers, three people with army uniforms and an army vehicle started shooting at us. the assault on the army base is a shocking reminder ofjust how tough the ongoing battle in afghanistan is. last month in afghan special forces helicopter landed on top of the military hospital in kabul after it was stormed by gunmen disguised as doctors. about 50 people died in that attack. two and a half years after the international combat mission in afghanistan ended and the taliban now controls more than a third of the country. and with casualties amongst the afghan forces running at almost 7,000 a year there are questions about how long the afghan army

can continue to defend the ground it still holds. justin rowlatt, bbc news. the american vice—president has confirmed that the us will honour a promise by former president 0bama to accept more than twelve hundred refugees from australian detention camps. after meeting the australian prime minister, malcolm turnbull, he also spoke about north korea's nuclear ambitions. mr pence said the uss carl vinson carrier group would be in the sea of japan "before the end of this month". from sydney, the bbc‘s hywel griffith reports. in australia, they call it the mateship, a special relationship which has seen it fight side—by—side with the us for nearly a century. and with tension rising on the korean peninsula, america wants to reaffirm those old alliances. after false claims and confusion of the whereabouts of its aircraft carrier, the vice president today said the uss carl vinson was now

on the way to the sea of japan, building up its capabilities in the region. the one thing that nations, most especially the regime in north korea, should make no mistake about, is that the united states has the resources, the personnel and the presence in this region of the world to see to our interests and to see to the security of those interests and our allies. military might was backed up with some diplomatic pressure, a joint call on china to impose economic sanctions. it is self—evident that china has the opportunity and we say the responsibility to bring pressure to bear on north korea, to stop this reckless and dangerous trajectory upon which they are embarked. the fate of hundreds of refugees was also on the agenda. the agreement for america to resettle those at australia's offshore detention centres has been

questioned by president trump. a ‘dumb deal‘ in his words, but one which he will honour. let me make it clear, the united states intends to honour the agreement. subject to the results of the vetting processes that now apply to all refugees considered for admission to the united states of america. the vice president will leave australia knowing he is likely to retain its support whatever the next few months may bring. the mateship unlikely to waver. jeremy corbyn and choose a hefty campaign trailas jeremy corbyn and choose a hefty campaign trail as the clash of tax rises of after the election. tight security across across france. and

more than 100 afghan soldiers are killed or wounded and aramid attack on the country.... clashes have broken out in the german city of cologne as tens of thousands of demonstrators picket a hall where the anti—immigration afd party is holding a conference. a huge police operation is being mounted, with up to 50 thousand protesters expected in cologne during the two day conference. two officers have been injured in the clashes. 0ur correspondent jenny hill is there. what you can see behind me is cologne‘s response to germany‘s most controversial political party. police are expecting up to 50,000 people to demonstrate at various parts of the city over the course of the day. this is one of the protests. as you can see, this is pretty peaceful, if rather musical. 0ne chap has come along with his own grand piano. but as you say, there have been a number of skirmishes this morning and during one of those, a police officer was injured,

although i am told not seriously. we are also told that one afd delegate had an iron bar thrown at them as they tried to get into the conference here in the city centre. we, ourselves, actually saw the crowd trying to stop what they thought was another delegate getting through to attend the conference. thousands of armed officers are indeed here in the city. they have cordoned off the city centre hotel behind me where that conference is going ahead. and i have to say, having spent the morning in that conference, the atmosphere inside is almost as fractious as it has been in a number of the demonstrations here. afd is a political party in crisis, really. certainly at a crossroads. it‘s really slipping in the polls. it is beset by political infighting and until now its most recognisable figure, frauke petry, was assumed to be the person who would lead them into the general election to stand as its candidate against angela merkel. in the last few days, she has announced that she won‘t

be leading the party into the election and in the last hour, the party has rejected her plan to take the party in a more mainstream direction. she has fallen foul of the right wing extremists in the party who say they want to remain a party of extremes, a party on the fringe. turkey‘s largest opposition party is meeting to discuss its next move after last weekend‘s referendum. a slight majority voted in favour of new powers for the country‘s head of state — a campaign spearheaded by president erdogan. benjames reports from istanbul. cancel the referendum, the message at the heart of this protest in istanbul. those here are against new powers for turkey‘s president, and afraid of transforming his role from

