this is bbc news. the headlines at seven... the prime minister campaigns in key general election battle grounds in the midlands, and plays down talk of a landslide victory. that was after the conservatives local election success. i'm taking nothing for granted over the next five weeks. i need support from across the united kingdom to strengthen my hand. jeremy corbyn is out in the east midlands and he admits his party is facing a huge challenge. he insists his message on key issues can cut through with voters. of course i am disappointed but we are giving a message about how the economy and society could be very different. the liberal democrats pledge a penny in the pound on income tax to generate billions more for the nhs and social care. if we want the best health and social care for our families and our loved ones going into the future then we have to find the money to pay for it.

paul nuttall says ukip has a bright future, and voters will return in their "droves" if theresa may fails to deliver on brexit. france's electoral commission urges the media not to share the content of thousands of emails believed to have been hacked from presidential candidate emmanuel macron‘s team. also in the next hour... as the duke of edinburgh prepares to give up royal engagements, his son says he won't be putting his feet up completely. prince edward says his father may be retiring but he won't be disappearing into the background. manchester city move above liverpool into third place in the premier league, with a 5—0 win against crystal palace. we will have that and all of the sporting action in half an hour. good evening and welcome to bbc news.

theresa may says she's grateful for the support her party's received in the local elections but insists she's taking nothing for granted ahead of next month's general election. meanwhile the labour leader jeremy corbyn has admitted his party faces a historic challenge. ukip‘s leader, paul nuttall, said his party has a bright future despite its drubbing in the local elections. our political correspondent ben wright reports. step—by—step, theresa may is closing in on polling day, now with hundreds of new conservative councillors in her ranks. at this aerospace factory she toured the floor with the new west midlands mayor. yellow i am taking nothing for granted. i need

support across the united kingdom to strengthen my hand foot of only a vote for me and my team will ensure britain has a strong and stable leadership we need. theresa may needs tory voters to turn out on june eight. that is why she claims this contest could be close. after winning the first metro mayor contest yesterday, the conservatives are confident of turning this labour territory blue. in wolverhampton ascents from some of allegiances shifting. the labour party has let itself down over the past few years. iam not itself down over the past few years. i am not very confident in the current leader. i have no confidence in labourat the current leader. i have no confidence in labour at the moment. more confidence in two recent me. jeremy corbyn did not seem down after yesterday's drubbing. his supporters

are as fired up as ever. visiting leicester and the east midlands, mr corbyn conceded labour faced a huge challenge. of course i am disappointed with the election results on thursday. giving a message about how our economy and society could be very different. where is the ukip leader? after losing all 146 council seats it was defending, paul nuttall insisted the pa rty‘s twos would return. defending, paul nuttall insisted the party's twos would return. ukip has a good future. it needs to stay on the pitch and hold its ground and people will come back to us. the snp we re people will come back to us. the snp were the biggest winners in the scottish council elections, replacing labour as the largest party in glasgow and aberdeen. we w011 party in glasgow and aberdeen. we won the election yesterday emphatically. we were the largest party, not just emphatically. we were the largest party, notjust compared to five yea rs party, notjust compared to five years ago but compared to every other party in scotland. this strange, unexpected election has yet

to set passions alight. it is in battle grounds like this the next government will be decided. ian watson has been following the campaign trail is in the midlands and has this analysis. throughout this election campaign, the message from theresa may has been there no no go areas for the conservatives. she has been campaigning in what was once labour territory first and she was doing that today in wolverhampton in the west midlands. the conservatives managed to win the metro mayor on thursday and deliver a shock to labour. the message is familiar. strong, stable government and an appeal for familiar. strong, stable government and an appealfor her hand to be strengthened in negotiations union. this timejeremy corbyn is taking her on on the same territory. he has come to an area not held by the labour party. he is not trying to look defensive. he a key conservative marginal in derby

north. surrounding herself this rule it ill, he will be speaking to campaigners. earlier he was that at campaigners. earlier he was that at campaign —— elia he was in leicester. he says what labour needs to do now is keep calm and carry on campaigning for that he was setting itself up as a person taking on the elites, an outsider taking on the establishment. he was telling people do not make it too downbeat because the gap between labour and the conservatives in the local elections was not as big as some of the critics have predicted. the liberal democrats have promised to boost spending on the nhs and social care, by increasing income tax by a penny in the pound. they say it would raise an extra six billion pounds and would be ring—fenced in england. scotland, wales and northern ireland would be able to decide how to spend the extra cash. our political correspondent leila nathoo reports. how are you? good to see you. would

