this is bbc news. our top stories... designed to undermine democracy. french presidential candidate emmanuel macron clams and election hack. nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped three years ago have been freed. new protests in venezuela as us officials meet with the leader of the opposition parliament. and it is something that the fashion world has been criticised for time and time again. will france's skinny models band actually work? hello and welcome to the programme. with just hours to go before voters in france make their choice for president, the country's election

authority is warning the media not to spread information that has been hacked. the leaked material is from the campaign of centrist manual macron. aids demister macron say the attackers intended to undermine french democracy. —— assistance to mr macron say the attackers intended to undermine french democracy. he arrived dressed final interview last night assuming that his final campaign was basically done. while he was speaking, documents torn from his team were being circulated online. his campaign had been hacked. coming at the last hour, his team said, this intervention is an attempt to destabilise democracy, as happened in the usa during the last election. so, who stole these documents? in the past, emmanuel macron has suggested that russian backed hackers were out to get him. but one cyber expert says that this hack looks different. it is very low level for the russians, compared

to what they have done in the united states, which was really highly creative and high end information war mixed with hacking and cyber war. what we're right now with macron is very low end, very amateurish. but many french people, here braving the saturday drizzle, don't 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, showing emmanuel macron has capable enemies but it may not change the course of this election. many french people have already decided which way they'll 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. james reynolds, bbc news, paris. so how is that data leak affecting

the mood in france? my colleague is in paris. well, already this election had been an extraordinary one. who in france would have imagined that on the eve of the second round of presidential elections we would have ended up with these two candidates? the far right marine le pen and emmanuel macron, the centrist candidate who only set up his party one year ago for in the very last hours, this latest twist came. the massive dump of data. what impact could it have on these final hours for france goes to vote ? on these final hours for france goes to vote? i have been discussing this with my guest who is an expert in social media at the school of journalism at the sorbonne. as far as we know there was a leak on a channel called fortran last night at 830. those documents became viral 30

minutes later. —— a channel called 4chan. they have exploded in france. today there is a hash tag, #macronleaks, a number one trending topic on twitter. as far as the timing is concerned, this is strange. it came in hours before the restrictions on what you can say about the election came into force and has resulted in the fact that neither candidate can comment on the content neither candidate can comment on the co nte nt of neither candidate can comment on the content of this. that is quite strange and nobody really understands why just two strange and nobody really understands whyjust two days before the presidential election is leak came out because there is supposedly nine gb, and huge amount of data. it cannot be processed in 48 hours and it is impossible for anybody to estimate the damage that will come out of it. why only two days before? ido out of it. why only two days before? i do not think it will change the election tomorrow but it may impact ina election tomorrow but it may impact in a month or so for the election of

members of parliament. that is interesting. perhaps this is too late to do anything tangible for the presidential election tomorrow but in six weeks time we have another key vote that emmanuel macron is counting on getting support in. you think that could make a difference, potentially? a one-month smear campaign extracted from the documents that have leaked and that could be very problematic for who we assume to be president macron, if he is elected. if he does not get majority, how will the implement its policy? the origin of this attack? we know there have been accusations against kremlin based agents. can we deduce anything from what is out there? nobody really knows. there are only hints. everybody is looking towards the kremlin but there is no absence of proof. nobody will ever

be able to have absolute proof. the french electoral commission has come out quite strongly, telling all the media and people using social media that they absolutely must not be talking about this. that is unfortunately... i mean, they must do it. they must say, it is a question of the galaxy. but today it is pointless. even the french speaking media in belgium can speak about this and there are no limits to social media. i understand the french position but i think it is pointless today. the was a spokesman from the sorbonne school of journalism. and as we go into the final vote on sunday the polls look like this, one poll published puts emmanuel macron on 63%. that is against marine le pen‘s 37%. so emmanuel macron is the clear favourite in this presidential election. and also to remind you we

will bring you special coverage here on the bbc of the results as they come out late on sunday. we will bring you a special programme presented by my colleague. let's go toa presented by my colleague. let's go to a story developing over the past few hours in nigeria. at least 80 schoolgirls kidnapped by the militant group boko haram three yea rs militant group boko haram three years ago have been freed. the abduction of over 200 girls have triggered outrage around the world the viral social media campaign bring back ourgirls,. the viral social media campaign bring back our girls,. a short time ago i spoke to oui’ our correspondent who follows the story for us. information is sketchy still at the moment but we know that happened today, closed to the afternoon. what we heard from various sources is that the girls we re various sources is that the girls were met in a rural area in a forest, i was told and brought by road forest, i was told and brought by roa d co nvoy forest, i was told and brought by road convoy to an army base near the

