hello, welcome to bbc news. i'm karin giannone, live in paris, with our special coverage of the french presidential election. the centrist emmanuel macron wins through to the run—off in two weeks. he said a page had clearly turned in french politics. inflation macro would become the president of all the people of france, the president of the patriot in the face of the threat and the nationalists. he'll face marine le pen of the anti—immigration national front, who described the first round result as "historic." translation: the time has come to get rid of all of the arrogant people who wanted to dictate to the population what they should do. i am the candidate for the people. i'm sally bundock in london. the other main headline — venezuela's president calls for talks with the opposition to solve the political crisis, and he wants the vatican to help.

welcome to the programme and good morning from paris. so, now we know in two weeks, the french people, in their presidential election, will have a straight choice. the run off will be between emmanuel macron and the far—right national front candidate marine le pen. mr macron said hisjob now was to reconcile the country and gather broad support. marine le pen said her victory in reaching the final round had been historic. she said it was time to "liberate the french people". so let's have a look at the figures from the first round of voting. with all 47 millions votes accounted for, —— with all 47 million

votes accounted for, mr macron led with 23%, madame le pen secured 21%. the conservative francois fillon and far leftjean—luc melenchon both fell short on i9%. ourfirst report comes from james reynolds who was at the victory rally for emmanuel marcon in paris. emmanuel macron is front‘s newcomer and now the winner of this election‘s first round. he is an insider who has run as an outsider. the 39—year—old is a new pro—business centrist. he resigned asa pro—business centrist. he resigned as a minister in order to form his own political movement. his gamble has paid off. translation: own political movement. his gamble has paid off. translationzli own political movement. his gamble has paid off. translation: i hope that in a fortnight, i will become your president. the president of all the people of france. the president

of the patriots. in the face of the threats from the nationalists. his supporters believed that the rest of the country will now rally around him. translation: the country will now rally around him. translationzli the country will now rally around him. translation: i don't think the majority want to vote for marine le pen. they believe too much on the republic. they believe to much in the age of enlightenment values. you can see that it is not possible. this is macron‘s first election, the french people still hardly know him. at his now the favourite to become this country's next president. marine le pen, at the front nationale leader, will fight mr macron in the final round. she won more votes than the party has ever won before. and matches herfather‘s achievement 15 years ago in reaching achievement 15 years ago in reaching a presidential run—off. translation: the french people must take this historic opportunity because the biggest issue is the globalisation

thatis biggest issue is the globalisation that is putting a civilisation in danger. we have a very simple choice — either we continue on the path of total deregulation without borders oi’ total deregulation without borders or protections that will lead the disloyal international competition, mass immigration, and free movement of terrorist, or you can choose borders that protect ourjobs, our security, a national identity. but many of the defeated candidates want to stop marine le pen. the conservative fillon says he will now support mr macron. translation: conservative fillon says he will now support mr macron. translationzlj conservative fillon says he will now support mr macron. translation: i do not say this with joy in my heart but abstention is not in my genes. especially when an extremist party is approaching power. i can assure you that extremism can only bring hardship and division. there is no other choice but to vote against the far right. in bastille square in

paris, some left—wing protesters faced off against the police. these demonstrators were angered by the results of this vote. they, and the rest of the country, will have their final say in two weeks time. james reynolds, bbc news, paris. as we've been hearing, marine le pen says the survival of france is at stake in the election. her front nationale party has only ever reached the second round of a presidential race once before, while emmanuel macron‘s party was set up just 12 months ago. our france correspondent lucy williamson looks now at the changing face of french politics. one country, one electorate, two very different faces. france has chosen change, but of what sort? emmanuel macron was once called ‘the champagne bubble,‘ with no previous experience and no established party, he would, critics said, pop very quickly. vive la france! instead, he brought in those disillusioned with france's traditional parties.

his liberal pro—europe policies attracting voters from both right and left. but voters from right and left also chose marine le pen, who wants everything emmanuel macron does not — leave the euro, slash immigration, and clamp down on free trade. her support has been the steadiest in this election, barely changing from months ago. so why was this result so hard to call? william and his sister helene had no idea who they would vote for today, even as they walked to their local polling station. they were not alone — almost a quarter of the electorate were thought to be unsure who they would support. i will still vote but i don't know who for. i am hesitating between four. it's really hard. i need to choose one, i can't vote for four. months ago, the selection looked far more certain, the favourite then was the conservative candidate francois

fillon. he fought on through a financial scandal as voters left him, adamant until tonight that he would win. on thursday, a reminder of the challenges france is facing — the latest in a long series of attacks. it could have been a sign for some that this is a time for experience, not experiment. so why try someone new? the first one, macron, because he was the candidate of hope. the second, marine le pen, because she was the candidate of anger. and you see the conflict between these two emotions. and more profoundly, because the two traditional political parties that have been leading france for the last decade, both collapsed. after months of uncertainty, france has opted for two different futures. hope or anger, free trade protectionism, eu member or not. all that stands in the way of power is one more vote. well, let's examine

