hello, my name is tom donkin. a warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. here are 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. violence eases across syria, as a russian—backed plan aims to put a halt to six to years of war. firefighters rescue dozens of elderly tourists after flash—floods hit eastern china. and, as prince philip prepares to leave the royal spotlight, his family says he won't be putting his feet up. hello.

france is going to the polls in a couple of hours for the final round of the presidential election. voters are choosing between the liberal centrist emmanuel macron and the far—right leader marine le pen, but the last 2a hours have been dominated by the hacking of the macron campaign. the authorities have warned the public and the media not to share any of the e—mails and documents obtained illegally. james reynolds is in paris, and 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 a highly creative and high—end information war, mixed with hacking and cyber war. what we're witnessing 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. it shows that 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. you can keep up to date on this and all the other stories we are following. just head to our website, bbc.com/news. and just a quick reminder there will be a special french presidential results programme here on bbc news, from 5:30pm gmt, with christian fraser taking us through the developments as they happen. so tune in for that. 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. they were taken three years ago as

schoolgirls but they will be coming back as young women. after lengthy negotiations between government and militants, 82 of the chinok girls have been released. it was essentially a prisoner swap. the president said in a statement that some boko haram suspects were freed in exchange for the girls. the young women are now in the care of the nigerian army, and are expected to be brought to the capital, abuja, today. it is the second time that the government has successfully rescued a group of chinok girls. last october the 21 young women were returned to their families. the chinok girls were taken from their school by islamist militants in 2014, just as they were about to set their final 2014, just as they were about to set theirfinal exams. their

2014, just as they were about to set their final exams. their kidnapping inspired a global campaign calling for their release. many families in chinok will be rejoicing today. but, of the 276 girls taken that night, over 100 are yet to be returned. chinok is by far the most high—profile case, thousands of people have been kidnapped by boko haram in the eight years of this insurgency. earlier i spoke to evon idahosa, an organiser for bring back our girls and founder of pathfindersjustice initiative, which works with survivors of sex trafficking and rape in the developing world. shejoined us from benin city, in nigeria. what we understand is that this town in the north—east of nigeria, the girls were flown from there to the capital city of abuja overnight. tomorrow morning they will be reunited with their families, following which i assume

they willjoin the other girls who remain in the custody of the nigerian government in abuja. chibok is definitely the most high profile case of kidnapping by boko haram, but many thousands of others have been kidnapped by the group. what kind of hope does this release give to those people? i think it is one of these things where every little effort by the nigerian government is something that the bring back our girls movement has absolutely applauded. and what it says is that the nigerian government is certainly capable of getting these girls and children back. obviously you had michelle obama at one stage supporting yourcampaign. how was it received back in nigeria, and how much of an effect do you think the campaign actually gave to this release? well, you know, i believe that the only reason why the negotiations persisted was because of the campaign.

had the bring back our girls movement not continued to stay on top of this, this would likely have been one of those other stories that fell by the wayside in nigeria. and so i believe that, you know, the continued pressure from the movement, the continued pressure from the families, and the many others who have been part of the movement, has really been what has essentially triggered these negotiations and the release of the girls. let's round up some of the other main stories: 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 organised around 40 separate emergency missions on friday and saturday. many of the migrants were trying to make the crossing from libya in makeshift vessels. the former head of the palestinian militant group hamas in the gaza strip has been elected as overall leader. ismail haniyeh will take overfrom khaled mashal, 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. thousands of venezuelan women have taken part in anti—government protests in the capital, caracas. they are calling for fresh presidential elections and an end to police repression. meanwhile, president trump's national security adviser has met the president of venezuela's opposition—led national assembly, in washington. wyre davies reports. 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, in prison, they say, for opposing a corrupt regime. but the government and the armed forces, which so far remain loyal, are not backing off. far from it. more than 30 people have been killed in a month of demonstrations. president maduro has vowed to ride out the storm, accusing venezuela's enemies abroad, and what he says are business elites at home, of waging a deliberate campaign of destabilisation. but venezuela is hurting. 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 at least 900%, venezuelans have got used to queueing for basic goods at subsidised government markets. but medicines and food are all scarce, hugo chavez's socialist revolution failing the very people who supported it. thousands remain loyal, and chavez's successor, nicolas maduro, has rejected calls