symbolic head of state to executive leader. but the account on sunday left these no campaigners on the losing side, just. these people feel they were cheated out of a result that the wanted. i say they didn‘t get the media exposure the campaign and deserved and complain some of the leaders were in jail and the a cce pta nce the leaders were in jail and the acceptance of an stabbed ballot papers made a crucial difference to the result. there they are working out what to do to challenge the official outcome. a relatively small street protest is one thing, opposition politicians also talk about making the case at the european court of human rights. how do you oppose a president who is undoubtedly popular and powerful? we need a political superman, someone who can reach people in the south—east and national in the west is and not alienate voters in the middle of the country. we believe the president has nothing new to say and that will help us win the next

election. at the last election there we re election. at the last election there were 16 points behind the party this man helped to found and supporters of president erdogan sydney referendum was fair and square, that it was the will of the people. it doesn‘t matter that it is 1— 05— zero, the ultimate goal is to win the game. the discussion to come me tell us how his opponents will prepare for the next encounter. a sports 0mbudsman 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 and something that

eve ryo ne winning medals and something that everyone in the uk would celebrate but i think over the last few years, duty of care is something that has slipped away, the figures has been intentional or malicious, there are ha rd targets intentional or malicious, there are hard targets out there and we want to see british athletes do well. if you get a duty of care rate, we can do as well as not better. for the first time since the industrial revolution britain has gone an entire 2a hours without using coal to generate electricity. taxes on co2 emissions and the falling cost of renewable energy have made coal plants less economical in recent years. it‘s been described as a "watershed moment" by duncan burt — from national grid. he also said that with gadgets becoming more energy efficient it‘s time to find other ways to power them. electricity is an important part of oui’ electricity is an important part of our everyday lives and we see that only national bread buttered gadgets are getting more electricity

efficient so bc demand either flat 01’ efficient so bc demand either flat or declining over the next few years and with that background of flat demand, we can supply more and more of it with low carbon energy from sources like solar and wind, it is great to see. a community fridge has been installed in south london allowing people to leave unwanted food for those who need it. crowdfunding has paid for "the people‘s fridge" — which allows small traders and members of the public to donate food. i like the mango, wow. i've taken some carrots. that‘s so nice, i‘m going to make a salad of it. anyone can come and use the fridge and we don't judge people for doing so. so if you're hungry, you can use the fridge. if you see something in there that 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 they can‘t sell. today, we have a few surplus tomatoes, apples and pears from a supplier in kent, and some onions as well from suffolk. food surplus is a really unsexy issue. it's about dusty warehouses and vans and moving tonnes 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 brought the grandchildren here to show them. it helps people. lots and lots of really delicious looking apples. surplus food is superfood and that we should all share it, rather than it go to waste. it‘s a crying shame that it goes to waste. 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 forty 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. over 50 hedgehogs have been released back into the wilds of east yorkshire after being nursed back to health in animal sanctuaries. the village of burton fleming, near bridlington, has also declared itself a hedgehog—friendly zone in a bid to boost numbers of the animals. tim muffett reports. 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 a0 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 19505, 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. who used the weather.

the temperatures around 6pm are still about 13 or 1a in the sunshine in southern and western areas. a change on the way in coming days. lucy a rush of cold air from sunday onwards. as hardest night is concerned, clear skies, temperatures in city centres dipping down to around four or in city centres dipping down to around fouror5 in city centres dipping down to around four or 5 degrees. ap frost in one or two sports. great for the london marathon, for most of the run in the morning, it will be lower than that. wintry showers on the way at least for some of us.

the headlines. theresa may says the conservatives are a low tax party, as she addresses labour claims that she is planning a tax bombshell.m will have a choice between a conservative party which always has been, is and will continue to be a party that believes in the way taxes, in keeping taxes down for ordinary working people. what the tories are doing is handing 70 billion back in tax to big businesses and corporations. we would do that. we will reverse those tax cuts. tight security in france as the country prepares for the first round of the presidential election. more than 100 afghan soldiers are killed or wounded in one of the worst attacks on the country. chelsea go 1—0 up against totte n ha m country. chelsea go 1—0 up against tottenham in the fa cup semi final

at wembley. more a matter the moment. and romania‘s tennis captain is banned after foul comments which left a british player in tears. and now the sports news. i‘ll have the football in a moment, including the latest from wembley and that fa cup semifinal bewteen chelsea and spurs, but we‘re going to start with tennis because there was a particularly ugly incident in the fed cup tie bewteen romania and great britian. ilie nastase, the romanian team captain, was removed from the venue in constanta after swearing at the british team captain anne keothavong and the british number one, johanna konta who was so uspet that her match had to be stopped.

