this is bbc news. the headlines at 11pm: on the campaign trail. labour and the conservatives spar over the possibility of tax rises, both parties promise fair policies. the conservative party, which always has been, is and will continue to be a party that believes in lower taxes, in keeping taxes down for ordinary working people. our tax burdens will not fall on those on low incomes, our tax burdens will not fall there, they will fall on those with broader shoulders who can bear the greatest burden. tight security across france as the country prepares for the first round of the presidential election. dozens of afghan soldiers are killed or wounded in one of the worst attacks by the taliban on an army base. also we'll take a look at tomorrow's front pages, including the sunday times, which reports the tories will promise to cap energy bills. commentator: driven... brilliant

goal! nemanja maticjames chelsea to within touching distance of the fa cup final itself —— hammers chelsea. and elation for chelsea as they're through to the fa cup final after a thrilling 4—2 win over spurs at wembley. 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 was campaigning in manchester, and promised that the tax burden will fall on those with the broadest shoulders, if he wins on june eighth. 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. the strongest possible negotiating hand. but this general election is notjust about brexit and all the parties are rapidly writing manifestos 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,

a choice between a conservative party which always has been, is and will continue to be a party that believes in lower taxes, in 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 meet you. goood to see you too. a lovely house. wooing voters, insisting the election was not a foregone conclusion and sketching out

the labour approach to taxes. we will produce our manifesto very soon and you will see all the details in that. i will tell you this, our tax burdens will not fall on those on low incomes, our tax burdens will fall on those with the broadest shoulders who can bear the greatest burden. the liberal democrats haven't set out their plans either. but they were no more taxes will be needed. whoever is in power will need to increase taxation. the effect of brexit would reduce government revenues are more taxes will have to be raised. the tories will have two and it was clear from the budget. the question is how it is done. where i would start was not with those taxes but with corporation tax. at the last election more than 50 snp mps were swept into westminster and today the party announced 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. ben wright, bbc news. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 11:30pm this evening in the papers. our guestsjoining me tonight are bonnie greer, playwright and writer for the new european newspaper and former tabloid editor eve pollard. the people of france go to the polls tomorrow in the first round of one of the most important and unpredictable presidential elections of recent times. combating terrorism is a key issue after the killing of a police officer in the capital on thursday and additional security forces will back up 50,000 police officers nationwide for tomorrow's poll. lucy williamson is in paris for us tonight. in the lull before france's presidential vote,

those out campaigning today weren't 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. iama i am a wife of policeman and i am very, very angry because i love him andi very, very angry because i love him and i don't want that someone come here and kill him like that. one of the baloons was for xavierjugele, attacked 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. 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. this campaign has offered voters barzagli different visions for their future and the race between candidates has been tight. so why are so many candidates has been tight. so why are so many people expected to abstain? 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's not because they don't care. it's because they care a lot. across the country, buildings are being reborn as polling stations for tomorrow's vote. what happens here could shape the political future of europe. after all the rhetoric and all the surprises, it's time for france to decide. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. 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. our 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. the attack took the troops by surprise and the battle that followed lasted for five hours. 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. 2.5 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. there have been clashes in the german city of cologne as thousands of demonstrators marched on the venue where the anti—immigration alternative for deutschland party was holding a conference. huge numbers of police were sent

in and two officers were injured. 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 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. 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 american vice president has confirmed that the us will honour a promise by former president obama 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. he 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 headlines on bbc news: theresa may says the conservatives are a low—tax party, but labour says any tax rises must be borne by those with the broadest shoulders. 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. sport now. and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. chelsea have reached the fa cup final, taking another big step towards a league and cup double. the league leaders beat their title rivals tottenham 11—2 and will face either arsenal or manchester city who play tomorrow. hannah lupton reports. before the match, a reminder of more

important matters. chelsea joined totte n ha m important matters. chelsea joined tottenham in remembering their former coach. he died yesterday aged 44. football remembers. in the battle of the premier league's top two, it was chelsea on the front foot, leaving a dad has earned on the bench. —— eden hazard. ahead with in five minutes, antonio conte's chelsea off to start. totte n ha m conte's chelsea off to start. tottenham have struggled playing at wembley and now needed to settle it quickly. kain‘s header quickly levelled. but harry kane. his 26th goal of the season and sprung them to life. in the big occasions, it is

important to keep composure. chelsea's lead was restored before the break. he was enjoying his day in the sunshine. tottenham's equaliser came from a moment of magic. commentator: what a delightful goal! christian erickson with one of the assists of the season. with one of the assists of the season. eden hazard was off the bench and onto the scoresheet. commentator: eden hazard scores the chelsea and for the first time in its semi—final they are in front! but it came from and are likely source. chelsea are in touching distance. chelsea 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 mcgeog brought the cup holders level. but with just five minutes remaining a deflected shot from jonny hayes won it for the dons. they'll face either celtic or rangers in the final. there were four premier league matches this afternoon, with the focus very much down at the bottom of the table. bournemouth should be safe and middlebrough look doomed after a 4—0 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 relegation zone. boro are nine point off safety with five to play hull city have maintained their unbeaten home record under