border. after that they were supposed to be airlifted elsewhere, we don't know if that has happened yet. numbers wise, it is unclear but we have heard over 80 girls have been released and that tallies with what the government have been telling us over the past few months, they said they are in negotiations to release up to 80 girls. the 82 was the number that we here at the moment. that is many. four times the number that were released last time, which was in october when the government orchestrated another one of these negotiations. do you know more about how this release came about? the government has been talking to members of that one mack for quite sometime now, for a long time before the last release in october, to have these girls released. so it has been going on behind the scenes prolonged time. many different actors are involved. there has been a big convocation in that in that recently boko haram

split into two factions and the government has been open with us and saying that that has complicated the negotiation process. and, still, there are girls who remain in captivity. do we know how many are still there? well, it is over100. 276 girls were taken three years ago. around 50 escaped in the following days and since then we have had 21 in october, 82 or so now so have had 21 in october, 82 or so now so that's still leaves almost 115, definitely over 100 girls are yet to be returned. the families of these girls have been completely devastated by these kidnappings. there has been a lot of frustration. tell us a bit about the stories that have come out from previous releases. well, the twin one girls released in october are still being held, as far as we know, by the government. they have been to visit theirfamilies, they government. they have been to visit their families, they were to spend christmas with their families although there was a little

controversy around that, that they did not get to spend as much time with their parents as the prince would have liked. so we are still not hearing a lot about what has happened to them. thousands of women have led a march on venezuelan‘s capital caracas. it is the latest in a series of anti—government demonstrations. at least 36 people have been killed so far. it comes as donald trump's national—security adviser met with the leader of the opposition held parliament. about how to end the process. the daily wave of protests against the government of nicolas maduro continues across venezuela. in the capital caracas thousands of women marched on the defence ministry, dressed symbolically in white, urging the government to end what they said was the brutal oppression of its opponents and free hundreds of political prisoners. some of these protesters have husbands and family members in jail, who they say are in prison for opposing a corrupt regime. but the government and the armed

forces, which remain loyal so far, are not backing off. more than 30 people have been killed in a month of demonstrations. president maduro has vowed to ride out the storm, accusing venezuelan‘s enemies abroad and what he says are business elites at home, waging a deliberate campaign of destabilisation. but venezuela is hurting. but what should be latin america's wealthiest and most stable nation is punch—drunk from years of instability. many young people say they have no future here. i knew him for nine years, says this girl who has just buried her friend and fellow youth orchestra member. it hurts me so much to see him taken in the bloom of his life, just 18 years old. venezuela has the world's second largest oil reserves, yet in cities across the country, people are so poor and hungry,

they are looting shops for food, even when there is nothing there to steal. with an inflation rate of 900%, venezuelans are used to queueing for basic goods at subsidised government markets. but food and medicine is scarce. hugo chavez's socialist revolution failing the very people who supported it. thousands remain loyal, and chavez's success in nicolas maduro has rejected calls for the release of political prisoners. after a week of increasingly violent protests, opposition leaders met senior members of the trump administration, washington accusing mr maduro of disregarding the rights of his own people. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the

other stories for you. the former head of the palestinian militant group hamas in the gaza strip has been elected as the overall leader of the movement. he succeeds a man who has led the movement from abroad for two decades. the succession took place using video technology. hundreds of thousands of polish opposition supporters have taken pa rt opposition supporters have taken part in what they call a freedom march through warsaw. it is a protest against what they see as curbs on democracy imposed by the governing party. the opposition has accused the party of trying to stack the constitutional tribunal with sympathetic judge the constitutional tribunal with sympatheticjudge alljudges the constitutional tribunal with sympathetic judge all judges and the constitutional tribunal with sympatheticjudge alljudges and of manipulating media coverage. hundreds of homes in canada have been evacuated after heavy rain caused flooding. two suburbs of montreal are among the areas most affected with residents on the tiny

islands of ile de mercier urged to leave their home. quebec has requested help from the military. let's go to the indian capital where pupils from two girls school have been taken to hospital for treatment after a chemical leak from a fuel tanker. the substance is thought to have been used in pesticides, which has caused eye and throat irritation as well as breathing difficulty. our regional editor for south asia is following the story. details emerged slowly throughout saturday. at first we had reports of a few dozen schoolgirls being admitted to hospitalfor schoolgirls being admitted to hospital for treatment but later in the day the main official indian news agency said over 300 had been affected and they came from two schools. also several teachers needed treatment. the symptoms were problems with the eyes and throats and ina

