hello my name is tom donkin, welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. here's our top stories: france's presidential election reaches its climax but could the hacking attack on emmanuel macron‘s campaign affect sunday's result? 82 nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by islamist militants three years ago have now been freed. with just hours before france chooses a new president, the authorities have warned the public and the media not to share emails and documents hacked from the centrist candidate, emmanuel macron. the french election commission said people should act responsibly so as not to alter the integrity of the vote. it said anyone ignoring the advice could be prosecuted. james reynolds is in paris and 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 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. islamist militants have released 82 schoolgirls who were kidnapped from chibok in nigeria. a government official said the girls were freed following negotiations with boko haram. the girls were among almost 300 abducted from their school three years ago.

stephanie hegarty has the latest from nigeria. well, information is fairly sketchy still at the moment but we know that it happened today, close to the afternoon. what we've heard from various sources is that the girls were met in a rural area in a forest, i was told, and brought by road convoy to an army base near the cameroonian border. after that they were, i think, supposed to be airlifted elsewhere, we're not sure whether that has happened yet. numbers wise, it is not very clear 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. so 82 is the number that we are hearing at the moment. and that is a lot. it's four times the number that were released last time, which october when the government orchestrated another one of these negotiations. 276 girls were taken three years ago. around 50 escaped in the preceding days and since then we have had 21 in october, 82 or so now

so that's does leaves almost 115, definitely over 100, girls who have yet to be returned. fighting has eased in parts of syria where a russian—led ceasefire has taken effect. the russian defence ministry says it has registered 15 violations since midnight on friday. meanwhile, russia and the united states have agreed to resume a bilateral agreement to prevent mid—air clashes over syrian skies. alex bolton reports. syrian government aircraft in action near the city of hama. there are reports of shelling and gunfire elsewhere in the country, but overall 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 agred to reinstate the system preventing mid—air incidents over syria. in a phone call, russian general gerasimov and general dunford at the united states, 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 among conflicting factions and therefore end the syrian crisis at the 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 western syria took effect at 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 assad's regime, the main syrian opposition grouping have major misgivings about it, they say they're not too confident.

translation: the revolution is very damaged. the revolution is strangled, and the syrian people are killed in these so—called de—escalation zones. the regime and the russians are the only beneficiaries. failure of peace efforts and ceasefire deals are a familiar story in this conflict that has claimed 300,000 lives since 2012. so how effective the current plan will prove to be is highly uncertain. alex bolton, bbc news. let's round—up some of the other main stories: the former head of the palestinian militant group hamas in the gaza strip has been elected as overall leader. ismail haniya will take over from khaled meshall, who has led the movement from abroad for two decades. the election took place using a video link between delegates in gaza and qatar. tens of thousands of people have marched through the polish capital,

warsaw, to protest against the country's government. they claim the ruling law and justice party is endangering democracy. the rally, which was organised by the main opposition group, civic platform, was also a show of support for the european union. pope francis has criticised the naming of america's largest non—nuclear explosive ever used in combat, as "the mother of all bombs". last month the us military dropped the device on islamic state militants in afghanistan. the pope's comments come ahead of his meeting with president trump later this month. the italian coastguard says about 6,000 migrants trying to reach europe have been rescued in the mediterranean over the past 48 hours. officials said they coordinated around a0 separate emergency missions on friday and saturday. many of the migrants were trying to make the crossing from libya in makeshift vessels stay with us here on bbc news, still to come: the teenage racing driver who lost both legs in a horrific

crash vows to get back behind the wheel. the main political parties have been out canvassing support on the first full weekend of the general election campaign. the prime minister, theresa may, says she's grateful for the backing her party's received in the local elections but she says she's taking nothing for granted. earlier, the opposition leader, jeremy corbyn, admitted his party faced an historic challenge but said labour was closing the gap. 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 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 are 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 battlegrounds like this the next government will be decided. the liberal democrats have pledged to increase spending on the nhs

and social care by raising 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. 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, we have to provide the money to pay for it. everyone else is pretending it can be done on the cheap. it cannot be done on the cheap. 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 brexit, 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. 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. three men have appeared in court charged with murdering a businessman who was fatally shot, allegedly during a botched robbery. 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 last sunday morning tried ledger was shot. he was taken to hospital but later died. the 61—year—old businessman had worked in marketing and was a director of the school ‘s academy trust. today three men were brought to the magistrates court in dorset charged with the murder and

with aggravated burglary. the three men, faced the hearing which lasted five minutes. there was no application for bail. all three men we re application for bail. all three men were remanded in custody. they will next appear via a video link on tuesday. a ao—year—old woman arrested was released. france's presidential election reaches its climax amid concerns the hacking attack on emmanuel macron‘s campaign could affect the result. 82 nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by islamist militants three years ago have now been freed. back to our main story now: and how has that hacking scandal affected the mood in france ahead of the vote? my colleague karin

gianone 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. in the very last hours, this latest twist came. the massive dump of data. what impact could it have on these final hours before france goes to vote ? i have been discussing this with my guest, who is an expert in social media at the school ofjournalism at the sorbonne. as far as we know there was a leak on a forum called lichan last night at 8:30. those documents became viral 30 minutes later. 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 of this. that is quite strange and nobody really understands whyjust two days before the presidential election this leak came out, because there is supposedly nine gb, a 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? i do not think it will change the 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 he 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 absolute 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. 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 ofjournalism. 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. we will be bringing new special coverage here and the bbc of the results as they come out late on sunday. we will bring you a special