what these results mean. with me is thejournalist agnes poirier and stefan simons, paris correspondent with der spiegel. welcome to you both. first of all, agnes, how much of a political earthquake is this, given that the two main parties that have dominated french politics for decades are just off the map? i mean, i was, you know, i said a few months ago i think benoit hamon will go with 10% and people were saying it is impossible. and now yesterday, it was 6%. i mean, it'sjust a crushing defeat. the whole french political landscape is being redesigned. this is the ruling party, the party of the current president. how can possibly go so wrong so quickly?“ you look at macron, he is a former

socialist, if you look at them —— hamon, he is also a former socialist oi’ hamon, he is also a former socialist or the implosion started a few years back and it is a result and we can say the same of the french right, you know, the french right is in disarray. of course they have a better score, i9%, but fillon i think is going to end the political wild are less —— into the political wilderness and for them it is a question of complete renewal of the political class. and the choice is now that the french has been left with, how different are they the front? well, it started -- it starkly opposed. a young candidate was not very much experience with a party, not even a party, a movement he created 12 months ago. and he's going to face likely to be the next french president and then of course he has the battle to win seats at the parliament. and, you know, going

to have new candidates, new faces, at every single vote. it is a new dawn. stephane, you are reporting on this for der spiegel in germany. a closely in this being watched?“ this for der spiegel in germany. a closely in this being watched? it is being watched through the prism of anti— marine le pen sentiment. the danger of right—wing victories following the brexit was kind of the worst case scenario for our politics and even for the people at large. so the fact that now the french have voted by a short majority for macron certainly creates a political fight of relief throughout the political parties in germany. so there is a sense that the worst—case scenario has not come to pass? absolutely. with macron of course, and we just said, we're still seeing who is kind of more charismatic figure than an

old—time politician and we are yet to see if his ambitious plans for the remodelling and reshaping of france will have the parliamentary buck he needs to put through what other politicians have never achieved before. and this sort of imagining what the body language, the relationship would be like between the future french leader and the future german later, how much of that has gone on, putting angela merkel with marine le pen or emmanuel macron? or potentially martin shilts? as a matter of fact, angela merkel has already welcomed the victory of the crew three and so has schultz. he is the opponent of mrs madan —— merkel. we will have out mrs madan —— merkel. we will have our own mrs madan —— merkel. we will have our own elections at the end of this year supposed bank offer partner in paris, only with the german— french motor the year will be running even after the brexit. we have another 13 days before we know what is going to

come from the second round. what is that going to be like? do you have an idea what the main issues are going to be, will be very european focused? they are so opposed on every single subject, it is really two divisions of france. marine le pen yesterday said she wants to put france back in order and some people think it is in order. she was extremely sort of like a general talking to an army, you heard her yesterday and macron was different in style, you couldn't get to so opposed and such a stark contrast. also, it is going to be very interesting because marine le pen didn't doa interesting because marine le pen didn't do a good campaign and that's how she finds herself in second place. so it'll be interesting to see if she bounces back. you are nodding, bear? there is complete different outlooks there on the

future of french society, on the one hand we have marine le pen who is advocating a protectionist vision, you know, closing the - put you know, closing the country, put up you know, closing the country, put up walls, a little bit donald trump style and on the other hand you have macron who sees the globalisation is a chance for france to, a challenge, which will move france forward. and so, on the background of those two different visions, you have to personalities with staunchly different— marine personalities with staunchly diffe re nt— marine le personalities with staunchly different— marine le pen in a way is somebody who stands for the old france, you know, staunch rightist nationalists, and macron who is a staunch european and a modernist. and we are seeing these two candidates trying to pick up votes from the people who didn't vote for them in the first round. you see theircampaign is them in the first round. you see their campaign is changing, moving left or right or trying to appeal to other voters? i think because the pen is from the beginning, from the beginning, she was put at the helm

of her party and has tried to broaden the electoral base and she succeeded in many ways and macron is the same, a lot of people say that he is trying to suddenly, veering left, suddenly a bit right in order to get as many votes as you can so i think their strategy will be different now. macron will have, to become more presidential because he is young, he will turn a0 this year and the pen probably will have the beam or herself because she hasn't been quite herself in the last weeks, she has been strange. we saw in 2002 when her father was in the second round, he was eviscerated by jacques chirac because so many people came to jacques chirac‘s support. do you think that the national front is seen as left toxic now and perhaps that's when i happen to such a large extent this time —— less toxic? the pen is a great politician in that she is astute and shrewd and is not going to be

