this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: theresa may says the conservatives are a "low—tax party", as she addresses labour claims that she's planning a "tax bombshell". where i would start is with corporation tax. 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 by the taliban on an army base in the country. britain's first coal—free day since the victorian era. the national grid says 2a hours—worth of electricity has been generated without using coal for the first time since 1882. also this hour, celebrations for chelsea as they're through to the fa cup final. spurs are left with the blues

after a thrilling 4—2 result at wembley puts chelsea within touching distance of the trophy. romania's tennis captain ilie nastase is banned from the fed cup after apparent verbal abuse reduced britain'sjohanna konta to tears. and in half an hour, pop up lebanon heads the dangerous bekar valley, a border region with syria, to meet a drugs kingpin. good evening and welcome to bbc news. on the first weekend of campaigning for the general election, the focus has been on taxes. theresa may, campaigning 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 8th. here's our political correspondent ben wright. get ready for the knock at your door. today, the prime minister took her campaign message to dudley and one voter may have spoken for many. i couldn't understand why you called an election with three years to go. i think we need a stronger negotiating hand in europe. but this general election is notjust about brexit and all the parties are rapidly writing manifesto is full of pledges and promises. the issue of tax will be prominent and theresa may was asked whether she would be keeping the tories‘ 2015

pledge not to raise any of the three main taxes. at this election people will have a clear choice, between a conservative party which always has been, is and will continue to be a party that believes in lower taxes, keeping taxes down for ordinary people. or, the choice is, a labour party whose natural instinct is to raise taxes. two years ago david cameron said there would be no vat, national insurance or income tax rises. theresa may's comments today suggest that guarantee might not be in the new manifesto and it follows philip hammond yesterday saying he wanted more flexibility in managing the economy. good morning, everybody. today is flying start saturday in our campaign. already on his eighth campaign visit of the campaign, jeremy corbyn was in warrington. nice to see you.

a lovely house. wooing voters, insisting the election was not a foregone conclusion and sketching out the labour approach to taxes. we will produce a manifesto very soon and you will see all the details. our tax burdens will not fall on those on low incomes, they will fall on those with the broadest shoulders who can bear the greatest burden. at the last election more than 50 snp mps were swept into westminster and today the party announced all but two of them who set all but two of them who sit as independents have been reselected as candidates this time in an election that will soon have competing policies to flesh out the slogans. speaking to the bbc earlier, the former liberal democrat business secretary, sir vince cable, said there had to be some tax increases. more taxes are going to be needed to maintain respectable budget position and notjust us, i think the other parties do,

certainly the conservatives accept they're going to be raising taxes. the chancellor wanted to in the budget then run into this problem because of his party's own manifesto, so it is going to happen. the question is how it's done and making sure it is done fairly. and where i would start as the chancellor of the exchequer is to stop this reduction in corporation tax. it's completely unnecessary. it's handling out large amounts of money to companies who are just sitting on it because they're not investing in the present environment of uncertainty. we are going to do well. the question is how well. we do need lots of mps. there are various stages here. there is this so—called great repeal bill going though parliament that needs mps, who are committed to europe and preventing the damage of a hard brexit to fight this clause by clause. we are eventually going to get a point where we have negotiations coming to conclusion. they could be bad or less so. we could finish up crashing out of the european union entirely

with catastrophic consequences. we need to have a block of mps that are completely committed to the principle that if this happens the process has got to be stopped and the people need to be consulted again. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are bonnie greer, playwright and writer for the new european newspaper and former tabloid editor eve pollard. 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 after the shooting, and security has been increased before polls in mainland france open tomorrow.

ican i can tell you a little bit about the final poll that was finished and posted last night before the campaign finished. it has been growing every day, 1500 people polled and it put macon in front. behind that, the former prime minister. they are all pretty close. it's possible that a few thousand votes will separate them by the end of the evening. it will be taped and plenty to look forward to tomorrow. i was thinking how quickly things get back to normal here in france. they have proven resilient before. looking at the chanson bizet tonight, there are thousands of people walking down the shops and sitting outside the terraces. you would hardly believe that something so would hardly believe that something so for had happened to you on thursday evening. the interior ministry is putting 50,000 police

officers at the polling stations, an extra 50,000 at 67,000 polling stations around the country, some security will be tight. a lot of police leave has been cancelled and thatis police leave has been cancelled and that is putting pressure on the police force. in the lull before france's presidential vote, those out campaigning today were not supporting politicians. this rally was for the police. black balloons for those killed in the line of duty. pink for the family they leave behind. their message, the police need protecting too. one of the balloons was for xavierjugele, targeted by a gunman on the champs elysees this week. xavier was on duty near the bataclan during the 2015 paris attacks and went back for a concert when the hall reopened one year on, where he spoke to a bbc reporter.

