hello, my name's tom donkin. welcome to bbc news. the campaign of the french presidential candidate, emmanuel macron, says it's suffered a massive hacking attack which has resulted in thousands of internal documents being released online. it says authentic stolen documents have been mixed with fake ones to sow doubt before sunday's run—off vote between mr macron and his far—right opponent, marine le pen. thoma fessy is in paris where he has been gauging the mood of voters. it's election season in france and at this satirical theatre comedians take a swipe at the politicians running for president. with the many twists and political scandals, this campaign has given them fodder for their work. we don't know who will be ourfuture president. we're scared but that's. so we really need to laugh. it is an exceptional election. neither of the traditional parties

that have governed france for over half a century is represented in sunday's run—off. instead, the 39—year—old centrists who wants to break down the lines between the right and left, is now the favourite against a far right candidate. translation: both candidates have a different vision of democracy, of the country and the people. humour is the best way to play down what is ahead of us. translation: at last we can have fun because what we have seen in the campaign was not funny at all. unemployment and how to revice the economy have dominated this campaign, but immigration and security issues have also been high on the agenda. the french are now left with a choice of two very different visions for france, with a globalist, pro—european candidate and an anti—immigrant nationalist. whoever wins will have to reunite a divided nations. thomas fessy, bbc news, paris.

an agreement to set up safe zones in parts of syria has now come into force. the deal on the zones was reached on thursday between russia and iran, which both back the syrian government. the main opposition in syria has expressed concern over the deal, saying it lacks proper safeguards. sarah corker reports. syria's six—year civil war has left more than 300,000 people dead and drawn in global powers. these safe zones aim to halt the conflict in specific areas between government forces and rebels and allow food and medicine to get in. in moscow, russia's defence ministry said the deal would come into the effect in the early hours of saturday. translation: within in the boundaries of the deescalation zones, the military activities between the government forces and the armed opposition, who have alreadyjoined or willjoin the ceasefire agreement, will be ceased. it covers the use of all types of weapons, including airstrikes. but he also stressed russia's air force would continue striking so—called islamic state

elsewhere in syria. the four designated safe zones will cover rebel—held idlib province and adjoining districts of latakia, aleppo and hama. parts of homs province and rebel enclaves near damascus are also included, and in southern syria, quneitra and daraa provinces complete the list. the deal was signed at thursday's talks in kazakhstan between russia and iran, which both back syria's president assad. turkey, which supports syrian rebel groups, agreed to act as a guarantor. but in the middle of the signing some rebel delegates stormed out, angry about iran's involvement. while a senior un official described it as an important move forward. deescalation of violence, reduction of what has been seen as a constant instead increase in many areas, particularly those four areas of violence. the talks were meant to shore up an often violated ceasefire

originally agreed in december. in aleppo, news of the safe zones was greeted with caution. translation: we support any proposal that stops the shedding of blood of the syrian people, but we have no faith in russia or in any proposal that it makes. shortly after the agreement came into force, syrian activists say shelling and gunfire have been heard in rebel held north—western areas. sarah corker, bbc news. much more in the situation in syria and the french presidential election is at our website, or you can download the bbc news at. stay with us here on bbc news, still to come: the government finally publishes its plan to reduce air

pollution but it's criticised for being too unclear. the conservatives have made the biggest local election gains by a governing party for more than a0 years. they've taken control of another 11 councils and gained more than 500 seats. after losing seven councils overall, labour admitted it faced a huge challenge in the general election which is just five weeks away. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. ..is duly elected as councillor for the said division. blue was the colour, in essex, teesside, derbyshire, lancashire, south, east, west and north. even in glasgow, where in some parts the tories went out with the ark. the conservative party candidate is duly elected as mayor. and in the marginal midlands, a big win — the area's first ever metro mayor, wearing a tory rosette. this is may's day.

