hello and welcome to bbc news, my name's tom donkin, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. here's our top stories: the campaign team for the french presidential candidate emmanuel macron says it's the victim of a massive and co—ordinated hacking attack. mr macron and marine le pen go head—to—head on sunday as voters go to the polls in the run—off. russia's military sets up four safe zones in syria but some rebel groups have rejected the plans. big gains for the conservative party in british local elections with just five weeks before the main general election. 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 shared 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 about that. 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 centrist 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've 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 nation. thomas fessy, bbc news, paris. there's more on the french presidential election on our website, including the latest reactions to that apparent hacking attack, the issues dividing

le pen and macron and what's really at stake in sunday's crucial vote. that's at: or you can download the bbc news app. 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. the 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. let's take a look at some of the day's other main stories now. police in indonesia are searching for prisoners after nearly 200 inmates broke out of an overcrowded prison on the island of sumatra. hundreds of police and soldiers were deployed to the area following the break out, with authorities saying half of the prisoners have

now been recaptured. it's understood the jail has a capacity of up to 700 but was home to nearly three times that number. a police officer in the us state of texas has been charged with the murder of fifteen—year—old jordan edwards who died last saturday after being shot while leaving a house party. the officer was responding to reports of underage drinking when he is accused of firing a rifle into a car full of unarmed teenagers. north korea has accused the united states of plotting with south korea to assassinate its leader, kim jong—en. pyongyang said a terrorist group supported by the cia planned to use a bio—chemical substance to carry out the killing. it provided no evidence to back up the claim, and neither the us nor south korea have responded. an american special services soldier has been killed, and two others injured during an operation against al—shabab militants in somalia. the pentagon says us forces were assisting the somali national army in an operation near the town of barii when the

fighting broke out. it's the first recorded death of a us service member in somalia since the black hawk down incident in 1993. here's our africa security correspondent, tomi 0ladipo, with more on the circumstances surrounding the death. us africa command says that us troops were assisting their somali counterparts in what they call an "advise and assist operation" against al—shabaab. they were approaching an area where the al—shaabab militants are believed to have been based or to have staged attacks from, and that's when they came under fire, and when this soldier was killed as well as two others wounded. now, this is the first killing, as you say, of its kind since 1993. we know the us has been wary of sending troops in to somalia as well as to other countries in a large capacity, and that's why in somalia's case they are trying to build the army there, particularly the special forces which is the group that has

come into most contact with the american forces. they're trying to build them up so that they can stand alone and fight al—shabab on their own, because the african union force, which is there supportong al—shabaab, plans to leave the country in the next three or so years, and so the somali national army has to be prepared for that so there's no vacuum between the african union troops leaving and somali national army being on the ground. so that's why the us is intensifying its operations in somalia. and as a result there will be these kind of situations coming up, when they come into contact with the militants. there is bound to be this kind of casualty. here in the uk, 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 in just five weeks. 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's labour that's suffering. red spilt 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 of the greater manchester combined authority... 0ld faces, but new mayors in manchester and liverpool gave labour something to cheer. but what's this? where's andy burnham 7 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 chant: 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're 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'll be no letup. she and the rest will be straight

back out on the trail. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a challenge to boeing and airbus: china's first commercial passenger jet makes its maiden voyage. i, nelson rolihlahla mandela, do hereby serve to be faithful to the republic of south africa. after six years of construction and numerous delays, the channel tunnel has been formally opened by the queen and president mitterrand. the tunnel is still not yet ready for passengers and freight services to begin. for centuries, christianity and islam struggled for supremacy. now the pope's visit symbolises their willingness to coexist. roger bannister became the first man in the world to run a mile in under four minutes.

memories of victory as the ve celebrations reach their climax. this night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. this is bbc news. 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. russia's military sets up four safe zones in syria, but some rebel groups have rejected the plans. yesterday it was, "will the bill pass? " now the question is, "what happens next? " that's what politicians,

pundits and all other american has been wondering after the republicans got their health bill past the house of representatives. next, it will come under scrutiny in the senate, and the white house has already said it's expecting challenges. i feel like there will be some changes, that's part of the process, the legislative process, we fully anticipate that to play out but we expect the big piece of this is the fact that 0bamacare is simply unsustainable. democrats know that, republicans know that, the american people know that, we have to have changed, that's what we're going to get and we fully anticipate that to take place. 0ur correspondent laura bicker has been following the story from washington. sarah huckabee sanders is right, changes are part of the legislative process. but i don't think anybody was expecting just so soon after the house passed this bill and just so soon after they had that nice little victory party in the rose garden, i don't think they were expecting senate republicans to come out and say, hang on a minute,