you how are you? good to see you. would y°u pay how are you? good to see you. would you pay more to fund more gps, for better mental health services, for a better mental health services, for a better nhs? the liberal democrats are asking. they have said they will increase all income tax band by one percentage point to raise £6 billion ring fenced for health and social ca re ring fenced for health and social care in england. if we want the best health and social care for our families, our loved ones, going into the future and we have to provide the future and we have to provide the money to pay for it. everyone else is pretending it can be done on the cheapit cheap it cannot. the party says someone earning under £25,000 next year will pay £133 more in tax annually. 0n year will pay £133 more in tax annually. on a salary of £100,000, the income tax bill would increase by £883. taking the focus away from wrecks it, this is the liberal democrats main pitch on tax and spending. they think it will be popular despite the risk of already committing to tax rises because of voters committing to tax rises because of vote rs co nce rns committing to tax rises because of voters concerns about the state of

the nhs. health is a devolved policy area. scotland has its own powers of income tax. there is no doubt the nhs and social care are under pressure a cross nhs and social care are under pressure across the uk with demand soaring and budgets squeezed. over the past few years, spending in the nhs has not actually decreased. it has gone up but at a slower rate in the past four. the funding will be double of what is promised in the last few years and would look generous confederate increases in the last few years but is not that large compared with spending increases in the long term. the conservatives say they would keep taxes low while labour is ruling out taxes low while labour is ruling out tax rises for low and middle income earners. the liberal democrats think a tax rise across the board is the only way to secure the future of the nhs. nicola sturgeon says the conservatives showing in the council elections does not change the

argument for another independence referendum. the snp won more councillors than anyone and is in scotland. the tories made big gains. this one—time labour fortress at one time seemed impregnable. some snp supporters might not believe this result was not so long ago the party had only one councillor in the city. across the snp won but the conservatives saw big gains. the conservative minister says the tory performance does not change the brings about a second referendum. let's take the tory argument at face value for that they chose to fight the election on an independence referendum. they put that issue centre stage and they

lost the election. the conservatives don't quite see it that way. ruth davidson was in aberdeenshire where the tories are now the largest party on the council. what has happened is people right across scotland, in aberdeenshire and beyond, can see it is only the scottish conservatives who can take the fight back. and against the snp. labour is now the single biggest party on just three councils. they make play a part in some coalitions elsewhere. we have agreed on a resolve not to do any deals or any coalitions with parties that will not pass things onto the poorest people. we will focus on investing in public services. former lib dem leader lord campbell had a chance encounter with a former labour lord. nationally they were

encouraged by how they did in westminster target seats. we're going to win more seats. have a great chance of stopping the snp and the divisive independence referendum, standing up against the conservative hard brexit. labour can wave goodbye to the council in glasgow. in many places it is not clear who will end up in charge of local services. deals between rivals could be tricky this side of the general election. we will be finding out how the election and some of the other stories of the day are covered in tomorrow's newspaper front pages at10:30pm and 11:30 in tomorrow's newspaper front pages at 10:30pm and 11:30 p.m.. joining me the political correspondent at the spectator and nigel nelson, political editor of the sunday mirror, and sunday people. with less than 24 hours to go before voting starts,

france's election authority has warned the media against spreading information hacked from the campaign of the centrist candidate, emmanuel macron. it says anyone ignoring the advice could face prosecution. aides to mr macron say the hacking attack was intended to undermine french democracy. james reynolds has sent this report. emmanuel macron arrived last night for his final interview, assuming that his campaign was basically done. but whilst he was speaking, documents stolen from his team were being circulated online. his campaign had been hacked. coming in the last hour, his team said this intervention is an attempt to destabilise democracy, as happened in the usa during the last election. who stole these documents? in the past, emmanuel macron said that russian backed hackers were out to get him. one cyber experts said this hack looks different. it is very

low—level, compared with what they have done in the united states. it was a high created and high and information war mixed with a cyber war. what we are witnessing now is very low end, very amateurish. but many french people braving the saturday drizzled to not know much about the hack. 0n saturday drizzled to not know much about the hack. on this, the day before the vote, the french media is banned from doing any in—depth political reporting. a last—minute hackis political reporting. a last—minute hack is dramatic. it shows a ca-able enemies. it change the course of this not change the course of this election. many french people have already decided which way they will vote. and some have already cast their ballots. these french citizens in canada have made an early start. 47 million voters here in france will soon follow. karin giannone is in paris for us:

what sort of impact does this have just hours before france's could round of the presidential elections question i'm joined by an expert in social media at sorbonne university. what can we gather about what happened was to write yesterday night, on a forum was released at 8:35pm the macron leaks, about nine gb of data was spread on this anonymous forum. it became viral something like half an hour later. it is now absolutely trending in france. it is actually on twitter. it is the number—one trending topic on twitter in france today. effectively, no reporting is allowed about the contents of what was in this, only the fact it has happened,

