this is bbc news. the headlines at 8:00. the prime minister campaigns in key general election battle grounds in the west midlands, and plays down talk of a landslide victory 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. he admits his party faces a huge challenge but and insists his message can cut through. 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. ukip leader paul nuttall urges his supporters to "stay

on the pitch" despite heavy losses on thursday. the french authorities warn the media and the public not to spread documents hacked from the centrist candidate emmanuel macron‘s campaign team ahead of tomorrow's poll. also in the next hour — the teenage racing driver who lost both legs in a crash says he's determined to get back behind the wheel. he says the support he has received from the stars and fans of motorsport has made him even more determined to return. and wasps seal the top spot in rugby union's premiership, with victory over saracens. 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, jeremy corbyn has admitted labour faces a historic challenge. ukip‘s leader, paul nuttall, said his party has a bright future despite its drubbing in thursday's vote. 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. i am taking nothing for granted. i need support across the united kingdom to strengthen my hand and only a vote for me and my team will ensure britain has the strong

and stable leadership we need. theresa may needs tory voters to turn out onjune 8th. that is why she claims this contest could be close. after winning the west midlands first metro mayor contest yesterday, the conservatives are confident of turning this labour territory blue. in wolverhampton a sense from some of allegiances shifting. the labour party has let itself down over the past few years. i am not very confident in the current leader. i have no confidence in labour at the moment. more confidence in theresa may. 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.

we're 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 party's twos would return. voters 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 were the biggest winners in the scottish council elections, replacing labour as the largest party in glasgow and aberdeen. there today, nicola sturgeon met the snp's councils group. we won the election yesterday emphatically. we were the largest 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. but it is in battle grounds like this the next

government will be decided. meanwhile, 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 pay more to fund more gps, for 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 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 money to pay for it. everyone else is pretending it can be done on the cheap. it cannot. the party says someone earning under £25,000 next 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 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 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. this funding will be double of what is promised in the last few years and would look generous

compared to 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 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. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are katy balls, who's a political correspondent at the spectator, and nigel nelson, political editor of the sunday mirror and sunday people. with less than 2a 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. 0ne cyber expert said this hack looks different. it is very low—level, compared with what they have done in the united states. it was a highly creative and high—end 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 drizzle do 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 hack is dramatic. it shows emanuel macron has capable enemies. it may 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: already this election had been an

extraordinary one. who in france would have imagined that on the eve of the second round of its presidential election we could have ended up with these two candidates, the far right marine le pen, and emmanuel macron, the centrist candidate, who only set up his campaign in the last few months. but at the final hour, this hack of the campaign. what effect could this have? i have been talking about this with my guest, and expert in social media at the sorbonne‘s school of journalism. as far as we know, media at the sorbonne's school of journalism. as far as we know, there was a beak on a forum last night at 8:30pm, and those documents came far role —— became fire roll half an hour later on social media. now there is a hash type called macron

leaks, which is trending on twitter. as for the leaks, which is trending on twitter. as forthe timing, leaks, which is trending on twitter. as for the timing, it is rather strange. it came hours before all the restrictions about what you can say about the election came into force. it means that neither candidate can comment on the content of this. it is strange. nobody understands why, just two days before the presidential election, it has come out. there is supposedly a huge amount of data. it cannot be processed in 48 hours, so it's impossible for anybody to estimate the damage that could come out of it. why two days before? i don't think it will impact tomorrow's election, but it might impact on later, specifically in a month, for the election of the members of parliament. so perhaps it's too late to do anything tangible for the presidential election tomorrow, but in six weeks' time, we have this key

vote that emmanuel macron is counting on getting some support in. you think that could make a difference? there could be one month of campaign, extracted from the information in those documents that have linked, and that could be problematic for macron if he becomes elected. if he doesn't get a majority, how will he implement his policy? in terms of the origin of this attack, there have been allegations against kremlin backed agents previously targeting emmanuel macron's campaign. do we know anything? nobody really knows. there is only hints. everybody is looking towards the kremlin, but there is no absolute proof. nobody will ever have absolute proof, only hints. the french electoral commission has come out very strongly, telling people using social media that they mustn't be talking about this. they have to