problems with the eyes and throats and in a couple of cases, problems breathing from this leakage from a container truck at some kind of storage depot in the south of delhi. it appears that these were chemicals imported from china for use in pesticides. do we know how some of the victims are? well, the doctors have been saying from the word go that they are kay and that no—one is in dangerand, in that they are kay and that no—one is in danger and, in fact, what we heard towards the end of saturday was that people are being discharged and going home to their families. was that people are being discharged and going home to theirfamilies. so that seems to be the situation. but, having said that, we have had some people saying that they are out of danger and others saying they are simply stable which sounds a less certain. the indian media have not given an account of what has happened, not even prioritise in the story. these links are not unusual in india, are they? they do happen from time to time. there was one a

few years ago with a smaller number of people being affected. there is an issue in india with supervision such as this is. the police have said in this case that legal action will be taken because hazardous materials were clearly not being stored properly or responsibly. others have said that this depot should not be there at all, so close to the schools. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, france bans extremely thin models. but will it work? we get the view of one fashion campaigner. 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. "designed to undermine democracy" — french presidential candidate macron slams an eve—of—election data hack. at least 80 schoolgirls who were kidnapped by islamist militants in the nigerian town

of chibok three years ago have been freed. there's been a reduction in fighting in syria since a russian—led initiative took effect. it's to halt the country's 6—year war. the russian defence ministry says it has registered 15 violations since midnight on friday, although government aircraft have been in action in rebel—held areas near hama and other parts of the country. alex bolton reports. syrian government aircraft in action. there are reports of shelling and gunfire elsewhere in the country, but the violence has eased following the international plan to create four de—escalation zones inside syria. another positive step. russian and us chiefs of general staff have agreed to restate —— reinstate the

system preventing midair incidents over syria. in a phone call, two channels agreed to work on additional measures. russia says a new initiative to create demilitarised areas in syria can pave the way towards more substantive negotiations. translation: the most important thing is that the implementation of the memorandum can help cease the military action and therefore end the syrian crisis at a practical level. the initiative is of significant meaning to the political process in syria. the deal to create de—escalation zones in the major areas of conflict in syria took effect in midnight on friday. the initiative was proposed by russia, president bashar al—assad's most powerful ally. it is backed by turkey and iran. with the deal coming from two strong backers of the regime, some say they are not too confident about it. translation: the revolution is very damaged.

it is strangled, and the syrian people are killed in these so—called de—escalation zones. the regime and the russians are the only beneficiaries. so how effective the current plan will prove to be is highly uncertain. now, it's a issue that the fashion industry has been criticised for again and again — extermely thin models. now france has introduced new laws banning the use of them. models will need a doctor's certificate to work with a special focus on their body mass index. and digitally altered photos will have to be labelled from october. but will the measures work? i've been speaking to fashion campaigner debra bourne for her thoughts. what is brilliant about this law is

that it sends out a very serious message to the industry about how serious this problem has become. i am not entirely convinced it is going to work, to be honest. i do not know how they will enforce it. it is impossible. would we send a police officer to every photographic studio in paris, and what would that look like? what is interesting also is that they need a doctor's nerd, because this would be valid for two yea rs, because this would be valid for two years, and as all women know, your weight fluctuates a lot over two yea rs. weight fluctuates a lot over two years. yeah. there are some real problems here in terms of the actual strategy, the day—to—day management of this law. i also do not know if it exists when french brands shoot outside of france. many campaigns are shot in new york, paris, the caribbean, so how will it hold up in real terms? what is important to hold onto was a government that has

actually done something, that is sending out a clear message. paris has a reputation in the industry in terms of casting for actually putting very skinny models on the catwalk. and that is serious. what is your opinion on the labelling of digitally enhanced photos? will that work? i think that is great. i was pa rt work? i think that is great. i was part of a government body on body confidence, under the women's equality minister here. this is something we discussed in the uk, bringing this law in. what is brilliant about it is that it makes it very clear to the consumer that this is an animation, that photographs which they could think we re photographs which they could think were real have actually been enhanced and touched up and changed, and people's body shapes have changed. i would like to see a world where that does not happen at all, ideally, and our imagery is far more real. but given that we have to change things step i step, i think this is a great move forward. france is really blazing a trail when it

comes to this policy. but isn't it down to the individual models and a cultural shift in the industry itself? it is, but the difficult thing here is that the model in the picture looks at the most powerful person on the planet. they look amazing. in truth, we are talking about teenage girls, very young and impressionable women. they are in a studio surrounded by 30 people, they are studio surrounded by 30 people, they a re often studio surrounded by 30 people, they are often 19 years old, trying to adhere to a system they may not agree with, scared to voice change. so the models really need to be protected here. debra bourne on france's new laws on skinny models. the kenyan athlete eliud kipchoge has run the fastest marathon in history. with the aid of a large team of pacers, he finished the course in a time of 2 hours and 25 seconds. but it won't be officially recognised as a world record as it wasn't run under normal race conditions. mark eames reports. 63 years to the day that roger bannister broke the four—minute aria