this is not about who wins and who loses in the local elections. it is about continuing to fight for the best brexit deal for families and businesses across the united kingdom. are you still seriously maintaining, today, that you are not looking at a victory and sweeping back into number ten, potentially with a very large majority? i'm not taking anything for granted. i will be going out for the remaining weeks of this general election campaign to earn the support of the british people. and it is labour that is suffering. red spilled in west dunbartonshire, northumberland, nottinghamshire, seats disappearing in almost every corner. a very bad night for labour? thank you so much for coming. mr corbyn needs a lot more than a brave face. i declare that andy burnham is duly elected as the mayor... 0ld faces, but new mayors in manchester and liverpool gave

labour something to cheer. but what's this? where's andy burnham ? the leader arrived tonight to celebrate that manchester victory, but the actual winner, andy burnham, was nowhere to be seen. jeremy corbyn has inspired, but there is a huge question mark. can this kind of support for translate to the whole country? crowd: yes, we can! 0ne senior labour figure told me the results were catastrophic, but the leader will hardly admit that. we've had very disappointing results in other parts of the country. yes, we have to go out there in the next four weeks and get a message out. yet, with only weeks till the general election, candidates who want to stay on as labour mps are already pointing the finger. it's a pretty disastrous picture. it's simply not good enough, for a party that's been in opposition for seven years,

that's heading towards a general election in five weeks, to not be picking up seats and not making forward progress. a symbol of the party's decline, a totem, labour lost control of glasgow's city chambers to the snp. they failed to win there outright, but they are the biggest party by far. yet the emerging pattern in scotland, a tory comeback. this is a clear and emphatic victory for the snp. it means we've got councillors and council groups across the country able to protect local services, but it's also a great launchpad for the general election. in wales, labour lost more than 100 seats, but held cardiff, and held back some of the worst. but the tories and plaid nibbling away some of their support. defending wales is what plaid cymru is all about. labourare in no position to do that. they've had a majority of mps in wales for decades, and they've failed to

put wales on the map. but it was ukip that had the worst crash from their heights, their scorecard nearly zero, brexit seeming to challenge their very reason for being. we've won the war, but we haven't yet won the peace. and i would say this: that we need ukip to be there, we need ukip to be strong. ukip is the insurance policy in case brexit doesn't get delivered. and yes, this is sometimes how seats are decided, a vote so close candidates draw straws. here, a lib dem had a lucky choice in what, overall, that party described as a patchy performance, political speak for not that much to be proud of, nor disaster instead. the liberal democrats are now your best route to prevent our country and our communities being taken for granted by a conservative landslide. not much sign of the greens becoming a significant force, gaining some small new footholds, but losing others along the way.

yet, in a patchwork of results, there was one big winner, on her party's first big day out with her in charge. of course, this is not the general election. today's results may not translate directly into what happens next month. but, after today, theresa may has plenty to be confident about. yet there will be no letup. she and the rest will be straight back out on the trail. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. well, as we've heard labour have suffered poor results in the elections, they've lost a number of key strong holds including lancashire, derbyshire and bridgend. but they have taken two of the metro contests for mayor in manchester and liverpool, from where our deputy political editorjohn pienaar reports. he doesn't look very happy, even a bit tense, those defeats and setbacks in the north

and the midlands hard to take. and then, you'd almost believe labour was having a good day... almost. we've had some difficult results overnight. some have been very good. labour liverpool picked a labour mayor, a moment of comfort for steve rotherham, former mp, his family and his leader. and just now, jeremy corbyn could use a little comfort. well, in the light of the results we are seeing now, do you accept you need to raise your game before the general election, or is your campaign now as good as it gets? obviously we need to gain support. and i'll tell you, compared to two years ago, we're doing our best, doing well. we've obviously got a lot further to go, everybody understands that. but there are also a large number of people who didn't vote in the local elections, and a very large number who, sadly, are still yet to register to vote. and i hope they will all register to vote by 22 may. labour loyalty runs deep on merseyside, reliable as the mersy ferry. the city goes with labour each time. but now some of that support is going adrift,

in the city doubts are creeping in. in some places across the river, labour is in danger, for all the faith of those who want jeremy corbyn to steer their party and the country. liverpool is labour. you're labour. isjeremy corbyn good for labour? yes, definitely. he's the change the country needs. we've put up with too many people without integrity, who can be bought, who are false, who only cared about themselves. he does care about people. dead, he's dead. he's got no personality, i'io presence. he's got no... he doesn't look strong. he looks weak, he looks like a wet cod all the time. even though you are agreeing with all he says. i love the guy, i do. i'm honest, i would like him to win, but he's never going to win, never going to win, not in a million years. britain's choosing its course beyond the eu, and its captain and who leads britain after brexit is a big issue, for some the decider. so you're a labour man. i was, but i won't be doing it this time because i don't trust them

