this is bbc news. i'm sophie long at buckingham palace where it's been announced the duke of edinburgh is to retire from public duties — a decision he took himself, backed by the queen. but it was business as usual this lunchtime when he took his place alongside the queen — by the autumn he will no longer be accepting engagements. the prince — turns 96 next month — and his decision marks a transition for the royal family. i'll be bringing you all the latest developments. i'm ben brown. the other news at 2pm: the french presidential candidates trade insults on television — now emmanuel macron files a lawsuit to scotch rumours he holds an offshore bank account. the surfer rescued after 32 hours stranded in the irish sea speaks exclusively to the bbc — matthew bryce says he thought he was going to die.

they flew right over. i thought they'd missed me. and then they turned round and they saved my life. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. buckingham palace has announced that the duke of edinburgh will stop carrying out public engagements this autumn. prince philip, who will be 96 next month, made the decision himself with the full support of the queen. the palace says the queen will continue to carry out a full programme of official engagements. the duke of edinburgh is the longest—serving consort in british history — the prime minister said

she offered him the country's deepest gratitude and good wishes. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell‘s report contains some flash photography. arriving at st james‘s palace a short time ago, side by side, as we are accustomed to seeing them, the queen and the duke of edinburgh. but this, come the autumn, will be the exception. the duke has decided, finally, just a few weeks short of his 96th birthday, that it is time for him to step back from public duties. the palace says the decision has not been prompted by any particular concern about health, and indeed in recent weeks he has been fulflling a programme of engagements which belie his age. yesterday, he was at lord's cricket ground, opening a new stand, meeting young cricketers, and cracking a familiarjoke. the world's most experienced plaque unveiler!

plaque unveiling and much more has been a part of his life for very nearly seven decades, and although he has launched initiatives of his own, like the duke of edinburgh's award scheme, his most important role has been to support his wife, the queen. as she has become the longest reigning monarch, he has been the longest serving consort, a few paces behind in public, but her most constant and valued supporter in private. soon the public role will come largely to an end. the palace statement said... political leaders broke off from election campaigning to pay tribute. from his steadfast support for her majesty the queen to his inspirational duke

of edinburgh awards, and his patronage of hundreds of charities and good causes, his contribution to our united kingdom, the commonwealth, and the wider world will be of huge benefit to us all for years to come. 0h, he has dedicated his life to public service and to supporting the queen. i think he has more than earned his retirement. prince philip, as well as the support he has given the queen and his own public service, of course, has done an amazing amount of charity work as well. the leader of the opposition, jeremy corbyn, said of the duke... it was six years ago, in a bbc interview to mark his 90th birthday, that the duke indicated that he was thinking about slowing down. i reckon i've done my bit, i want to enjoy myself with less responsibility,

less frantic rushing about, less preparation, less trying to think of something to say. on top of that, the memory is going, i can't remember names, so yes, just sort of winding down. but nothing much changed after his 90th birthday. he continued with a range of public visits. those who know him say his contribution has been unparalleled. later this year, he will have been at the queen's side for 70 years, 25000 and more public engagements, more than 800 charities and organisations in which he has been actively involved. he has done his bit. the duke's retirement from public duties will mean that other members of the royal family will step up to support the queen. it's likely that she'll be seen on more occasions with the prince of wales and the duke of cambridge.

all of which underlines the fact that, although her husband may be stepping back, the queen is not. in the words of buckingham palace, the queen, 91 two weeks ago, will continue to carry out a full programme of official duties. nicholas witchell, bbc news. the duke of edinburgh is a patron of more than 780 charities — but he'll no longer have an active role attending public functions to support them. one of his greatest legacies will be his work as chairman of the duke of edinburgh awards — which he set up in 1956 and has benefited millions of young people across the uk. richard lister has been looking at the impact the duke has had on charities in many countries. almost as soon as he became part of the royal family, the duke of edinburgh was determined to make his own contribution to british life. while he is most familiar to us at the queen's side at some of the biggest moments of her reign, he has also built up a portfolio

of causes which he has promoted for decades. few, if any, of the people taking part in this park run in leeds would even have been born when prince philip became the president of the national playing fields association “11947, a post he held for more than 60 years. it still fights to protect spaces like this for sports and recreation in urban areas. i think what's so wonderful, he was really hands—on, committees to come into the office and get his advice. he was really passionate about our cause, which is about protecting green space. his love of the outdoor life led to the scheme which still bears his name, the duke of edinburgh awards, which he created in 1956. to give young people a chance to discover their own abilities for themselves as an introduction to the responsibilities and interests of the grown—up world,

and incidentally to make new friends and have a great deal of fun and satisfaction in the process. the scheme calls for a combination of physical activity and volunteering, which almost 120,000 young people completed last year alone. in terms of his legacy, the duke of edinburgh awards scheme, which is known around the world for getting young people out there and trying to get them away from the phones and everything they do these days, you know, that is a great legacy. for 15 years, he was the high—profile president of the world wildlife fund, travelling widely to press the case for conservation. we depend on being part of the web of life, we depend on every living thing on this planet, just as much as they depend on us. in latter years, the cause he has been most attached to, according to friends, is the maritime charity trinity house. the former admiral is thought likely to maintain some involvement behind the scenes.