that's why we are here with my friend to celebrate life and to say no to terrorism. that's why we are here with my friend to celebrate life and to say no to terrorism. the police union says their members need protecting from everyday risks too. exhaustion, overwork and stress. the state of emergency following a string of attacks here has taken its toll. boosting police numbers has been an issue for the presidential campaigns. but this election has gone beyond questions of security, the economy or immigration. it's opened up a debate about the meaning of french values and how to define being french. all the more surprising, then, that the number of people expected to abstain from voting tomorrow is high. people who decide to abstain are not people who don't care about politics. when you ask them why they refuse 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 reborn as polling stations for tomorrow's vote. the one still moment in a presidential campaign when rhetoric is redundant and the people are honoured as the true holders of power. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. when can we see the results coming through? we'll be here tomorrow night at 6:30pm. we will have the first projections. they are not exit polls, they are projections. from those results, they will formulate

an idea of who has gone through to the second round. given that it is so the second round. given that it is so tight, it is possible that that projection will start to change for the evening. it will be a rolling story and, secondly if it is as close as the polls suggest. and there'll be live coverage of the results of the first round of voting in the french presidential election. that's tomorrow at 6:30pm, in france decides, here on bbc news. and there's full coverage on our website, and via the mobile app. 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. at least eight other fighters, dressed in afghan army uniforms, used heavy machine guns to attack the dining area of the base and the mosque. the taliban has claimed responsibility and issued this picture of the men it claims were behind it. one was captured, the rest are now dead. afghan troops have been pouring in to secure the area today. 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. islamic tradition requires that burials take place as soon as possible and the bodies of many of the victims have already been placed in coffins. the assault on the army base

is a shocking reminder ofjust how tough the ongoing battle in afghanistan is. last month, an afghan army helicopter landed special forces troops on the roof of the military hospital in kabul after it was stormed by gunmen disguised as doctors. around 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. 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 has been mounted, with up to 50,000 protesters expected in the city during the two—day conference. two officers have been injured in the clashes. jenny hill is in cologne and has been following events. it's been a day of protests here in cologne against germany's most controversial political party. you can see that the demonstrators are starting to disperse now but there were tens of thousands of people on the streets of cologne today, many of them held back from the city centre hotel where that conference is happening by armed police officers some of them in riot gear. in fact, two officers, we're told were injured during minor scuffles although by and large the protests have passed off peacefully. far more fractious, it has to be said, was the mood inside the conference hall and that's because afd is really a party in crisis. not only is it only slipping in the polls, it seems

that its very fierce anti—islam, anti—immigrant platform is no longer enough to attract the german electorate. but it's also a party bitterly divided over its future political direction. and there's still a great deal of discussion about how the party is going to move forward. if you look at the polls, afd is still on course to win seats in the general election but, really, its chances of significant political success rest now on whether it can come together, agree, if you like, on, first of all, a candidate to go into that election to stand against angela merkel but, perhaps more importantly, to agree on the very political identity of the party itself. the headlines on bbc news: theresa may hits the campaign trail as she faces accusations from labour that she's planning a "tax bombshell". 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. sport now and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good evening. chelsea have reached the fa cup final. the league leaders came out on top against their title rivals tottenham. it finished 11—2 and they'll face arsenal or manchester city who play tomorrow. hannah lupton reports. chelsea owner name—mac. chelsea owner name-mac. -- name-mac. chelsea owner name-mac. -- name-mac. chelsea were on the front foot. head

within five minutes, chelsea were often a start. tottenham have struggled playing at wembley and no need to settle in quickly. this header did just that. 0n on occasions at best, it's important to keep your composure. just as good was restored before the break. he was restored before the break. he was enjoying his day in the sunshine. tottenham pots equaliser came from a moment of magic. 0ne sunshine. tottenham pots equaliser came from a moment of magic. one of the assistance of the season.