to get us out of europe. i think corbyn will the get ripped to bits in the negotiations, so i'm going to switch to the tories this time. jeremy corbyn came here after a bad night and a worse day, to show and tell reasons to be cheerful. liverpool is a labour fortress, but talk to people and it's as clear as day that support is crumbling. and labour mps who won, with voting majorities of up to 5,000 and more, are telling me privately they've abandoned hope of holding their seats in parliament. after seven years of tory cuts and austerity, labour is fighting to beat the odds. no—one told jeremy corbyn leading would be easy, but he has learned how hard it can be. john pienaar, bbc news, liverpool. ukip faces questions about its future after winning just one of the council seats it was contesting. it's lost all 13 councillors in lincolnshire where its leader, paul nuttall, is running in the general election. he says the party is a victim of its own success.

the former ukip mp douglas carswell says it's all over for ukip. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth reports from boston in lincolnshire. this lincolnshire market town has been ripe ukip turf. boston has seen a surge in migration from eastern europe. more people here backed brexit than anywhere else in britain. but, last night, voters abandoned ukip. they were there for a purpose. they got us a referendum, and we're getting us out. so i think they did what they set out to do. they're a spent force. i don't think they'll do much now. most of ukip's support here, and almost all of the county council seats, went to the tories. it's not a local issue, but some say they are the party to deliver brexit. i don't think ukip had any idea of how to do it. who do you think does, who do you think can do that? i think we've got to rely on the conservative party, i think at the moment the conservatives are

the only viable party. i think theresa may is the right person to lead this country. she's strong enough. in recent years, ukip has been a force to be reckoned with. they played a key part in getting the eu referendum, and then the country backed brexit. but in these elections, their support has collapsed in places like this, where they were once so popular, prompting some to ask whether this is the start of the end for ukip. this is where the party's leader will stand in the general election. today, he avoided the cameras. but in a statement, paul nuttall said his party had been a victim of its own success, and if the price of britain leaving the eu is a tory advance, it's a price ukip's prepared to pay, although he insisted the party still had a bright future. sue ransome agrees. she lost her council seat last night. her husband failed to win, but they say ukip will fight on, despite theresa may encroaching on their territory. has she stolen ukip's policies? yes, absolutely. does that mean she's

stolen ukip's vote? possibly, because she's saying what people want to hear. she's saying what i want to hear. so ukip's role now — is theresa may saying what you want to here? after brexit referendum, that's how we see ourselves. we are here to make sure what 17 million people wanted is going to happen, and there'll be no backsliding. but having suffered such losses, even in its heartlands, it is hard to see where ukip goes from here. you're watching bbc news. these are the latest headlines: as campaigning ended in the french presidential election, the centrist candidate emmanuel macron says he has been the victim of a massive hacking attack. voters go to the polls on sunday to choose between mr macron and marine le pen. there have been dramatic gains for the governing conservative party in local elections just five weeks before the general election. the funeral has taken

place of leslie rhodes, one of the victims of the westminster terror attacks. mr rhodes who was 75 and a retired window cleaner was on his way home after a hospital appointment when he was killed by khalid masood on westminster bridge. his family say they have yet to come to terms with the unfairness of his death. more than six weeks after the westminster attack, the last of the funerals of the five people killed by khalid masood, family and friends saying goodbye to les rhodes. the 75—year—old had been a window cleaner and decorator all his life, but was struck as masood sped across westminster bridge on his way to murdering pc keith palmer, and died the next day of his injuries. 0n the lawn in front of les rhodes' south london flat, family and friends had laid flowers, including a wreath symbolising his love of cricket.