defeated like her father was. shrewd and is not going to be defeated like herfather was. four marine le pen. it will be a0— 60% i think that is a great victory her. a2 the pen? —— a0% to marine le pen? it is not the party of marine le pen's father. this is a washed down kind of warmed up front nationale which has left the race —— racism and 80 705 —— which has left the race —— raci5m and 80 705 —— anti—semitic vi5ion. stefan simons from der spiegel, agnes poirier, thank you forjoining

us. and there is more a course on our website. including live updates and the latest developments. just go to bbc.com/news. we will be back with more. the stars and stripes at half—mast outside columbine high. the school sealed off, the bodies of the dead still inside. i never thought they would actually go through with it. some places have already had nearly as much rain as they would normally expect in an entire year. for millions of americans, the death of richard nixon in a new york hospital has meant conflicting emotions. a national day of mourning next wednesday 5itting somehow uneasily with the abiding memories of the shame of watergate. and lift—off of the space shuttle discovery with the hubble space

telescope, our window on the universe. hello. deal with bbc news. i'm sally bundock. —— you are with. the latest headlines: the centrist, emmanuel macron, winds through to the second round of the french presidential election. he will face marine le pen of the anti—immigration national front, who described the result as historic. —— front. as you've been hearing the french have voted on who will go though to the final runoff for the presidency on may 7. as widely expected, centrist emmanuel macron and far—right marine le pen are through.

it's been the most unpredictable presidential election in france's history but there are some constants: namely the economic problems and challenges that remain whoever walks into the elysee palace. soa so a key issue is the unemployment level, stubbornly high, at about 10% in france. almost three million people are out of work, not as bad as some eurozone neighbours, but above average for the region and far worse than, for example, germany, where it is below a% and the uk, where it's a.7%. deep—rooted structural problems make its labour market inflexible. one example, companies find it it harder and less attractive to hire new staff. firing them is tricky, too, due to complex dismissal procedures. then there's the infamous working week, while long—hours are not banned anything over 35—hours triggers overtime payments. french government debt is close to 100% of gdp. the international monetary fund has

warned if economic growth weakens significantly and the state get less tax revenues, then its debt burden could rise further. and the vast public sector in france is a huge strain on state finances. the nation has one of the highest public spending ratios amongst developed economies, at more than half of total national output. we will be going to paris live for analysis later in world business report. but we bring you are the news. —— other. the venezuelan president, nicolas maduro says he wants talks with the opposition to resume, and invited the vatican to return to the country to oversee the discussions. in the last three weeks, 20 people have been killed in a wave of tense and protests across the country. greg dawson reports. it was yet another weekend of protest on the streets of caracas but this time, anger gave way to sombre reflection as thousands dressed in white to honour those

killed in the violence that has flared up in this country throughout april. and in his sunday tv address, nicolas maduro hinted at a willingness to compromise, saying he wants to restart peace talks opposition parties. translation: we have to take care of the country, that's why we need elections now and also political dialogue for peace. and i ask pope francis, from here, to continue to accompany us in this dialogue. but the elections he's talking about are only regional — not the presidential vote these protesters crave. 0pposition parties want next year's general election brought forward, accusing president maduro of steering his country towards dictatorship. the recent unrest was initially sparked by a supreme court ruling to limit the power of the country's opposition—controlled national assembly. the court may have backed down, but the protesters have not. president maduro says the demonstrators are led

by right—wing extremists. he also blames a us—backed business elite for the country's economic downturn. steep inflation has led to long queues for food and medical supplies. it's likely the president's offer of talks overseen by international observers will be met with scepticism. more protests are set for monday, including plans to erect roadblocks that grind the country to a halt. greg dawson, bbc news. now a bit of sport. several major events a re now a bit of sport. several major events are under way. this one is in scotland. —— auckland, new zealand — and it's one of the world's biggest. more than 25,000 athletes from 100 countries are taking part in the world masters games. that's more than twice the number in the olympics. the rules for competing are pretty simple — you qualify, if you're old enough.

david eades reports from auckland. faster, higher, stronger. well, maybe not here, but older, tougher, healthier — that's more like the world masters games. so much of it is up here. if you want to do something, you do it. go for it. you don't have to be the best, but i'm swimming against myself. i'm living against myself. they are living for the moment, too, here in auckland. at the opening ceremony, the athletes are also the spectators. this just gives you an idea of the extent of the event — 25,000 people are enjoying the... cheering. i said "enjoying the show." but from their 30s to their 90s and beyond, they are here to compete. this is their olympic games. and there are 0lympians amongst them. new zealand's chantal brunner hasn't done this... ..since she retired from long jump, ten years ago, as a double 0lympian. we did it back when because we loved it. and sometimes you lose sight of it