programme resented by our colleagues from 1730 gmt. —— presented by our colleagues. strong winds and rain have swept across parts of eastern china, bringing down trees and cutting off power lines. in some areas gales have reached force 10 over the last two days. more than a0 tourists in fujian province had to be rescued by firefighters after being trapped by flash floods. sarah corker reports. as daylight faded, firefighters attached to safety ropes and waded through a torrent of raging water to rescue 44 tourists. the group were visiting a waterfall in a rural part of fujian province when torrential rain triggered flash flooding. trapped for more than three hours, they were first given food and water before being taken to higher ground. further north, injilin province, it gale force ten winds ripped roofs off buildings. trees were uprooted and vehicles were crushed.

translation: the roofs of the steel houses are flying everywhere. look at the billboard behind me, it was brand—new, just put up today, but was blown down by wind all the same. debris was strewn across roads and pavements, narrowly missing some pedestrians. at least 12 powerlines were damaged. engineers worked through the night to end the blackout. beijing has not escaped the severe weather either. a pedestrian was trapped underneath a fallen fence but escaped without serious injury. the wind was so powerful it took anything not nailed down with it. some other stories making the news: hundreds of homes in canada have been evacuated after heavy rain caused flooding. two suburbs of montreal — in the province of quebec — are among areas worst affected, with residents on the tiny island of ile mercier urged to leave their homes. with further downpours expected over the weekend, quebec has requested

help from the military. 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. the substance, thought to used in pesticides, caused eye and throat irritation as well as breathing difficulties. police say they‘ll be taking legal action against the chemical handlers. the teenage racing driver who lost both legs in a horrific crash says he‘s "lost for words" after well wishers raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for him. billy munger was racing in the formula four championship last month when he was involved in a high speed collision. 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. 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. prince edward says he doesn‘t believe his father, the duke of edinburgh, will "stop for a minute," when he retires from public life in the autumn. prince edward said "the show would go on" — because the royal family worked as a team. our royal correspondent, peter hunt, considers the first comments from a senior royal — about the impending retirement of prince phillip. prince philip, as we soon won‘t be seeing him, in public, on duty, by his wife‘s side. from the autumn, the soon to be 96—year—old will be giving up such engagements. retirement beckons but prince edward insists his father won‘t be inactive.

i don‘t believe that he is going to be putting his feet up completely and disappearing into the background and never being seen again. i still think, he‘ll pick and choose what he wants to do and how he‘ll do it and what‘s sensible and what‘s practical. as i said, i don‘t think we‘ll see him completely disappear but he‘s making it absolutely clear to organisations, please don‘t come round asking me to do things and expect me to say yes, because the answer‘s going to 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‘s what we do. the show goes on. if an actor retires from a show, guess what, the show goes on, everybody shuffles around and we fill in the spaces and keep it all going. and that‘s what we will do. it doesn‘t require any massive reorganisation, 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 de facto leader. the windsors are in transition. this is a taste of the future. the latest edition of the sunday times rich list has been published naming the uk‘s wealthiest people. and right at the top are two indian brothers sri and gopi hinduja. they made their money from banking and manufacturing and are said to be worth more than twenty billion dollars. but, there was only one person in the top ten born in the uk — the duke of westminster. the duke‘s wealth comes largely from inherited land in london and is valued at over twelve billion dollars. don‘t forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter, i‘m @tomdonkinbbc the weather now with darren bett. hello, good morning.

so near, yet so far away. we had some rain around during the first half of the weekend. it came in with this cloud front, just clipped the south—west of england, running through the english channel. that cloud is moving southward into the near continent. across the far north—east of scotland we have got some low cloud that will bring drizzle as we head into sunday. quite low cloud for northern and eastern scotland, perhaps filtering through the central lowlands, perhaps argyll and bute seeing more in the way of sunshine. sunny start after 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 10 or 11 because of the cloud, but we should see things improving. you‘ll 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 to break up and we should get more sunshine for southern parts of england and wales. mild temperatures along the 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‘s an east/west split for many. further west across the uk after a chilly start perhaps we will get more sunshine,

boosting the temperatures into the mid teens, possibly higher than that towards the south—west. quite chilly for eastern scotland and north—east england once again. high pressure keeping it dry, at least into tuesday and wednesday. the centre of a high pressure ridge coming all the way from southern greenland, extending a nose into the uk. on tuesday, the onshore breeze will cause more cloud for the eastern part of the uk. we will have more sunshine by the middle part of the week, boosting temperatures. but generally, the further west you go will see higher temperatures. and that is where we have the best of sunshine. this is bbc 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 boko haram, in the nigerian town of chibok, have been freed. a government official said they had been released following negotiations with the islamist militant group. they‘re still thought to be holding more than a hundred girls captive. fighting has eased in parts of syria

where a russian—led initiative to halt the country‘s six—year war has taken effect. the russian defence ministry says it‘s registered 15 violations since midnight on friday. russia and the us have also agreed to resume a bilateral agreement to prevent mid—air clashes in syria airspace. now on bbc news, it‘s time for dateline london.