and his promotion of the equestrian sport of carriage driving is likely to be undiminished, if a little less publicly than before. but he helped write the rules for the sport and has been a majorforce behind it. has been a good ambassador for eventing, he is approachable, he has always been doing something, involved, and not sort of high and mighty. i think he has done his bit, i think he has been absolutely wonderful, and he has been immaculate in every way. it is sad, but it is not surprising, at 96 you are entitled to retire from royal duties. though not always high—profile, the duke of edinburgh used to carry out at least 250 appointments in a busy year. those who know him say his impact on british life has been... absolutely huge, no single person, apart from the queen, had such an impact, and when we talk about him retiring, i do not believe it is a retirement, it is a change of the way he does things.

he is stepping out of the compulsory public duties. he will still be interested, he will still know what is going on, who is running it, he will still know their names and say to them, what is keeping you busy? so the next chapter of the duke of edinburgh's life begins, but it will be one that plays out less publicly than before. richard lister, bbc news. joining me now is roya nikkhah, the royal correspondent for the sunday times. quite a significant moment, then. a suddenly busy day for you. very busy day, very significant moment, the duke of edinburgh has been by his wife's side for 70 years, it's been an extraordinary life of public service for him to be stepping back is very significant and possibly marks a transition from the old guard to the new. we'll see him through the summer, it'll be a sum of public engagements. state opening

of public engagements. state opening of parliament, trooping the colour, the queen's birthday parade, possibly his last appearance at both. i'm sure we'll see him every day at royal ascot with the queen. he won't take on any new engagements as of september. in a statement released by the palace earlier, they said he may be seen if and when he feels like attending something alongside the queen. in your opinion how much do you think we'll see him? i think we'll see philip doing exactly what he wants to do, not what he feels he is duty bound to do. we may see him giving out duke of edinburgh gold medal awards, we'll probably see him at public events with causes he is committed to. we might not see him at church services, official engagements, the order of the merits service. aged 96 he is next month, he will probably dojust he is next month, he will probably do just what he wants him to do and no one would begrudge him that. it's

been a remarkable life of public service, seven decades. give us a sense for those people who don't follow the royals closely what that entails. even this year we've already heard this morning his completed 25 days of public engagements. forsomebody who completed 25 days of public engagements. for somebody who will be 90 62 months before he retires, it's not bad going. extraordinary. the man is 96 in a few weeks' time, solo engagement alone he's done more than 21,000 in his lifetime. he's done more than, i think, 637 overseas visits on his own, not to mention what he has done with the queen. when they said about their golden wedding anniversary the queen gave a speech famously saying, he's been my strength and my stay. you cannot underestimate how important prince philip has been for the success of the queen's rain. prince harry has alluded to that in the past, and said what you see him doing, she couldn't do it without him. it gives us a sense of how important that supportive role has

been over the last six decades. hugely important, the queen has taken hugely important, the queen has ta ke n every hugely important, the queen has taken every opportunity to publicly paid tribute to him. william and harry still very much talk about although the queen is the head of the royal family philip although the queen is the head of the royalfamily philip is the head of the family and they still very much look at him like that, as does the queen. for 70 years, to walk two steps behind your wife quite an extraordinary thing to have done. he's brought humour to royal engagements, kept us on our toes, people have called him gaffe prone. people appreciate someone in that kind of position who speaks his mind, which he has done. we wish him well in his retirement. it was before retirement, though, i think we'll still see him. thank you very much for being with us, roya nikkhah. more reaction to the announcement from buckingham palace that prince philip is to stand down from official royal duties from the autumn. for now, though, back to you. sophie long at buckingham palace.