marco silva. they beat watford two nil despite playing most of the game with ten men. they needed to win as swansea who are in 17th also won — 2—0 at home to stoke. west ham and everton drew 0—0. there was drama in great britain's fed cup tie in romania. and the host's captain, former grand slam winner ilie nastase, has been banned from tomorrow's play as a result. during johanna konta's match, nastase was sent out of the stadium after swearing at the umpire and shouting abuse at konta and her captain anne keothavong. konta was visibly upset by the incident and after some confusion the match was halted for 25 minutes. when play resumed konta had recovered her compurse and took the match two sets to love. the tie is level at 1—1 — heather watson had lost her rubber earlier on. saracens remain on course to retain their european champions cup title. they beat munster by 26

points to ten in dublin to reach their third final in four years. they'll face clermont auvergne or leinster in the final — that second semi—final takes place tomorrow. ronnie o'sullivan is comfortably through to the quarter—finals of the world snooker championship. he only needed three frames to complete victory when he resumed this morning against former champion shaun murphy and he hit a century break on his way to a 13—7 win. meanwhile john higgins, who's hoping to win his fifth title at the crucible, came through a high—quality match against northern ireland's mark allen, winning it by 13 frames to nine. he'll play kyren wilson next. on the other table this evening world number one mark selby finished his session against xiao guodong of china — 6—2 up. they'll resume at half past two tomorrow. that's all the sport for now. thank you, james. you have the paper

review coming up at 1130 but before that, a quick look through. the mail on sunday claims the conservatives opinion poll lead has been slashed in half because of theresa may's plans over tax and pensions. this is how the sunday mirror reports that polled, giving the tories their highest lead since 1991. the paper says jeremy corbyn highest lead since 1991. the paper sasteremy corbyn is planning to slash the pay. theresa may parks her battle ta n ks slash the pay. theresa may parks her battle tanks on the labour's lawn. they are offering £100 of energy bills for workers. one in seven labour voters will switch to the tories in the upcoming election. the sunday telegraph, chairman of the

conservatives claiming that jeremy corbyn is not suitable to take on the responsibilities of prime minister. the observer reports a pledge from lib dem leader, tim farron, that he won't do any coalition deals —— saying he wants the liberal democrats be the main opposition. tens of thousands of people have taken part in marches in cities around the world, in support of science. the rallies began in australia and new zealand, eventually reaching london and edinburgh, and there have been big demonstrations in america. protestors say they're angry at what they believe are mounting political attacks against scientific thought, and factual arguments. 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, are in desperate need of a fresh start. are you excited? yes. it will keep the grubs down, hopefully. from an animal century 40 miles away, they finally arrived. 52 hedgehogs, all found sick or injured across the north of england. most of these have come in as babies, and we have hand fed them, hand reared them. this one was in a really bad way when she came in. she was very tiny. very sick. veronica and her husband, frank, run the charity andrews hedgehog hospital. they believe the village of burton fleming, now considered hedgehog friendly, will give the animals the best chance. our 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 to make sure they can move around, we hope that the numbers will improve —— a hole in the garden fence. we are going to be putting the hedgehogs in our garden, because i have three little boys who have never seen alive hedgehog for. look at his face. do you like him? assessing hedgehog numbers is tricky, but in the 1950s it is thought there were around 30 million in britain. but now, conservationists believe numbers have plummeted to under 1 million. we are taking all the hedgerows away, which is what the hedgehogs need. roadkill, slug pellets, tremors, bonfires. they have a tough time. the hedgehogs are temporarily marked as mail orfemale,

so they can be released in pairs, and then it is time to say goodbye. oh 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 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. already to go.

to nature. it is hoped, back for good. prickly but cute. the weapon now. -- to whether now. mostly dry across the course of sunday. it is the london marathon. if you are running all spectating, it will be fresh burst in. there will be a bit of sunshine on far as we had through the day. high—pressure holding onto the weather for most places. a few showers are still to come. perhaps one 01’ showers are still to come. perhaps one or two in the south—east of england. elsewhere, clear skies. one or two in the south—east of england. elsewhere, clearskies. if you are hoping to catch a glimpse of ‘shower, “f“§ will have the meteor shower, many will have clear spells. it will turn chilly in this countryside. for the mad song

during sunday, we start off on a fresh note. by the afternoon and mid—teens, quite a lot of cloud around will stop just the shall —— off chance of catching the rogue shower. a bit more sunshine across wales. cloudier skies across northern islands and northern and western parts. the cloud increases across the west bringing patchy rain to scotland and cardiff and northern ireland. 16 degrees the top in luck are running the if you are running—the lenden

on. if you are running—the london on. some patchy rain. still if you are running—the london isome ne patchy rain. still if you are running—the london isome sunshine rain. still if you are running—the london isome sunshine at in. still if you are running—the london isome sunshine at eight ill reign. still some sunshine at eight 01’ reign. still some sunshine at eight or nine degrees compared to 16 further south. any mild air gets . the doors are open further south. any mild air gets . i |e doors are open further south. any mild air gets . i all ioors are open further south. any mild air gets . i all in. 's are open further south. any mild air gets . i all in. itare open further south. any mild air gets . i all in. it willopen further south. any mild air gets . i all in. it will feel called a tip i all in. it will feel quite wintry into the working week. tuesday into wednesday. someone true showers and we could see gardeners pictures overnight. gardeners beware. hello, this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment, first the headlines at 11:30pm: theresa may says the conservatives

are a low—tax party as she addresses labour claims that she's planning a tax bombshell. tight security across france as the country prepares for the first round of the presidential election. attacks by the taliban on an army base. spurs are out of the fa cup after a thrilling 4—2 win for chelsea at wembley takes them into the final. britain's first coal—free day since the victorian era, gag 5351551 e13 5m: ‘: 77 “f. generated without using coal.