for new elections and the release of political prisoners. and, after a week of increasingly violent protests, opposition leaders met senior members of the trump administration, washington making its strongest comments on the crisis so far, accusing mr maduro of disregarding the rights of his own people. doctor moises naim served as minister of trade and industry for venezuela. he was also executive director of the world bank, and is currently a distinguished fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace in washington. he told me the us may be getting involved now because the situation had become hard to ignore. the daily news about the tragedy that is happening in venezuela — it's a humanitarian catastrophe. and so — and it's very close to the united states, and it's a very important country in very significant ways. and how much influence or change can the us actually enact in the country? not much. the united states has

very limited options what to do about venezuela. and it's not clear that the united states has a policy towards venezuela. it has an attitude towards venezuela. we know that president trump doesn't like the regime in venezuela. president trump has made a point, every time he talks to a leader in the neighbourhood in latin america, he makes a point of insisting that that should be a regional problem, that other countries in the region should become more active in trying to salvage the suituation, to improve the situation in venezuela. but, as i said, the us does not have a policy towards venezuela, it has an attitude. now, the situation in the country isn't new. there has been months of protests, food shortages, basically economic collapse, how has nicolas maduro been able to hang on to power? well, he has developed the tools of a police state. nicolas maduro‘s a dictator, that mostly has the support

of the military. and we know oil—rich countries that have governments that can control the military are very hard to topple, and he is an example of this. as long as he has the support of the armed forces, it's going to be very hard to oust him. 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 agreed to reinstate the system preventing mid—air incidents over syria. in a phone call, russian general gerasimov and general dunford of the united states agreed to work on additional measures. russia says a new initiative to create demilitarised areas in syria can help 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 are 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. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: heading for a royal retirement, of sorts, prince philip's family says he won't be stopping for a minute. 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: 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. 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 channel called 4chan 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 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 you special coverage. some other stories making the news: 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. an 85 year—old nepalese man who was attempting to become

the oldest person to climb everest, has died at base camp. min bahadur sherchan, a former british army gurkha, was trying to reclaim the record from japan's yuichiro miura, who climbed the peak aged 80 in 2013. 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. 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 ten over the last two days. more than 40 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. here in the uk, 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 philip. 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. peter hunt, bbc news. 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 $20 billion. 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 $12 billion. the top story: france is going to the polls today. they are choosing between emmanuel macron and marine le pen. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @tomdonkinbbc sony and so far. we had some rain

and then went away. clipping the south—west of england. moving south into the near continent. lowering clouds in the far north—east of scotland. quite low cloud for northern eastern scotland. doug free and galloway seeing more in the way of sunshine. —— humphrey. appennine a story of more cloud. for wales and southern england, a grey start because of the cloud. things improving and you will notice that if you're watching the cricket at

lord's. it should feel quite warm in the afternoon despite the northerly breeze. the breeze that stronger across the north—east scotland. further south, the cloud should tend to break up and we get more sunshine. a range of temperatures along the coast in the north—east, quite chilly. 20 degrees possibly in south—east wales. temperatures climbing in the afternoon and eventually we will get some 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. a good part of scotland, northern and eastern england it could turn chilly in the countryside. is we head into monday, west, east split with virtually is off the north sea. further west,

after a chilly start, we will get more sunshine boosting the temperatures. quite chilly for eastern scotland and north—east england. high pressure keeping it dry, essentially at least. tuesday and wednesday, at the centre of the high originating from the north, slightly cooler hair on tuesday. more sunshine by the middle part of the week. generally, the further west you go, the higher the temperatures. that is where you'll find the best of the 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 80 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 100 girls captive. fighting has eased in parts of syria where a russian—led initiative to halt the country's 6—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 syrian airspace. now on bbc news, it's time for click. this week: the coolest history lesson in history.