when you have to make marks, and funding is dependent on how you finish and that pressure comes on. but this is wonderful. if you make the age, and your body is willing, then you can compete. we all get older. these are adults, mature athletes, and they understand that you have do have a healthy lifestyle, but you can have fun at the same time. and i think that is what creates this atmosphere. you can see it is vibrant and great. the popularity of the world masters games has not gone unnoticed. the ioc itself wants future cities like paris or los angeles to include these games within their overall bid. they bring economic opportunity, a greater sense of legacy, and also popular appeal, in a time when the olympic games themselves are struggling to keep cities interested. david eades, bbc news, auckland. and we go back to karin giannone in

paris. thank you. welcome back to paris. thank you. welcome back to paris. this is a country that is waking up after really seismic political events last night. the main parties, the two main parties, the centre—right anti— socialists, are off the map for the selection. two candidates without that traditional background are now in the running. 0ne traditional background are now in the running. one of them will be french president. let's gets a fresh and on this. agnes, how significant is this for the president francois hollande is significant in that the whole political class is likely to be renewed in june. whole political class is likely to be renewed injune. because after the presidential election, course, the presidential election, course, the french need to give a majority to their president. that is how it works. and usually, the french are given the majority. —— had given a majority. but if it is emmanuel macron, he doesn't have that,

because you do credit this party a few months ago. now there is agitation in the whole country tried to find candidates. the course, you will have visitors from the socialist party and also from the right. —— dissidents. but still... stefa n right. —— dissidents. but still... stefan simons, the cisco —— does this caused much nervousness in germany? it has caused concern, because there was a fear of a windfall marine le pen. that would have put the whole german french cooperation intojeopardy have put the whole german french cooperation into jeopardy on have put the whole german french cooperation intojeopardy on europe. it would have been a catastrophe for europe. that is why in berlin, the little class and the population at large, both were nervous. think you very much forjoining us, stefan simons and agnes poirier. we will have more coverage from paris throughout the day on bbc news. hello there.

we might be we might be heading we might be heading to we might be heading to the we might be heading to the end we might be heading to the end of we might be heading to the end of april, but we have a reminder of winter on the way through the next few days. things are turning colder. there will be some wintry showers on the clouds, and also some frosty nights over the next few nights as well. that is coming about because well. that is coming about because we have a weather front in the north introducing much colder at. this cold front has already worked in through scotland, introduced in sleet and snow showers. as it heads south over england and wales and northern ireland, it will bring cloud and outbreaks of rain. but still relatively mild closing monday morning. look around the country, at 8am, there will be sunshine along the south coast. 10 degrees or so, they are. relatively mild. trying to and southern counties. but further north, more cloud and if you patchy clouds. here is the weather front tread through newcastle, towards kendal first tread through newcastle, towards

kendalfirst thing, tread through newcastle, towards kendal first thing, and tread through newcastle, towards kendalfirst thing, and belfast tread through newcastle, towards kendal first thing, and belfast sink some of the wet weather too. —— there. the northern parts of northern ireland and into sites —— scotland, cold was sunshine. sleet and snow showers working to the north of scotland, where it will be windy without biting northerly wind. that will blow through much of scotla nd that will blow through much of scotland later on monday. heading through the day, this main front slips its way south across england and wales, bringing some outbreaks of rain. at a lot of cloud. mild to the south of that, with temperatures in the mid teens. north, temperatures will struggle, the despite the sunshine. 7— nine degrees at best. with those showers moving to the north—east of england and continuing across scotland, too. as we move through monday night into tuesday, cold air pushes across the whole country. you can see the return to the blue colours coming here. that wind sticks around for the middle of the week. tuesday a day of sunshine and showers after a cold start through the day. and we will continue to see those showers

falling as sleet and snow across parts of scotland, northern england too. lower levels, this could be rain, but possibly will hail at times. the driest of the weather to the south and south—west. temperatures will struggle around 7— 11 degrees. still fairly chilly with wintry showers on wednesday, before things turn gradually a little milderfor things turn gradually a little milder for thursday things turn gradually a little milderfor thursday and things turn gradually a little milder for thursday and into things turn gradually a little milderfor thursday and into friday as well. that is how it is looking. goodbye for now. this is bbc news. the headlines — the people of france have chosen the two candidates who will go through to the final round of the presidential election in two weeks time. they're the centrist emmanuel macron and the nationalist right—winger marine le pen. —— and the nationalist right—winger marine le pen. speaking after projections confirmed the first round results, emmanuel macron said his job would be to become president for the whole country.

he called for everyone to rally against the nationalists in the second round. in her speech after the result was announced, ms le pen said that it was time to liberate the french people. the losing centre—right and socialist left candidates said they were now switching their allegiance to mr macron. venezuela's president nicolas maduro says he wants new talks with the opposition to try and solve the political crisis.