voters are going to the polls for local and mayoral elections in england, wales and scotland. nearly 5,000 council seats are vacant in 88 councils in scotland and wales, and around another 30 are up for grabs in england. some councils will begin counting ballots as soon as polls shut at 10 o'clock this evening, while others will start counting tomorrow morning. results will be announced throughout the day tomorrow. four days before france elects its new president, the two remaining contenders have traded insults in a heated televised debate. the centrist candidate, emmanuel macron, said his far—right rival, marine le pen, risked civil war with her policies; she accused him of being complacent about islamist extremism. our europe correspondent james reynolds was watching. france's next president sat at this table, but at which end? emmanuel macron and marine le pen

argued over the future of their country. monsieur macron est le candidat de la mondalisation sauvage... translation: mr macron is the candidate of savage globalisation, uberisation, economic uncertainty, social brutality, of every man for himself. translation: you have shown that you're not the candidate for a balanced, democratic debate. the question is, do the people want your defeatist attitude ? you say, "globalisation is too hard for us, so is europe, let's shut our borders, leave the euro — because others succeed, not us." millions watched, but not all were impressed. translation: the debate was heated — because of that, i didn't watch all of it. the aggression really bothered me. translation: it was a stream of insults from both sides, it won't change much when election day arrives. this was one of the most aggressive debates in recent french history. more than two hours of insults, attacks and accusations made for a memorable confrontation.

now french voters have to pick a side. this morning, emmanuel macron told a radio station that the debate revealed his opponent's true colours. the 39—year—old centrist maintains his lead in the polls. in her own postdebate interview, marine le pen insisted that she succeeded in revealing the true macron. ms le pen has now gone to brittany to begin herfinal days of campaigning. it's a last attempt to narrow the gap with her opponent. james reynolds, bbc news, paris. the candidates continue to campaign today. an egg was thrown at marina pen as she toured the north of the country. the latest poll has macron leading le pen 59% to 41%. just

ahead of sunday's crucial vote. that speak to our paris correspondent hugh schofield, who is following events. hugh schofield, who is following eve nts. h ow hugh schofield, who is following events. how much difference do you think this tv debate will make to the voters? it's not going to bring many new voters for marina pen. that's all that counts really. sure what she did in his performance appealed to a large branch of the population behind her, but it won't have appealed to many other people, given she is so far behind, i can't see it helping her in any way. if anything, i would take the view that of course it's just my interpretation, it will have tilted some people thinking of abstaining to vote for emmanuel macron. her performance was very, very vitriolic. very, very aggressive. it was not at all presidential. the french want to see someone who looks

and acts in a presidential way and i don't think she was doing that. i think she deliberately wasn't doing that, i think she knows she's not going to win selection and was acting with half an eye on the future when she wants to be in opposition. to be leading the opposition. to be leading the opposition against future president macron. i don't think it'll make much difference and if it does it'll bea much difference and if it does it'll be a slight difference in favour of emmanuel macron. what about his performance? he used some pretty strong words, didn't he?|j performance? he used some pretty strong words, didn't he? i don't think we should put them on the same level here. he kept his cool and what was a barrage of insinuation and sloganising and from marina pen. i'm not saying that... that was her tactic, that's quite clear. he was the consummate technocratic brilliance, which he has at his fingertips, he was able to stay calm, smooth things over, try to return to the rational debate every

time. he did accuse her of lying and fabricating as well, but i think that was, in the circumstances, just an observation. she was making pretty wild allegations, often saying he was backed by an islamic organisation, saying he might have a secret account in the bahamas. these we re secret account in the bahamas. these were things thrown out by her in the hope that the mother would stick. he could hardly ignore it. i think in general he kept his calm and tried to return to the essence of the debate. though having said that, he won this debate, i don't think that is in any sense the end of his problems, he remains a minority leader, minority frontrunner. the only won 23% of the vote in the first round, half the country is deeply opposed to his ideas, his liberal policies and so on. he has a massive task ahead of him. what we hear from marina massive task ahead of him. what we hearfrom marina pen last night massive task ahead of him. what we hear from marina pen last night is just the beginning of it. many thanks indeed, hugh schofield.

latest headlines from bbc news with the time 20 past two... the duke of edinburgh is to retire from public duties, a decision he has taken himself, backed by the queen. the french presidential candidates have been trading insults on television. emmanuel macron filed a lawsuit to scotch rumours he is holding an offshore bank account. the surfer rescued after 32 hours stranded in the irish sea has been speaking to the irish sea has been speaking to the bbc. matthew price says he thought he was going to die. arsenal manager arsene wenger says the highs and lows of a football career can add to the mental pressures on players. it comes after news that everton's aaron lennon was detained by police this week under the mental health act. jose mourinho says manchester united are prioritising the europa league as a pathway to