she eventually won to level the tie at 1—1, after heather watson had lost the opening rubber. alex gulrajani reports. the pressure was on konta from the start. she won the first set, but that wasn‘t her only battle. both konta and the gb captain complained to the umpire about the crowd and the remaining captain got involved, swearing at both of them and the officials, before being escorted away. they then restarted, but not for long. konta, the world number seven visibly distressed, complaining again to the umpire before leaving the court. with another romanian player pleading with the crowd. after a 25 minute suspension, konta returned and quickly slotted back into form, winning five games in a row to seal

victory and forget level. the tide continues and konta will return, unlike nastase, his accreditation removed and banned from the rest of the matches. chelsea and tottenham are playing in their semifinal. before kick—off, there was a minute‘s applause for there was a minute‘s applause for the former england defender. following his death yesterday at the age of 1m. he suffered a cardiac arrest at the training centre. he was one of the youth cultures. in the last couple of minutes, totte n ha m the last couple of minutes, tottenham have equalised. a fantastic header from harry keane.

just click pears into the bottom corner. so we have played just over 15 minutes, almost 20 minutes at wembley. it is 1—1. aberdeen are through to their first scottish cup final in 17 years. they beat the holders hibernian in a thrilling match at hampden park. they‘ll now face celtic or rangers who play their semifinal tomorrow. adam wild reports. in the semifinal, it seemed aberdeen we re in the semifinal, it seemed aberdeen were not too keen on having to wait. it took them just 12 seconds. adam rooney seemingly as surprised as anybody. their second, that also caught everyone by surprise. brian christie‘s free kick, elegant,

unlike his celebration. at burnley and 2—0 down, in desperate measures. ina and 2—0 down, in desperate measures. in a substitute‘s impact almost immediate. the second half brought a second telling touch. having fought their way back, there was little heads could do to stopjohnny hayes‘ deflected shot. losing a semifinal is always cruel. aberdeen haven‘t made the finalfor 17 is always cruel. aberdeen haven‘t made the final for 17 years. they don‘t have long to wait now. because of the fa cup semi—finals arsenal playing manchester city at wembley tomorrow, there are only six premier league matches this weekend. we‘ve had four today with the focus down at the bottom of the table. bournemouth should be safe and middlebrough look doomed now

after a 4—0 win for the cherries on the south coast. they led 2—0 at half—time with goals from josh king and afobe after a quarter of an hour. marc pugh and charlie daniels scored after the break. they are up to 12th, seven clear of the relegtaion zone. boro are nine points off saftey with five to play. we we re we were going to go for it today, but the pressure up. i think we did that. we didn't give them any time with the baulk. before this game, we had five games and we were going to try and win everyone. now we've got four bjust have try and win everyone. now we've got four b just have to look at the next one. sunderland away, go there and get three points. hull have kept their heads above water, maintaining their incredible home record under marco silva. they are still unbeaten at the kcom stadium since he took over — today‘s 2—0 victory against watford all the more remarkable because

they were down to ten men for over an hour. 0umar niasse was sent off for serious fould play but goals from lazar markovic and a beauty from sam clucas saw them get iam i am really happy when our club fights together, for all of the fans, it‘s amazing. it‘s very important, because i remember three months before. we will continue to fight. i months before. we will continue to fight. i don‘t know what will happen in the end of the season, but we will continue to fight, to keep this clu b will continue to fight, to keep this club up. they had to win as well because swansea, in 17th, also won 2—0 against stoke. fernando llorente and tom carroll with a goal in each half at the liberty stadium but they are still in with manchester united not playing until tomorrow, everton could have moved up to fifth with a win at west ham. they are up to sixth with a point in their goaless draw at west ham. not too much to report from the london stadium. it took almost half an hour for the first shot on goal. some worrying news for

manchester united, they‘ll be without zlatan ibrahimovic and marcos rojo for the rest of the season. both suffered cruciate ligament injuries in the europa league quarter final on thursday night against anderlecht. ibrahimovic is united‘s top scoreor with 28 this season and there are some reports he may not play agin this year. leyton orient have been relegated from the football league after 112 years. they‘ll be replaced by lincoln city. they‘re back after a six year absence following their 2—1 win over macclesfield. terry hawkridge scored both goals for lincoln in the win that secured the national league title in front of their home supporters. promotion caps off a remarkable season for the imps as they also became the first non—league side to reach the fa cup quarterfinals in 103 years. there was a pitch invasion at full time at sincil bank as they celebrated their return to the football league under the guidance of manager danny cowley manchester city women the guidance of