do it and say it. it's a question of legality, but it's pointless today. the environment online has no front here. even french speaking media in belgium are able to speak about this horrible story, so i understand the french position, but i think it's pointless today. just to remind you, as we go into sunday's final vote, the polls look like this. and its salts poll published in le monde newspaper puts emmanuel macron, the centrist, on 63%. he is the clear favourite in this presidential election. and we'll have full coverage of the french presidential election as the results come in — live from paris with my colleague christian fraser — that is after 6.30pm tomorrow. 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. the headlines on bbc news: 0n the first full weekend of the general election campaign, theresa may visits the west midlands and insists she is not taking anything for granted following the conservatives' local election success. jeremy corbyn admits the results of the local elections were disappointing, but says the party's message on key issues can cut through. the liberal democrats pledged £6 billion of extra funding for the nhs and social care, paid for the nhs and social care, paid for by putting a penny in the pound

on income tax. lots going on in the world of sport today. here's an update. swansea have moved out of the bottom three in the premier league after a 1—0 win over everton at the liberty stadium. fernando llorente got the crucial goal in the 29th minute, and it was the spaniards 13th league goal of the season and it could prove to be the most vital. swansea's win means that hull drop into the relegation zone — they lost 2—0 at home to already relegated sunderland. billyjones and jermaine defoe scored for the black cats. it was marco silva's first experience of a home defeat in three years as a manager in europe. to lose our focus likely lose in the second half, of course it's a problem. it's like you come to the past again. our team in the past

conceded too many goals in set pieces, because of losing focus. this afternoon, the second goal is of side again, and the referee don't see, of course. but that is football, and now is the moment to analyse what's happened for the next. here are the rest of the day's premier league scores. crystal palace still aren't safe from relegation after being thrashed 5—0 at manchester city. city move up to third in the race for a champions league place. elsewhere leicester beat watford 3—0. the matches between bournemouth and stoke and burnley and west brom ended in 2—2 draws. inverness caledonian thistle are still fighting to stay in the scottish premiership. the bottom club are now just four points adrift of safety after a 2—1 win against relegation rivals hamilton. elsewhere today dundee eased their relegation fears with an away win at kilmarnock. ross county are safe from automatic relegation after winning at second from bottom motherwell. champions celtic beat stjohnstone 4—1. wasps have clinched top spot in rugby union's premiership ahead

of exeter chiefs. both sides won today and both finished on 84 points but wasps won two more games throughout the season. here's a look at the final table. wasps will be at home to leicester tigers in the premiership semifinals, while exeter chiefs will welcome saracens to sandy park on the 20th of may. harlequin's losing bonus point ensured that they finished ahead of northampton saints to finish in the final european place. 0n the final day of the regular season in the pro12, munster took top spot in the table as leinster slipped up to ulster in belfast ulster, who finished just outside the play—off spots in fifth place, went ahead early on.

the opening try scored by roger wilson. ulster‘s most capped player in his last game before retiring. scrum—half ruan pienaar is also leaving the province. he set up winger andrew trimble added another try after the break to help ulster seal a 17—13 victory. a day of goodbyes at glasgow too. but not a winning send off for warriors coach gregor townsend. he's taking charge of the scottish national team. stuart hogg, a player he'll undoubtedly be working with again, got glasgow to within four points of edinburgh. but a late try from glenn bryce helped edinburgh claim a 29—18 win. churchill — the 6—4 favourite — has won the first classic of the season, the 2,000 guineas at newmarket. that's a record eighth win for trainer aidan 0'brien in the classic. it was jockey ryan moore's second win in the race, having ridden 0'brien's previous winner gleneagles in 2015. barney roy was second ahead of third —favourite al wu kair. the son of legendary classic winner frankel, eminent, was unplaced.