the europa league as a pathway to the champions league next season. they place celta vigo tonight in the semifinal. heather knight has a stress fracture in her foot, semifinal. heather knight has a stress fracture in herfoot, but semifinal. heather knight has a stress fracture in her foot, but she should be ok for next month's world cup. full update for you in the next ten minutes or so. now to the united states, where republicans are confident they have enough support to begin to repeal obamacare and have scheduled a vote in congress later today . reforms to the healthcare policy would then go to the senate where a more tricky passage is likely. we can speak to our correspondent in washington, gary o'donoghue. first of all, the house, does mr trump of the vote, that is the key question. there is certainly not more confident this time around than there was previously. remember twice before they marched soldiers up to the top of the hill only to march them down again. this time, they

feel they've persuaded particularly some of those republicans on the right of the party at what is called the freedom caucus, to come on—board. out there done that? they've given states more rights to introduce restrictions, if you like, on what helps companies have to offer people in those states. that is very popular with some on the right. they've had to bite off some on the other side because there was a lwa ys on the other side because there was always an equal and opposite reaction in the republican party. they've had to throw $8 billion at the moderates to make sure people with pre—existing conditions, like co ro nary with pre—existing conditions, like coronary heart disease or cancer remission, make sure they are not priced out of the market. they do look like they have got the votes. speaker paul ryan walking a few minutes ago being pretty tight—lipped but there was a lot of confidence around last night. they can confidence around last night. they ca n afford confidence around last night. they can afford 22 republicans to vote no, assuming all democrats will vote against it, which i think it's probably one of the safer bets in american politics at the moment.

they think they've got those numbers. as you said, though, the big step comes next in the senate. the democrats are in some ways trying to prevent it going to the floor of the senate by arguing about the rules under which this bill is being pushed through. but even if they don't manage that, there are only 52 republicans in the senate to 48 democrats, they can only afford to lose two or three votes. there are plenty of republicans in the senate worried about this bill.m the white house fail with all of this, in the senate perhaps, do they keep trying again and again? the difficulty with that is, you kind of hardened positions if you keep trying, keep failing, then people think they can get more and more out of you, more and more out of the process , of you, more and more out of the process, that polarises both sides. but i think the house has always been the focus of this. you have to

remember the politics of this. every member of that house has to be re—elected every two years, every two years. so they are running the whole time, practically. the important thing is they can go back to their districts and say, we have done what we needed to do. if it gets bogged down in the senate it becomes a different matter and the senate might worry, might not worry, about being blamed the thing falling at that hurdle. what is important for on the ground republicans is that this gets to the house now, then they will deal with any compromises they have defined in the senate. we'll see what happens later. thank you gary o'donoghue, in washington. shares in the high street retailer, next, fell by as much as 7% one point this morning after it reported worse than expected sales. it also warned that profits this year could be considerably lower than it had forecastjust a few months ago because of what it describes as a challenging trading environment. a surfer who was rescued

after spending 32 hours clinging to his board in the irish sea has said he had prepared himself to die. speaking exclusively to the bbc, 22 year old matthew bryce told of his relief at being spotted by the coastguard helicopter — he said when it first flew over, he thought it had missed him. our ireland correspondent, chris buckler, has been talking to matthew bryce in the ulster hospital in belfast, where he is recovering. i started to shiver. i knew my body temperature was dropping. matthew bryce is exhausted. sunburnt and still recovering from more than 30 hours spent drifting alone in the irish sea. i had a white lycra top over my wetsuit and i would say that's probably a yellow surf board, so that would be the right colour. this picture was taken on westport beach in scotland on sunday, and matthew believes it shows him

at the start of a day's surfing before strong winds and tides pulled him out into the water. the current changes, and i can't do anything and all this time the winds pushing me further and further out. sorry. he ended up clinging to his surf board in the irish sea throughout sunday night and all of monday, before he was eventually found closer to northern ireland than scotland, 13 miles from the beach he left, found just as the sun was setting, and a second night was approaching. so i knew i had maybe three hours, and i was pretty certain that i was going to die. before sunset. so i was watching the sun set, i pretty much made peace with all,

and then i heard a helicopter. and the helicopter flew, right over, so ijumped off the board, and i lifted the board up, and i started waving the board, in the water, and they flew right over and i thought they'd missed me, and then they turned. and they turned round. and then they saved my life. i can't thank them enough. this is the moment he was rescued from the water, and his family could finally be told he was alive. you have this elation, you're high and then 20 minutes later, you crash back down. you don't know what state he's in, you don't know how unwell he is, and until we got that phone call from matthew, just