manager danny cowley. manchester city women have lost the first leg of their champions league semifinal. they were beaten 3—1 at home by current holders lyon. the second leg is next saturday. saracens are still on course to retain their european champions cup title. they came out on top in their semifinal at the aviva stadium in dublin , beating munster 26—10. these sides have two of the meanest defences in europe and it took until midway through the second half for saracens to score the opening try — mako vunipola eventually burrowing over. and as munster chased the game, saracens were able to extend their lead — chris wyles scoring their second. cj stander got one back for munster late on, but saracens had the match sewn up by then — they‘ll play either clermont auvergne or leinster in the final in three weeks‘ time. last season‘s beaten super league finalists are on the way back. warrington wolves began the season with six defeats in a row, but they‘re now unbeaten in five matches — wolves came from behind to beat wakefield trinity by 20 points to 18.

drew savage watched the action. three years since wakefield last one here, but they have a man in form in tom johnson. his second try restored that 14 tom johnson. his second try restored that 1a point lead. the home side needed something to turn around their fortunes. captain chris needed something to turn around theirfortunes. captain chris hill bundling warrington back into the match. they finally began to turn possession into points. kevin brown after a battle with concussion. the clock was kicking down, just two

minutes to go. that was enough. warrington now it‘s in the table and rising. ellie downie won gold in the all—around final yesterday and she has won another two medals today at the european gymnastics championships in romania. first up, was the vault final, where she won silver. she was leading with a score of 14.35, but was beaten into second place by the very last competitor — coline devillard of france. after the medal ceremony, downie was straight back out on the uneven bars — her third final in two days, where she finished joint third. she isn‘t done yet — tomorrow she‘ll go for more medals in the beam and floor finals. concern though for ellie‘s older sister becky, who injured herself in that uneven bars final. she was the defending champion going last up, but hurt her right arm in a fall midway through her routine. her participation in tomorrow‘s beam

final now looks very much in doubt. i know she‘s been having a couple of nicholson training. i‘m gutted for her, she works so hard. the bronze i wa nt her, she works so hard. the bronze i want today was for me and her. and courtney tulloch has won great britain‘s first major international rings medal with a silver. he was only beaten by the olympic champion eleftherios petrounias. tulloch‘s medal brings great britain‘s haul so far in romania to one gold, two silvers and one bronze. the joint favourite vicente won the scottish grand national at ayr this afternoon. the paul nicholls trained horse, priced at 9—1 and ridden by sam twiston—davies, got up in the final stride to beat 18—1 shot cogry by a neck. 0utsider benbens was third. ronnie 0‘sullivan is through

to the quarterfinals at the world snooker championship. he resumed 10—6, needing three more frames to win, against shaun murphy this morning and he hit a century break on his way to a 13—7 win. albert back at half past six, but there could be more sports on bbc news before then. a man who‘s spent seven years cycling around the world has returned to the uk. leigh timmis navigated the globe to raise money for charity, and returned to a hero‘s welcome in his home city of derby. from there simon ward reports. this has been an epicjourney. leigh timmis has cycled through 50 countries in a seven—year ride around the world. today, it ended with it all began. today, it ended where it all began.

as he cycled into derby, he was reunited with his mum. to be in tibet, when it‘s just you alone in a place where there‘s no—one else around to help, in a desert, with no water, it‘s when you realise how small you are in comparison to nature, that is the most outstanding thing, yeah. afterfacing lions, extreme temperatures and having his belongings stolen, leigh‘s friends and family are relieved to see him safely back home in derby. it'sjust so nice to be able to physically touch him and i know he's back safe and sound, because even though knew he wasn't100 miles away last night, he was only about 20 or 30 miles down the road, you worry till the last minute. to have him back safe and sound is fantastic. i cycled around the world, but sailing through six metre waves, through storms, getting bashed around in the middle of the ocean, you realise how small you are. just three people on a small boat, just the things you‘ve got. so far, leigh has raised more than £10,000 for charity. we have no funding at all from the state or from local authorities, so it‘s entirely from charitable giving. we have no funding at all from the state or from local authorities, so it's entirely from charitable giving.