finishing with a flourish. it looked as though the headlines belonged to hazzard. his course for chelsea and four at the third time in this semifinal. but the realjaw-dropping moment came from an unlikely source. chelsea were looking unstoppable and still on for the double. aberdeen are through to their first scottish cup final for 17 years after a dramatic 3—2 win against hibernian. aberdeen were ahead at hampden after just 12 seconds when adam rooney caught everyone by surprise. they added another soon after but goals from grant holt and this from dylan mcgeoch brought the cup holders level. but with just 5 minutes remaining a deflected shot from jonny hayes won it for the dons. because of the fa cup semi—finals,

there were only 6 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 after a a—nil win for the cherries on the south coast. they were already two goals up by half—time and then marc pugh and charlie daniels scored after the break. bournemouth leap up to 12th in the table, seven points clear of the relegtaion zone. boro are nine points off safety with five to play. during johanna konta's match, nastase was sent out of the stadium

after swearing at the umpire and being verbally abusive to konta and her captain anne keothavong. konta was visibly upset by the incident and after some confusion the match was halted with the brit 3—1 down in the first set. after 25 minutes play resumed and konta took the match two sets to love. meanwhile nastase was escorted from the complex. the tie is level at one all as heather watson had lost her rubber earlier on. saracens are still on course to retain their european champions cup title. they beat munster at the aviva stadium in dublin to reach their third final in four years. both their tries came in the second half, the second for chris wyles as they ran out winners 26 points to 10. they'll face clermont auvergne or leinster in the final in three weeks time, that second semi—final is played tomorrow.

courtney tulloch has won great britain's first major international rings medal with a silver at the european championships in romania. he was only beaten by the olympic champion eleftherios petrounias. tulloch says his aim is now to beat his greek rival in the world championships in october. ellie downie also won two more medals today to add to the gold she took in the all—around yesterday. she won a silver in the vault and a bronze in the uneven bars. her sister becky had been favourite in this event but had a nasty fall which has ruled her out of tomorrow's beam final. —— which has ruled her out of tomorrow's team final. 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. 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.

let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news this evening. 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 two men in their 20s have been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. police are still urging another man to hand himself in to police. the sun newspaper has printed a formal apology to everton footballer ross barkley. former editor kelvin mackenzie 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 mackenzie 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. scientists have been taking part in a "march for science" past london's most celebrated research institutions. 0rganisers said that the growth of "fake news" and misinformation made it crucial to highlight the vital role that science plays in our lives. they also say there's a need to respect and encourage research that gives insight into the world. the american vice president has confirmed that the us will honour a promise by former president 0bama to accept more than 1,200 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. hywel griffith, bbc news, sydney. the authorities in venezuela say at least 11 people died in violence and looting on thursday, making it the bloodiest day in three weeks of anti—government protests. 0ver that period, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets demanding new presidential elections. sarah corker reports. another day of deadly unrest on the streets of caracas, riot police fought running battles with protesters on thursday. the worst incident took place here, ten people killed were trying to loot a bakery, some reportedly electrocuted. residents were left to clean up after the chaos.

translation: we lost everything. if only it were just the food, everything is gone and all feel unsafe here at the edge of the slum. this latest wave of protests was triggered by a supreme court decision last month to take over powers from the opposition controlled national assembly. the decision was later reversed but it was too late to contain the demonstrations. the president has accused opponents of trying to topple him by force, now he has called for talks. translation: i hope they have the courage to step forward so we can sit at the negotiating table and tell each other the truth and search for pathways to peace in venezuela. this is a call for dialogue and peace. but venezuela is facing a serious economic crisis, shortages mean people having to do all day for food and medicine.

opposition leaders repeated the demand for new elections. translation: the government can't avoid its responsibilities. the violence sown by the government. what is the solution to this violence? the vote. over the last three weeks 20 venezuela ns have died during the unrest, and there are plans for new protests for saturday and two erected roadblocks on monday to grade the country to a halt. 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 a0 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 the stubai glacier in the austrian alps at around 3,000 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 5,000 alpine glaciers in the world,