to hear his voice. the rnli have apparently recovered your surf board as well. are you looking forward to being reunited with your surf board, is that the right question? i think we'll find a good use for it. maybe a starter fuel. but yes. you're done with surfing? i think so. i can't do that again. and his family are likely to make him keep that pledge. chris buckler, bbc news, at the ulster hospital in belfast. absolutely extraordinary story. we're going to look at the weather. louise lear has the latest forecast. today's weather is just like the story all week, a tale of mixed

fortunes. glorious sunshine for some but not for all. across that kent coast it's rather cloudy and grey. i would still like to be on that beach right now but nevertheless i'm not, i'm here telling you just where the cloud is sitting down across the south coast. a better start across east anglia but already with breeze coming in off the seat it's a drawing more cloud. you've probably seen drawing more cloud. you've probably seen the best of the weather here. further north and west it has been a glorious day and continues to be so across much of western scotland, northern ireland and north—west england. plenty of blue sky, sunshine and warmth to go with it. temperatures likely to peek into the high teens. disappointing that the breeze coming in off the sea, ten or 11 at the very best across the east coast. through the night we keep cloud, the risk of a few showers, dotted around the m4 corridor, drifting steadily west. clear skies further north, we could see a touch of light frost in blends of scotland. the best of the sunshine tomorrow the further north and west

you are. central and southern areas will be cloudy, more disappointing, and with the breeze starting to strengthen into the south—west, it'll make it feel, dare i say, even colder. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: the duke of edinburgh, prince philip, will stand down from royal duties in the autumn, buckingham palace says. the decision was made by prince philip himself and is supported by the queen. the palace says the prince, who turns 96 next month, will only attend previously scheduled events between now and august. his decision will mark a transition for the royal family. french presidential candidate emmanuel macron files a lawsuit to scotch rumours he holds an offshore account,

as his rival marine le pen alleged during their debate. the surfer rescued after 32 hours stranded in the irish sea tells the bbc he thought he was going to die. matthew bryce was found 13 miles off the argyll coast on monday night after going surfing on sunday morning. now the sport. the arsenal manager arsene wenger says the extreme highs and lows of a career in football adds to the pressure on players and can lead to mental health problems. everton's aaron lennon is receiving treatment after being detained by police under the mental health act last weekend. not all the players, even if they feel the need, they do want to be helped by people who are at the club. sometimes you don't want to show

that you could be interpreted as a weakness inside the club, and so i believe that you understand that most of the players, in a situation where they need help, they want to do that outside the club. jose mourinho has written off finishing in the top four in the premier league, and says that manchester united will now prioritise the europa league, because winning that is the only way they'll qualify for next season's champions league and that could see them resting players on the home front. they are in spain for the first leg of their europa league semifinal tonight against celta vigo, but play arsenal on sunday before the second leg next week at old trafford so they may play a weakened team against the gunners. i think it would be a good achievement with the many problems we had and would allow us to be back to the champions

league next season. so we have to try, that is what we are going to do and honestly the europa league becomes for us now more important. england women's cricket captain heather knight has a stress fracture to her left foot but should recover in time for the world cup which starts in just over seven weeks. knight is expected to be available for england's warm—up matches, the first of those is on june 19th against sri lanka. it will be her first world cup as skipper after taking over from charlotte edwards. england's men start their busy summer tomorrow in bristol, with a one day match against ireland. the two will also play at lord's on sunday. the england captain says his side are in good shape as they prepare to host the eight team champions trophy next month. the strength and depth we have had for this side has been extremely strong over the last 18 months. i think the squad we selected in the champions trophy reflects that. the guys that have missed out, we could

have picked a squad of 18 or 19 that could take the field. that bodes well for us in the competition. i hope it continues over the next two years as we build toward the world cup. that is a huge positive. usain bolt says his legacy will be proving to youngsters that clean athletes can win medals. bolt will be retiring from the sport after defending his sprint titles at the world championships in london this summer, and speaking to bbc sport's steve cram injamaica, he says he won't change his mind about quitting and is more than happy with what he has done for athletics. for me, just a great legacy, know what i mean? to show the kids that anything is possible. you can do it without cheating, you know what i mean? it is one of those things i am happy i can leave in the sport. you can do it without cheating. if you are going to do this, it is going to be hard work and dedication, and a lot of sacrifice. and you can see usain bolt: the final chapter on bbc one,

this saturday, at 1:15pm. former super league champions st helens have appointed australian justin holbrook as their new coach. holbrookjoins from sydney roosters with saints currently lying seventh in the super league after last week's win over leigh. former saints scrum—half sean long will be one of holbrook‘s assistants. he had been holding the reins. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. as we've been hearing, buckingham palace has announced that the duke of edinburgh has decided to stop carrying out public engagements from the autumn. prince philip, who is 95 years—old, is said to have the full support of the queen in taking his decision. she will continue with all her duties. the duke is the longest—serving consort in british history. let's return to buckingham palace and my colleague sophie long. it is business as usual at