because of reporting restrictions in the day of silence before the election. nobody knows what is inside. to process nine gb of data is impossible in two days. it raises the question but why now? why has it been released two days prior to the election in france? we do not have a specific answer to that. it is very surprising that the idea is to create suspicion. whatever is inside, fake or not, suspicion is here. that was the main aim of this campaign. you are saying damage can be done even though the actual contents be done even though the actual co nte nts d o be done even though the actual contents do not need to be revealed. it will take a few days, maybe a few weeks will stop probably this dump of information will have an impact for the next moment in france, democratic moment, in a month where we will elect our members of parliament. in that moment it could have a very dramatic and very toxic

effect. france will have the legislative elections which are very crucial to whoever will be in the elysee palace. that might have more impact on this election than that one. macron needs to have a majority to implement his policy. if the smearing campaign is so bad he does not get a majority, he will not be able to implement his policy. are you surprised by smart i am surprised. when we look at the dnc lea ks surprised. when we look at the dnc leaks which surprised. when we look at the dnc lea ks which happened surprised. when we look at the dnc leaks which happened last year with clinton, it was much before the election. here, two days before, it is incomprehensible for us. i really don't know what was happening the coming days. does this seem like a phenomenon that many societies will have to get used to in elections?” fear we will have to get used to that. i fear. thank you very much. let's just remind you, before france

votes on sunday morning how the polls look going into that election. there was a poll published by le monde newspaper on friday just before the campaign ended. it puts emanuel macron on 63%, comfortably ahead of marine le pen who is on 37%. the latest headlines: theresa may campaigns in key general election battle grounds in the midlands and plays down talk of a landslide victory following the conservatives local election success. jeremy corbyn acknowledges that labour is facing a challenge on an historic scale to win the general election but insists his message on key issues can cut through. the liberal democrats say they would put a penny on the pound on income tax to help fund the nhs and social care. three men have appeared in court charged with murdering a businessman who was fatally shot,

allegedly during a botched burglary. 61—year—old guy hedger was killed after at least two intruders entered his home in dorset. from poole, duncan kennedy reports. it was in the early hours of last sunday morning that guy hedger was shot at his home near ringwood just outside bournemouth. he was taken to hospital but later died. the 61—year—old businessman had worked in marketing and was the director of a schools academy trust. today, three men were brought to the magistrates' court at poole in dorset, charged with the murder of mr hedger and with aggravated burglary. the three men are kevin downton, 40, jason backus, 41, and 44—year—old scot keeping. the hearing lasted just five minutes. there was no application for bail. all three men are remanded in custody. the men, who all come from dorset, will next appear by video

link at winchester crown court on tuesday. a 40—year—old woman arrested in connection with the case has been released, pending further police investigations. prince edward has been speaking about the decision of his father — prince philip — to stand down from royal duties later this year. he said he was sure the duke of edinburgh wouldn't disappear into the background. 0ur royal correspondent, peter hunt, reports. prince philip as we soon will not be seeing him. in public, on duty, by his wife's side. from the autumn, the soon—to—be 96—year—old prince will soon be giving up such engagements. those who know him well insist he may be retiring but he will not be inactive. i do not believe he will put his feet up and disappearing into the background, never to be seen. he will pick and choose what he wants to do, what is

sensible and what is practical. i think he is making it clear to organisations, please do not come round asking me to do things and expecting me to say, yes. hopefully he can enjoy more of what he enjoys doing. this is an pension institution adjusting to the fact one of its key players will be on display a lot less. 0ut one of its key players will be on display a lot less. out and about, the queen relies on her husband. 0thers the queen relies on her husband. others will have to step up to the mark. it is a team effort for stock thatis mark. it is a team effort for stock that is what we do. the show goes on. ifan that is what we do. the show goes on. if an actor retired from a show, the show goes on. everyone shuffles round, we fill in the spaces and keep it all going. that is what we will do for them it does not require any massive organisation. that is what we do. we support each other. such support is already happening. here prince william was on hand, helping his grandmother, helping my own ma's de facto leader. this is a

taste of the future. a search team examining forestland for the body of seamus reddy, a man who disappeared during the troubles in northern ireland has found human remains he was working as a teacher in paris in1985 remains he was working as a teacher in paris in 1985 when he was abducted, killed and buried by the republican paramilitary group, the inla. since monday investigators have been searching a wooded area where our correspondent reports. following the discovery this morning, the search area has been locked down by french police for the media cameras are not are not being allowed in. ateam of investigators have been searching this piece of woodland since monday that the area has been such before but this time they were working with more specific information, passed on by former

members of the inla. seamus ruddy was working as a teacher in paris when he was shot dead by the inla and secretly buried in 1985. his sister was the last family member to see him alive when she visited paris a month before he disappeared. yesterday she visited the search site to see the work going on herself. this morning she was among the first to be told about the discovery. the human remains have been covered with a tent while a hand search of the ground around them is carried out. these human remains will eventually be taken to a french laboratory for dna testing to confirm this is the body is the body of seamus ruddy. given the confidence the commission has in the information it received but there seems little doubt this marks the end of the 32—year search for another one of the disappeared. school governing bodies are to be given new powers to sack maverick, corrupt or incompetent parent governors. head teachers have campaigned for the change, saying the "destructive actions" of rogue governors can stop schools in england running smoothly.