40 mile, three athletes tarried for —— gathered before dawn at the monza grand prix circuit in an attempt to produce the first marathon run in under two hours. there werejust three competitors in the race. can you's elliott should trigger is the current champion over the distance. —— can you smack you chip show there. he wasjoint —— can you smack you chip show there. he was joint right and lisa decease and that saraguay given the opportunity run fast. organised by nikkei, this is a manufactured attempt. they ran behind an arrow head of pacemakers to reduce drag, and a car beamed a green light on the road behind them showing the required speed for the sub two—hour target. even had the advantage of fresh pacemakersjoining target. even had the advantage of fresh pacemakers joining them target. even had the advantage of fresh pacemakersjoining them during the attempt, but even then, not all of the elite trio could maintain the required speed. in fact, only kipchoge could keep up the required pace of four minutes and seconds per mile. but over the last couple of laps, he too started to slip behind

the required time. he crossed the line ina the required time. he crossed the line in a time that was adjusted to two hours and to divide seconds, sing the target byjust 26 seconds, orjust one second per mile. —— missing. it has been hard. it has taken a seven good months of preparation and dedication. manufactured or not, it was a brave attempt, and won the kenyon has said he is likely to try again in the future. —— one the kenyan. and remember, you can get in touch with us on twitter. goodbye for now. hello there. that cloud running through the

english channel is moving southward into the near continent. across the far north—east of scotland we have got some lowering cloud that will bring drizzle as we head into sunday. quite low cloud for northern and eastern scotland, perhaps filtering through the central logos, perhaps argyll and bute seeing more in the way of sunshine. a chilly start across northern ireland, likewise north—west england. on the other side of the pennines there will be more cloud. wales, midland and southern england, temperatures start at ten or 11 because of the cloud, but we should see things improving. you will notice that if you are watching the cricket at lord's, england against ireland. skies brightening through the day. we will get some sunshine and it should feel quite warm in the afternoon despite the northerly breeze. the breeze stronger across

north—east scotland and england, all the way down to the wash further south. the cloud should tend grey cup and we should get more sunshine for southern parts of england and wales. mild temperatures along be coast, but in northern ireland who could be sitting at 21 in the afternoon, possibly 20 in south—east wales. not quite as warm as that at anfield, but not far off. most temperatures will climb in the afternoon in the sunshine, and eventually we will have sunshine in london as well. looking good as we head into the end of the afternoon. overnight we will see more cloud coming in off the north sea, and a good part of scotland. in the west we will have clearer skies and it could turn chilly in the countryside. generally as we head into monday it is a west end eastern split for many. eastern areas with that onshore chilly breeze, but even here it will break up at times. further west across the uk after a chilly start perhaps we will get more sunshine, boosting the temperatures into the midteens,

possibly higher than that towards the south—west. quite chilly for eastern scotland and north—east england once again. i pressure keeping it dry. at least into tuesday and wednesday. the centre of the high reach a rich and it's all the high reach a rich and it's all the way from southern greenland, extending a nose into the uk. on tuesday, the onshore breeze will cause more cloud for the eastern pa rt cause more cloud for the eastern part of the uk. we will have more sunshine by the middle part of the week, boosting temperatures. generally, the further west you go will see higher temperatures. and thatis will see higher temperatures. and that is where we have the best of sunshine. this is bbc world news, the headlines. the french authorities have warned against anyone spreading documents hacked from the campaign team of emmanuel macron ahead of sunday's presidential election. aides to mr macron say it was intended to undermine french democracy. at least eighty schoolgirls who were kidnapped by islamist militants in the nigerian town of chibok — have been freed. a government official said they had been released following negotiations with the group.

thousands of women are taking part in protests in venezuela's capital caracas. us officials have met with the leader of the opposition held parliament whose powers have been seized by the supreme court. pupils from two girls‘ schools in the indian capital, —— 300 pupils from two girls‘ schools in the indian capital, delhi, have been taken to hospital for treatment after a chemical leaked from a fuel tanker. prince edward has been speaking about his father's decision to stand down from royal duties later this year. he said he was sure prince philip wouldn't disappear