buckingham palace, a constant run of tourists behind me. it has been business as usual for the queen and the duke of edinburgh carrying out an engagement at the james palace. there is more media here than on our usual thursday afternoon. they began to assemble this morning when speculation was rife on social media after we heard there would be a meeting at the palace and then followed the announcement that the duke of edinburgh is to stand down from his royal duties at the beginning of the autumn. the duke of edinburgh is a patron of more than 780 charities. he will continue his association with them. one of them is the british driving society which he has been involved with since 1973. let's speak now tojohn parker, their vice president. the duke of edinburgh took up

carriage driving after he gave up pole and it is fair to say he was rather good at it. what ——... what --... can you hear me? yes. i was saying that the duke of edinburgh was rather good at carriage driving. i believe you taught him. no, well, i tried to help him at some point but i mainly drove against him are with him. he was very good. he was very accurate, very brave, and he was hard to beat. it meant everything to driving. he carried on doing it until he was 65, which sounds pretty good and

remarkable to think that was 30 yea rs remarkable to think that was 30 years ago. are you surprised he continued with his role in public life for so long? no. not when you know him. when i used to drive with him the driving was his pleasure and his work as he called it was going places. he had five times the energy i had places. he had five times the energy ihad and places. he had five times the energy i had and was 20 years older than me. i have been out with them in the frost and eyes and i thought we would stop for coffee but he did not stop. he went out again. he was a tough competitor. he came in at the right time for driving. everybody needed a boost. he gave that boost. everybody said if prince philip drives i can drive but you would be amazed the power he brought to driving. he brought it to great

britain from the continent. i got hooked up with that. he got been a lot of trouble over that because he used to take short cuts abroad and i was told if you follow him... but when you drove with him you realised how keen he was and he wanted to win. and he did win. he left me behind a few times as well. a huge amount of energy, and he brought that to his public life and up alongside the queen as well. do you think he's enjoyed the public engagements? that he has enjoyed being the queen's consort?|j engagements? that he has enjoyed being the queen's consort? i think he enjoyed everything. prince philip thrives on doing things. he cannot sit down for two minutes. he just

cannot. he is involved with everything. i remember years ago when we were travelling out to france and he was underneath a ca rava n france and he was underneath a caravan rewiring the lights. nobody believed he would but he was. i did not know he was there and i said, come out of there, you will mess it up, and prince philip said, go away, we are making a good job of this. you only see once a divine. we are lucky in the driving world we saw the other side. the man who would talk to everybody. he gave so much encouragement to people, the mere fa ct encouragement to people, the mere fact that he draw. he will still drive. he will not stop now. thank you. the vice president of the british driving society. more than

780 organisations the duke of edinburgh is patron, president or associated with in some way, and we are told he will carry on those associations. he will continue his engagements over the summer which include the trooping of the colour but he will not be taking on any new invitations from this autumn. more reaction to his more than six decades of public service at buckingham palace through the course of the afternoon. we will be back with you shortly. facebook says nearly two billion people are using its services every month, 17% higher than a year ago. the company has come under sustained pressure in recent weeks over its handling of hate speech, child abuse and self—harm on the social network. yesterday, its chief executive mark zuckerberg announced it was hiring 3,000 extra people to moderate content on the site. with me is our technology

correspondent. 2 billion people. why are people flocking to facebook? in huge numbers. extraordinary story. facebook marked with great enthusiasm when it got to one billion and everybody wondered that it, what an extraordinary business it, what an extraordinary business it is. almost frighteningly strong. it is the third of the world's population. most of these new users are outside north america and europe in developing nations. as more people come online often it seems the first thing they do is join facebook. in some parts of the developing world they say the word facebook is almost anonymous with the internet, it is how people associate the internet. the other side of that is it gives this one

company extraordinary wealth and power and not everybody is happy. even a lot of criticism of the content and they seem to be taking some steps towards policing that. content and they seem to be taking some steps towards policing thatm has been an extraordinary year. facebook has had to face up to the fa ct of facebook has had to face up to the fact of that power. it has wielded that power quite comfortably up until now and ignored criticism, particularly that it is notjust the technology company, that it is a giant media empire and should take more responsibility for what people post on it. it used to say we leave it to remember is who decide what goes on and it is up to them to warn other things are going wrong and we will do our best, and it is beginning to realise that does not stack up. another 3000 people employed not to proactively call it, that the other difficult thing, the