the new department for education guidelines close a loophole that prevents elected governors from being removed. police in south yorkshire are linking the deaths of three people in the barnsley area to a wider inquiry into the deaths of four people from a suspected drugs overdose. it's thought a contaminated batch of heroin may lie behind them. shamir masri has the details. in the last 24 hours, south yorkshire police have confirmed three further deaths here in the ba rnsley three further deaths here in the barnsley area, which they believe are linked to a contaminated batch of heroin. 0ne are linked to a contaminated batch of heroin. one person was found dead on wednesday and two other users we re on wednesday and two other users were found dead on the 20th of april. this news comes following the death of six people over easter weekend. four of those are here in ba rnsley weekend. four of those are here in barnsley and two in nearby west

yorkshire. police believe or nine deaths have been caused by heroine being laced with powerful anaesthetics, one of which is more than 100 times more potent than street heroin. while police continue their investigations, they are urging any users with any concerns to seek urgent medical attention. syrian activists say shelling and gunfire has been heard in rebel—held areas, shortly after an agreement to set up safe zones in parts of syria came into force. the deal was reached on thursday between russia and iran, which both back the syrian government. sarah corker reports. syria's civil war has left more than 300,000 people dead and drawn in global powers. the safe zone is aiming to halt the conflict between government forces and rebels in specific areas and allow food and medicine to get in. in moscow, russia's defence ministry said the deal would come into effect of the early hours of saturday. translation: within the boundaries

of the de—escalation zones, the military activities between the government forces and the armed opposition, who have already joined, or willjoin, the ceasefire agreement will be ceased. it covers the use of all types of weapons, including air strikes. but he also stressed that 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, parts of homs province and rebel enclaves near damascus are also included. and in southern syria, two provinces complete the list. the deal was signed at thursday's talks in kazakhstan between russia and iran, which both backs 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. de—escalation of violence, reduction of what has been seen as a constant instead increased 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 any proposal that it makes. and shortly after the agreement came into force, syrian activists say shelling and gunfire have been heard in rebel held north western areas. at least 29 schoolchildren have died in a bus crash in northern tanzania,

in what the country's president has described as a "national tragedy". two teachers and a driver also died in the crash. it's thought the vehicle was going down a steep hill in rainy conditions when it plunged into a ravine near the town of karatu. the pupils, who were aged between 12 and 14, were on their way to sit mock exams ahead of seeking places at secondary school. a texas police officer who shot and killed a black teenager in dallas has been charged with murder. roy 0liver was responding to a call—out about underage drinking at a house party when he fired his rifle into a car, killing 15—year—old jordan edwards. initially the police claimed the teenagers had reversed aggressively in their direction, but later admitted they were actually driving away. the teenage racing driver who lost both legs in a crash says he's "lost for words" after well wishers raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for him.

billy monger was racing in the formula 4 championship last month when he was involved in a high speed collision. after support from formula one stars lewis hamilton and jenson button he says he's determined to get back behind the wheel, as richard lister reports. they called him billy whizz, one of the rising stars of british motorsport. he was supposed to be racing this weekend. instead he is reading messages from driving legends like lewis hamilton and nicky lauda after the injuries that changed his life. as i turn over there be signatures from many world champions. that really touched my heart. i was lost for words. three weeks ago he was racing at donington park at 120 miles an hour when he struck a stationary car. he was airlifted to the medical centre in nottingham where they carried out partial amputations of both legs. today he was preparing to go home,

grateful to the staff who saved his life. without them i would not be here today. a massive thanks to every single one of the staff who have helped me. it will be emotional saying goodbye to them all. billy turned 18 yesterday and is contemplating a return to racing eventually. his team has already helped raise £800,000 towards his recovery. those who will be racing at thruxton this weekend are ensuring that even though he won't be there, his nickname will at least still feature on the grid. just shows you that when something tragic like this happens, how people pull together. i definitely want to take positives out of this and make sure i use it in a positive way for the rest of my life. i still have a few years left in me. that is for sure. watch this space. good evening. some rain around

today, affecting the south coast of cornwall, so near yet so far. we have seen sunnier skies as you head further north but a lot of low cloud coming down from shetland that will filter into north and east scotland eventually to bring drizzle. the rain through the channel peters out and never makes it to southern england, but a lot of cloud around for much of england and wales and clearer skies in north—west england, could be chilly in the countryside. best of the sunshine first thing. we see the cloud breaking across wales and the midlands but more cloud for north and east scotland, for north—east england. a touch chilly