we've just lifted the amount of children we take every year from 450 by another 300, to 750. so we're expanding the operation. leigh hasn‘t decided what to do next, but it will be difficult to top such an amazing adventure. simon ward, bbc news, derby. now it‘s time for meet the author and this weekjim naughtie talks to michele roberts about her new book the walworth beauty. dickensian london in the year of the great exhibition, and the churning metropolis of our own time. brought together by two characters whose stories are intertwined and who reach for each other across the years that separates them. michele roberts‘ new novel, the walworth beauty, is a hymn to london. its changing ways and it enduring character. and also a book about how we live now, that celebrate timeless longings and desires. welcome. there is a ghostly

element to this story. do you like ghost stories? i do love them, and that‘s partly because i have felt haunted myself a couple of times, and i have had to work out what was going on, and i worked out that to explain a ghost, and the fear it induced in me, i had to tell a little story to myself to make sense of it. one of the things about the ghostly element in this book is that it is very delicate and gentle. it‘s not somebody clanking along with his head under his arm or chains, it‘sjust a breath on the neck, that kind of thing. was that your experience? yes, it was a clamminess on the back of my neck, is if someone was pressing cold cobwebs against it.

gosh. and then a mirror fell off the wall in the middle of the night and crashed. and i just felt full of terror, the atmosphere was charged with terror. the ghost in my novel, i think, is a bit of a kinder ghost, it‘s not so scary. well, i didn‘t know any of this when we started, but that‘s really a very interesting story, because the book is wonderfully atmospheric, 1851 dickensian london. and the london that anybody who lives there now in 2011, 2012. you see them, really, part of a continuous story, don‘t you? i do, and i think anyone who loves large cities with ancient buildings and streets in them, and he walks in, as i do, and who walks them, as i do, has a sense, always of history being just below the pavement. it‘s as though the city is layers and layers of mystery. sometimes, it‘s popping up, a pavement tilts up, something happens, he passed by an old graveyards, you see an old industrial building. now, the story‘s told, essentially, by two characters, joseph and madeleine. whose stories are more than a century apart, and they are told in separate chapters which are interwoven in the book. and it‘s quite clear that you see something,

despite all the differences between them, that connects them. what is it? i think they are both very concerned with the lives and fates of young women. joseph is charging around south london doing research on to the lodgings of prostitutes, of young girls working with prostitutes. and madeleine, a century later, is very concerned with two young female friends of hers, how they survive in the big city, and learning that, obviously, not all young women these days, despite their poverty, feel the need to sell themselves as prostitutes. sojoseph and madeleine are having the kind of conversation that they are in a sense, haunting each other as much is being haunted. madeleine finds in her back garden, shards of bone, old buttons, cloth buttons, little bits of china, and she can‘t bear to throw them away. she‘s been digging the plot. so she brings them indoors, and that‘s when the hauntings start. by the end of the novel, we understand what those little tiny broken pieces refer to.

and do you have a constant sense of the past? notjust in what happens if you dig up the street, but in the characters who walked those streets, what they thought and felt? and what, in a sense, has been passed on to us? yes, one of my characters is the grandmother of madeleine. she‘s dead, long since, nellie. but she talks to madeleine, sort of, over her shoulder all the time. and she is a real bridge with the past, because that‘s how i remember my own london grandmother. her quips and sayings, her amazing cockney accent. her bawdiness, her funny stories. i mentioned that the chapters are intermittent, one called joseph and one called madeleine. and the story unfolds in that way. technically, that‘s quite a tricky thing to carry off. did you find it difficult and did you simply write a joseph chapter, then a madeleine chapter? or did you do a lot ofjoseph chapters then stick madeleine in? i started with madeleine. and it was clear, quite quickly, that it wasn‘t going to work with just her as the narrator.

and i was thinking, oh dear, is there really a novel here? and then whenjoseph erupted and just opened a door, went up a staircase and darkness, opened another door, i thought, yes, the story starts now. well, of course, if we didn‘t know that you were a londoner before this, anyone reading the book would understand that you are, because itjust pulses with a love of the city and its history, its ways and voices. yes, and i‘ve always lived in london. i grew up in the suburbs in london and moved to london as fast as i could. and i walk around it all the time, on my own, often at night. always trying to take a different route, happily getting lost, going to a pub, someone will come and talk to you. go into a pub, someone will come and talk to you. london is very alive for me, full of ghosts but full of people in the present as well. in that sense, it is still, especially in parts of south london that you set the book in, it still has a dickensian feel, that sort of churning, nonstop life.