germany's ingrid klimke leads the badminton horse trial after today's cross—country event. she goes into the final day's show jumping tomorrow with point four of an advantage over the reigning badminton and olympic champion michaeljung, who's on 40 penalties in second. rosalind canter is the highest placed briton in sixth place. no woman has won the overall title in ten years. there's coverage throughout the weekend on the bbc red button and online. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. thank you. 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 won't be seeing him, in public, on duty, by his wife's side.

from autumn, the soon—to—be 96—year—old prince will be giving up such engagements. those who know him well insist he may be retiring, but he won't be inactive. i don't believe he will put his feet up completely and disappear into the background and never be seen again. i think he will pick and choose what he wants to do and how he wants to do it and what is sensible and what is practical. i don't think we will see him disappearing, but he's making it clear to organisations, please don't come and ask me to do things and expect me to say yes, because the answer will be no. hopefully he can enjoy more of what he enjoys doing. this is an ancient institution adjusting to the fact that one of its key players will be on display a lot less. out and about, the queen relies on her husband. others will have to step up to the mark. it is always a team effort and that is what we do and the show goes on. if an actor retires from a show, guess what, the show goes on, everybody shuffles around,

we all fill in spaces and keep it going. and that is what we will do. no, it does not require any massive reorganisation, no, that's what we do, we support each other. such support is already happening. here, prince william was on hand, a grandson helping his grandmother the queen as she met her guest aung san suu kyi, myanmar‘s defector leader. the windsors are in transition. this is a taste of the future. peter hunt, bbc news. a search team examining forest land in northern france for the body of seamus ruddy, a man who "disappeared" during the troubles in northern ireland, has found human remains. mr ruddy 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 remote wooded area near rouen, from where our news correspondent mervyn jess reports.

following the discovery this morning, the search area has been locked down by french police and the media cameras are not being allowed in. a team of investigators have been searching this piece of woodland since monday. the area has been searched 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 of seamus ruddy.

given the location and the confidence the commission has in the information it received, there seems little doubt this marks the end of the 32—year search for another one of the disappeared. 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 barnsley area, which they believe are linked to a contaminated batch of heroin. one person was found dead 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 barnsley and two in nearby west yorkshire. police believe all nine deaths have

been caused by heroin 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. 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 four championship last month when he was involved in a high speed collision. after support from formula 1 stars lewis hamilton and jenson button he says he's determined to get back behind the wheel, as richard lister reports. they call him billy whizz. one of the rising stars of british motorsport. he was supposed to be racing this weekend. instead, he's reading messages from driving legends like lewis hamilton and niki lauda after the injuries

that changed his life. that's amazing. and as i turn over, there'd be signatures from many world champions. that really touched my heart. i was lost for words, and i still am now. 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 queens 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 wouldn't be here today, so a massive thanks to every single one of the staff that have helped me. it's going to 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 more than £800,000 towards his recovery and those who will be racing at thruxton this

weekend are ensuring that although he won't be there, his nickname will at least still feature on the grid. itjust shows you that when a tragic event like this happens, how people pull together. i definitely want to take the positives out of this and make sure that i use it in a positive way for the rest of my life now. i've still got a few years left in me, for sure. watch this space. richard lister, bbc news. now time for a look at the weather. good evening. the cloud will have moved around a bit for tomorrow, but today we have had the best of the sunshine across the northern half of the uk. under this cloud, a bit cooler. a few breaks further south, but this weather front producing some rain in places around the south

coast. that rain will creep away overnight. some cloud across many northern and eastern areas of the uk, but clear skies in south scotland, northern ireland and southwest —— and north—west england. see how the cloud breaks in wales and in the midlands for a while, and then in the afternoon across to southern england. 0n the north sea coast, temperatures will be a bit lower. head further south, and temperatures will be higher. similar temperatures will be higher. similar temperatures into next week. little 01’ no temperatures into next week. little or no rain, and some sunshine. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines... theresa may says she is taking nothing for granted