amount of content is so vast, thousands of hours of video being posted every day, impossible to do that. how do the police that? they are relying on the users to say that is breaking the rules. they say they are going to make it easierfor us to report that and then this army of new recruits will be looking at those reports and trying to assess whether they did break the rules, and getting that material of the site sooner, because in the recent incidents, a terrible murder in thailand of a baby last week, it was up thailand of a baby last week, it was upforfartoo thailand of a baby last week, it was up for far too long, thailand of a baby last week, it was up forfar too long, and announcing this development yesterday mark tucker berg said we have to be faster if we are going to have a safe community, we have to respond much more quickly. thank you. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc

news: the duke of edinburgh is to retire from public duties, a decision he took himself, backed by the queen. the french presidential candidates trade insults on television. now emmanuel macron files a lawsuit to scotch rumours he holds an offshore bank account. the surfer rescued after 32 hours stranded in the irish sea speaks exclusively to the bbc. matthew bryce says he thought he was going to die. in the business news: the country's services sector is going gangbusters. last month, new work grew at its fastest pace this year. that's according to the purchasing managers' index. it's a sign that the economy could be picking up speed. mortgage approvals fell for the second month in a row despite lenders stepping up their offers to borrowers. a total of 66,837 mortgages were approved for house purchases in march, down 1.6%

on the previous month. bank of england figures show the number of loans approved for those remortgaging also fell. the accountancy watchdog is investigating how kpmg audited the accounts of the aero—engine maker rolls—royce over a four year period. this comes after rolls reached a settlement of £671 million with the serious fraud office in january over corruption allegations. kpmg says it's co—operating and is "confident in the quality" of its work. sales of new cars plunged in april but the near 20% decline compared with march was due to consumers rushing to buy ahead of new vehicle excise duties. the society of motor manufacturers and traders said just over 152,000 new cars were registered in april. for more on this we can speak to mike hawes, the chief executive at the smmt,

the society of motor manufacturers and traders. you must be really worried by this. this was not unexpected. in march we saw a lot of pull forward because of changes in vehicle excise duty, road tax, coming into effect on the 1st of april, so many customers decided to buy new cars in their belly in march, such that march was up significantly, an all—time record month, and a programme suffered the consequences. you month, and a programme suffered the consequences. you think it will pick back up? yes. we will get to a more sta ble back up? yes. we will get to a more stable position. when you have a major tax change it disrupts the market, the industry does not like that, we would like even demand. you can see this coming and plan for it. there is a lot of uncertainty swelling around this, the election and brexit. surely that is going to have an effect on people buying new

ca rs. have an effect on people buying new cars. wider political issues do not have a significant effect on new car demand. the more important one is an doubted late brexit and what effect that will have in terms of pricing, demand and consumer confidence. as long as consumer confidence remains stronger market can remain strong. that is a big caveat. how can you ensure yourself against any fluctuation in confidence from consumers? we are not able to. the last two years the market has been a regular global than despite the turbulence of the last couple of months which was caused by other factors we are seeing the market is ata factors we are seeing the market is at a very high level, there are still many compelling reasons for consumers to buy vehicles and they are still coming into showrooms. thank you. challenging times for the high street retailer next. the company's sales dropped 2.5% in the last three months. it's also warning profits

could be lower than expected this year, coming in at between {600—740 million. check your purse, wallet and piggy bank for paper £5 notes. they will cease to be legal tender by the weekend. the bank of england said 150 million of its paper £5 notes, the equivalent of about three for every adult in the uk, remain with the public. shops may refuse them from saturday, although banks should exchange them. royal dutch shell's profits surged in the first three months of the year on the back of rising oil prices. the anglo—dutch giant said profits on a current cost of supply measure, which strips out price fluctuations, jumped to $3.1; billion, that's £2.6 billion, from $1 billion last year. a 55% rise in oil prices in the first quarter of 2017 was the main driver of profits. profits fell by almost a fifth at hsbc over the first three months of the year. that figure came in atjust under £4 billion, which is actually better than expected. the boss called them "a good set of results". a pretty healthy day in europe,

particularly in london, solid results from hsbc and shell supporting the markets. hsbc has been the biggest riser because of those better than expected results and improved capital position. commodities are also doing well. that's all the business news. it's been ten years since adele released her first track, and since then she's become one of the world's most successful pop stars. she's just finished a global tour where she performed to more than a million fans. and she's now the richest musician under 30 in the uk and ireland. the new rich list published by the sunday times shows she's now worth £125 million, 50% more than she was last year. the last six months have underlined

their dell's position as a music phenomenon. her third album has now sold more than 20 million copies across the world. on her latest tour she has performed at 122 concerts. toa she has performed at 122 concerts. to a total audience of more than 1 million fans. it was clear from her early music ten yea rs