the characters who inhabit it. i suppose it‘s like any big city, but london seems to have that quality. i think partly it is because we‘ve got the city of london. and it is always renewing itself, throwing up new buildings, old ones come tumbling down. and people are very energised, very driven, they hurtle about. even where i live in southeast london, on the main street, there‘s a lot of hurtling that goes on. this is the london that you love. the london i love is very much the modern city, but the city with all its echoes of dickensian times, through old industrial buildings. they are venetian, they are neo—byza ntine, they are neo—gothic, theyjust send me into rapture. i assume you love dickens? do you know, i have a lot of trouble with dickens. i find him a very difficult writer to read. that‘s interesting, why? partly, it‘s the carnivalesque, elaborate baroque prose. partly, it‘s the length of the novel. to my shame. partly, it‘s the length of the novels. to my shame. partly, it‘s his absolute incapacity to create interesting women characters who aren‘t just sugar dolls. well, there we are, we‘ll get some letters about that.

but there is that wonderful capture of a life that is, i suppose, now people would talk about it as being magic realism. you know, spontaneous combustion, all the things that happen, there‘s a kind of life that takes us out of the here and now with wonderful leaps of the imagination. that, i suspect to you, must be exciting. it is, and i actually find that in dickens‘ essay, night walks, when he describes walking at night, roaming the city, coming across all kinds of strange characters, pausing to chat to them. that is the dickens i love. when did you start this business of wandering around london at night? when i was very young, i came to london when i was 21, after university. and ijust began to wander the streets. and of course, for women, there is a sexual double standard. if you‘re always told, it‘s dangerous, you mustn‘t do it, a woman who wanders the streets is called a streetwalker which means a prostitute, a man who wanders the streets is called a psycho

geographer, or a flaneur. but i always thought, i‘m not going to let anyone take my freedom away. i have always walked around the streets. so you discovered a parallel universe of your own? i have, because as a reader, i‘ve thought a lot about women writers who love the city like i do. so every time i‘m in the city of london, i‘ll think of charlotte bronte coming to the coffee house before setting sail for brussels. or as i move up towards hampstead, i think of elizabeth gaskell, walking from harley street to hampstead, for an evening picnic. people like that. and many people will associate that with the walworth beauty, when they pick up your novel. michele roberts, thank you very much. thank you very much, jim. the weather is ok right now, but in

the next couple of days, we'll see much colder weather, reaching our shores all the way from the arctic. but in the short—term, not so dry weather, with sunshine. eastern and southern areas are seeing a little more cloud is developing through the course of today. tonight, high pressure over us, the winds are light, the skies were clear. apart from in the northern isles in scotland, here, showers will continue. in city centres, five or 6 degrees, but in rural areas, it could be 5 degrees below that. conditions are looking good for the london marathon, it‘s not too cold, it‘s not too warm and there will be much blazing sunshine. feeling quite fresh first thing and that is true across fresh first thing and that is true a cross m ost fresh first thing and that is true across most of southern and central parts of the uk. the further north

you go, the more sunshine. then we get into northern ireland and scotland. workload here. much colder in the northern isles, only 5 degrees in shetland. big change happening in the air. that is a weather system spinning up here and that will send a shock wave of colder air across the uk as we head into early next week. but before that happens, to the size of that, the weather is still bright and its relatively warm. he deserved weather system through the course of monday night. we could see snow falling across northern hills. look at the temperature contrast from north to south. that will continue to sweep through into tuesday. watch how those arctic winds set in. at this time of year, the sun is powerful, so the temperatures will get that though. it‘s just in the shade and

went but it will feel chilly. some of the hills will catch some snow. even some wintry showers and some of our towns and cities. monday and tuesday, wrap—up. but for now, enjoy the sunshine. this is bbc news, the headlines at 6.00. theresa may says the conservatives are a ‘low—tax party‘ as she addresses claims by labour that she‘s planning a ‘tax bombshell‘ if re—elected. they have a choice between a conservative party that takes taxes down for working people... the tories are handing 70 billion back in tax to businesses and corporations. we won‘t do that. tight security across france as the country prepares for the first round of the presidential election. more than 100 afghan soldiers

are killed or wounded in one of the worst attacks on an army base in the country.