among them his sister—in—law, carol, who he had helped out when his brother, her husband, had died young, of cancer. she told me les had just been to hospital opposite parliament on the day he was killed. he was walking along towards big ben, and that's when he was struck down and killed, just going about his everyday business. a normal man, doing a normal thing. that's all he was doing, and that's how his life ended. his niece amanda still has raw anger towards the man who murdered her uncle. my view is he shouldn't have been shot. he's got the easy way out. all the families now are going to suffer for many years to come. we've got to deal with the grief. les rhodes had a small family, but dozens of friends came to the funeral of a kind man cruelly killed in the westminster attack. daniel sandford, bbc news, south london. three men are due in court this morning, charged with the murder of a dorset businessman.

guy hedger was attacked in his home last weekend during what's alleged to have been a botched robbery. a cordon remains at the house, while police investigators continue to examine the scene. a racing driver who lost both of his legs after a crash has vowed he'll race again. billy monger, who turned 18 yesterday, was racing in the british formula 4 championship last month when he collided with a stationary car. he's received support from past formula one world champions lewis hamilton and jenson button and motor racing fans have raised over £800,000 for him. the government has finally published its plan to reduce air pollution in the uk, having lost a legal battle to delay the report until after the general election. but it's already been criticised by environmentalists and motoring groups for being too vague. among a range of possible measure are new council clean air zones, and a possible diesel scrappage programme.

0ur science editor david shukman reports from nottingham. one of a number of uk cities failing to meet pollution standards. the rattle of diesel in the morning rush hour in nottingham, one of many cities where traffic generates unhealthy levels of nitrogen dioxide. so all eyes are on the government's new plan to clean up. the authorities in nottingham have been taking steps on their own. with a tram system to get people out of cars and a special lane for electric vehicles. but the council says the government still isn't doing enough. they are trying to make local authority responsible for it, and to duck their own responsibility as a central government. that is not going to work. local authorities have not got the resources to be able to respond. they have not got the means to solve the problem. the environment secretary, andrea leadsom, who unveiled the plan today, declined our request for an interview. but she said air quality

was a high priority. 0ne scheme is to install new filters on older vehicles, like the device being fitted to this bus. but this will not apply to cars. another scheme is to remove speed bumps, because cars are more polluting when they slow down and speed up. but safety experts say lives would be at risk. and there is a possible scrappage scheme for the most polluting vehicles, but little detail on how it would work. we've always wanted a national network of clean air zones, along with help and support, such as a scrappage scheme, for people to switch to cleaner forms of transport. now, it appears that the national network of clean air zones is not strong enough, if we're going to protect people's health, and there isn't much mention of a scrappage scheme either. it is diesel engines blamed for producing nitrogen dioxide, a gas that is invisible to the naked eye, but linked to a wide range of health impacts. so where does this leave drivers of diesel cars? it's not down to us, is it, joe public. it's the government that's in power at the time that says diesel‘s good, let's go on to diesel.

now, they're saying different. perhaps my next car, probably would get a petrol, but i do a lot of commuting, driving on the motorways, so when i bought this car, diesel was the obvious choice. you might change now? absolutely. one idea discussed in the report is charging diesel drivers for coming into cities like nottingham. the government makes clear it does not support that. it wants local authorities to try every other option first. but, if the air remains polluted, maybe charging will have to be considered again. the lib dems say the plan is a copout. the green party says the government is standing idly by while britain chokes. and the government itself may yet face more pressure from the courts. david shukman, bbc news, nottingham. some other stories making news: a mountaineer from argentina who was stranded on canada's highest peak has been rescued by helicopter. natalia martinez had been stuck on mount logan since monday, unable to move after strong earthquakes triggered large

avalanches. the rescue team was able to reach her during a break temperatures at the camp had fallen to minus twenty celsius. france is introducing laws designed to stop modelling agencies using unhealthily thin models. from saturday, any model working in france will have to provide a medical certificate showing their body mass index, falls within world health 0rganization guidelines. now to a film that's breaking box office records in india and around the world. bahubali 2 is a fantasy epic on an impressive scale and it's being billed as the most successful indian film of all time. 0ur south asia correspondent justin rowlatt has taken a look. bahubali 2 is a sensation of billowing hair and bulging muscles. this special effects extravaganza is reckoned to have taken 5 billion rupees in its first week in india — £60 million. and it is cleaning up over here, too, with both the hindi and tamil versions making the uk top ten.