we're not happy with this bill. let's look at one senator, an influential leading republican. he's part of the finance committee, 0rrin hatch. he said it would be close to near impossible to agree on a final version of the bill repealing 0bamacare. he is not the only voice. i have counted senators from west virginia, tennessee, maine, alaska, all unhappy with the bill in its current form — i'm talking about republicans, not democrats. 0n the right of the party you have the likes of rand paul and ted cruz who think this is 0bamacare—lite. they think this repeal bill does not go far enough. so we have the same problem that we saw in the house, republicans struggling to come together. and we still don't know how much this will cost, and we still don't know how many people will be impacted by this. initial studies showed that 2a million americans may lose their health insurance

under the initial draft. the congressional budget office is still to do a study, and when that study comes out, it might make it even harder to pass it through the senate. the supreme court in india has rejected an appeal by four men sentenced to death for the notorious rape and murder of a medical student in delhi in december 2012. the three judges said the victim, jyoti singh, had suffered a "devastating hour of darkness." sanjoy majumder reports from delhi. three judges pronounced the verdict here in the supreme court, and as it was read out, those in court broke into applause. in the ruling, one of the judges described the case as a "barbaric crime." one said the perpetrators had "shaken the collective conscience of society." another said the victim had suffered a "devastating hour of darkness." it was in december 2012 that jyoti singh, a 23—year—old medical

student, boarded a bus here in delhi, along with a friend. over the next hour, she was gang—raped and beaten so badly that she died of her injuries two weeks later. her death sparked nationwide protest. thousands of indians took to the streets, demanding justice, and forced the government to bring in stringent new laws and penalties in cases that dealt with sexual assault. today, lawyers from the defendant said they would file a review petition asking for thejudgement to be reversed. if that fails, all four defendants have one final chance to appeal to the president of india for clemency. in other news, a mountaineer from argentina stranded on canada's highest peak has been rescued by helicopter. natalia martinez had been trapped 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 in bad weather. france is introducing laws designed to stop modelling agencies

using unhealthily thin models. from saturday, any model working in france will have to show a medical certificate showing their body mass index falls within world health 0rganisation guidelines. china's first big passenger plane has completed its maiden voyage, a development that could signal a major challenge to boeing and airbus, with beijing keen to enter the global aviation market. after about 90 minutes in the air, the chinese manufactured c9—19 landed safely back in shanghai. the plane is yet to receive international safety approval but the state—backed company behind the plane hopes to have that and be ready to fly commercially in the next few years. robin brant reports from shanghai. it doesn't look any different to the boeing and airbus jets that dominate the skies. china hopes this plane will help it break into the global aviation market. it has taken almost a decade to get to this moment, and the c919 comes with big expectations. the man at the controls of the country, china's president,

xijinping, has given it his blessing. he wants an industry which he says reflects the capabilities of the world's number two economy. but this plane doesn't have international safety approval yet, and virtually all the orders or options to buy one are from chinese state—backed companies. this plane is being made in china. it will no doubt sell very well in china, but the big test is will it be bought outside of china? will you, one day, somewhere else in the world, be flying in this plane? china wants the world to see its progress. safety is key to this project. but they are not that keen to talk about it. translation: safety is not a problem. at least we are much better than the boeing 737 and the airbus a320.

our entire design is chinese, but it doesn't mean everything is made in china. some of the parts are made by us. the systems are purchased through global bidding. this is a significant moment for china, trying to show it is technically proficient in complex manufacturing. but the home—made label isn't the whole picture. the engines and systems are among the things supplied by more than a dozen foreign firms. she will get her way. it will sell well in china. state—backed airlines will see to that. but will it fly the flag abroad? that is the big test. many stargazers have been waiting for this. nasa has released a video showing the cassini spacecraft‘s first "deep 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. and in ireland a fisherman has landed a one—in—a—million catch of a white lobster. this creature lacks the gene that gives it the usual dark blue colour and it is extremely rare. it did manage to dodge the dinner plate, thanks to fisherman charlie 0'malley, who gave it to a local aquarium. don't forget, you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm @tomdonkinbbc. a reminder of our top story before we leave. as campaigning has ended in the french presidential election, the candid emmanuel macron says he has been a victim of a massive hacking attack. voters go to the

polls on sunday to choose between emmanuel macron and marine le pen. 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. 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. in the town where europe's worst atrocity since the second world war took place, some local politicians and, the new mayor, refuse to accept that genocide happened there.