it was clear from her early music ten years ago that she was something special. winning the critics' choice award at the brits than coming first on the bbc sound of 2008 list. her second album 21 established her asa her second album 21 established her as a starter. it became the biggest selling album of 2011 and 2012. it won record of the year and album of the year at the grammys as well as best album at the brits. although co ntroversially best album at the brits. although controversially her acceptance speech was cut short, much to her displeasure. i would like to say i

got cut off for my speech during for best album and i gave them the finger. that was not to my fans. she admitted briefly to me that expectation was somewhat— her third album. a lot of expectation after 21. yes. everything is always going to follow 21. my fifth album from now will follow 21. there is nothing ican do now will follow 21. there is nothing i can do about that. launching the follow—up to 21 she also showed her sense of humour, pretending to be an adele impersonator. you are joking me. the clip has been watched 58 million times on youtube. it is not. it is. it is adele. if she needed

any more reassurance about her immense popularity last summer's glastonbury will have given her that as more than 100,000 fans flocked to see and hear her sing. glastonbury, do it one more time for me, scheme it. never mind, iwill find do it one more time for me, scheme it. never mind, i will find someone like you, i wish nothing but the best for you two. # spinners have become the latest must have toy and some schools say they are disrupting lessons. fidget spinners are taking over playgrounds.

the small toys are becoming the latest must have gadget. my spinner is a glow in the dark one. you get relaxed when it spins, and it is really satisfying. you can have challenges with other people. you can trade and customise them as well. but these little things are causing big headaches for teachers. sometimes children get distracted... and they don't concentrate on their work. they try to rush it so they can play with it, and they don't produce much quality work. they have since been banned in a number of schools. but here in manchester, teachers are a bit more relaxed. they are happy for kids to play with them but only outside of the classroom. you can play with them at lunchtime and playtime, but you are not allowed to play with them in class. we have had them banned in class, and you are only allowed them at break and lunch.

we are happy to have kids enjoying fidget spinners in the playground, we are seeing them get a lot of fun. they are developing their fine motor skills, but we have asked them to put them away as soon as they enter the building, so they are not a distraction in the lessons. we found that children were more interested in watching each other do tricks than they were in watching the teacher. the spinners only cost a couple of pounds, but some websites have started to charge a lot more as their popularity increases. online videos showing off tricks have had millions of views, until the next big thing in the playground, it looks like the fidget spinner will be around until, at least, the summer. it looks as though the weather is set to continue on a very similar pattern to the last few days,

glorious sunshine of further north and west you are yet again, scotland seeing a beautiful story, dismal in their south—east. scattered showers. a breeze coming in off of the north sea, feeling disappointing. most of the cloud is further south. you can see the blues guide to the north. this cloud coming off of the north sea is making it feel raw. temperatures struggling at ten, 11 at the very best. the sea temperatures perhaps the lowest they can be at this time of year. the breeze is exacerbating the chilly feeling. a different story, west is best, temperatures in the high teens across western scotland and northern ireland, a beautiful afternoon. keeping that sunshine across the far north and west. a little more cloud into central and southern areas of england. adding on the chilly breeze it is going to feel disappointing. right along the east coast, ten or

11 asa right along the east coast, ten or 11 as a maximum. hicks dean or 18 not out of the question in the west. we will keep the cloud over night. with clear skies further north things could turn chilly. in towns and city centres, 5—9, but in sheltered rural areas of scotland, temperatures close to freezing and a touch of light frost not out of the question. almost daily peak performance on friday, lots of dry and sunny weather. it has been a glorious week for sheltered northwest in areas with temperatures around 18 degrees. still chilly across the east coast. moving out of friday into saturday, low—pressure threatening the near continent, potentially bringing heavy rain across cornwall and devon. still uncertainty how far north that is likely to come. it may brush somerset. it will keep more cloud. fine weather reserved for western scotland. the low—pressure clears

away during saturday night into sunday. sunday is the better of the two days of the weekend but still a nagging breeze taking the edge off of the feel of things. further west is best, enjoy. this is bbc news. i'm sophie long at buckingham palace where it's been announced the duke of edinburgh is to retire from public duties — a decision he took himself, backed by the queen. but it was business as usual this lunchtime when he took his place alongside the queen — by the autumn he will no longer be accepting engagements. the prince turns 96 next month — and his decision marks a transition for the royal family. we'll be bringing you all the latest developments. i'm ben brown. the other news at 3pm.

the french presidential candidates trade insults on television — now emmanuel macron files a lawsuit to scotch rumours he holds