we have such strong stories, such strong characters in india, but we are not utilising them. we are looking to the us. nothing wrong in enjoying them, but we have such big superheroes with ourselves, and we are taking the superheroes ofjust batman, superman, spider—man. what makes bahubali's success even more extraordinary is that, despite the dance sequences, this isn't a bollywood film, but a tollywood production. it was made in the south indian city of hyderabad, in the telugu and tamil languages. it's been a sensation all around the globe. back in india it's become a phenomenon, but the audience around the world has really embraced this film. it is also the indian film industry flexing its muscles and saying, look at what we can do, on an fraction of the budget of a fast and furious or a guardians of the galaxy.

the huge scale and ambition of this production is evidence that the indian film industry now has the confidence to compete with hollywood on its own turf — high—budget, special effects blockbusters. it's a bit late to check your wallet but the old £5 notes the paper ones are now no longer legal tender in the uk, except for northern ireland. around 150 million are still in circulation. perhaps some good news if you do have one. some banks and building societies may still continue to accept the paper fivers. i dare say you better be quick. now the weather forecast.

hello. this sunshine makes all the difference at this time of year. we have an abundance of sunshine across the northern half of the uk. this was sent in from highland scotland, where we saw temperatures soaring into the high teens, 20 in a few spots, in contrast with the chilly breeze off the sea. and the cloud in clacton—on—sea, in essex, just about 11 degrees. and those are the contrasts which will continue through the weekend — where we see the cloud and where we don't. and of course, we've got this rather cool breeze as well, which is starting to pick up further northwards, dragging the cloud north. so a few drizzly showers are out there, as well, for the likes of east wales, the peaks and the pennines. this weather front, as well, to complicate our weather picture. so we've more cloud across the southern half of the uk, so not as chilly. but again, where we have that clear airfurther north, the clear skies, it'll be a frosty start in a few places, and there could even be the odd pocket of fog first thing. but it's here we'll see the sunshine once again, but probably not as much for some central areas as we've had. and also this weather front does

complicate the picture across he south—west, particularly cornwall, some parts of devon. for those out on the moors, not great news, obviously, because we could have some low cloud shrouding the hills here, and some drizzly rain. we've got, of course, a little bit of football taking place, and many of the matches across england in particular are quite cloudy. much cloudier in leicester, for example, than we had during the day on friday. but head up into scotland, there's an abundance of sunshine still. so there's the cut—off. we're seeing that change, if you like, for parts of the midlands and for parts of northern england. but for scotland, lots of sunshine. i do think there'll be rather more around for the northern isles, and again around the murray firth. it hangs around potentially for the northern isles through the day. plenty of sunshine for the central lowlands, across northern ireland. some parts of northern england still enjoying the sunshine, and it will be warm, but we'll have more cloud here than we've seen in recent days. similar so for wales and the midlands. we've got the breeze with us, not as windy as it was during the day on friday, but nevertheless still quite a keen breeze, and still that weather front lingering close to the south coast.

starting to pull away into the afternoon. there will be some sunshine. i'm not saying there won't be sunshine elsewhere, i'm just saying it will be more limited in places, and therefore feel quite cool in the breeze. and the breeze switches direction on sunday. it's coming down more from a northerly direction. so again, the east coast quite chilly. northern ireland, parts of western wales, north—west england seeing the best or the highest temperatures, best of the sunshine. but actually, near the north sea coast, quite a change, actually, for parts of western scotland, here, because of that breeze coming in. but we could see 18, a little bit higherfurther south, with a few more breaks in the cloud. and as for next week, it looks set to stay dry, and the east should enjoy some sunshine as well. this is bbc news, the headlines: the campaign of the french presidential candidate, emmanuel macron, says it's been the victim of a massive hacking attack after thousands of documents were released online. mr macron and his far right rival, marine le pen, will find out who has won the contest when voters go to the polls on sunday. britain's governing conservatives have made the biggest gains in local

elections by any party in power for more than a0 years. with a month until the general election, they've won hundreds of seats, taking many from labour. a deal made by russia's military to set up four safe zones in syria has come into force. the accord was reached at talks in kazakhstan but has been rejected by some rebel groups. reports from northwest syria say shelling and gunfire in rebel—held areas could be heard.