good afternoon. labour is promising not to raise income tax for anyone earning less than £80,000 a year, as part of an election pledge to low and middle earners. the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, said those earning over that amount would be asked to pay "a bit more" to help pay for public services. the conservatives say they have no plans to raise taxes, but have so far refused to rule it out completely. here's our political correspondent ellie price. a policy pledge to capture the imagination of low and middle—income voters — and the newspaper headlines. labour say 95% of taxpayers will benefit from what the shadow chancellor described as a personal tax guarantee. it will be going to that you will not have an increase in income tax or vat or national insurance. and for those above £80,000, we will ask you to pay a modest bit more. why? to fund oui’ pay a modest bit more. why? to fund

our public services. the policy—making sound relatively familiar... no increase in national insurance, no increase in income tax... the conservatives made that pledge at the last election. so far, theresa may has ruled out a rising vat but not committed to the previous manifesto pledge of not raising income tax or a national insurance contributions. today, the tories said there was a black hole in labour's proposals. they're going back to type, they are always going to raise taxes, they will start at £80,000, you will brink and they will bring it on again. it's the same old labour, raising taxes and hurting aspiration. the lib dem leader, tim farron, was on a fun run today. his party said labour's tax pledges were not worth the paper they were written on. there is no clear figure they were written on. there is no clearfigure for how they were written on. there is no clear figure for how much tax the top 5% of earners pay. but official figures show the top 1% contribute more than a quarter of all income

tax paid in britain. you can't get that much more by putting a few pence on income tax for the highest earners. if you really want to raise significant amounts of money to support public services, i'm afraid it cannot just support public services, i'm afraid it cannotjust be a few people, it has to be all of us. but announcing the pledge today, john mcdonnell did not rule out introducing a new higher rate of tax for the highest earners. he insisted the decision would be made when the parties ma nifesto would be made when the parties manifesto is launched within the next few weeks. the conservatives say reforming mental health legislation in england and wales will be a priority, if they win the election. theresa may said a new law would tackle discrimination and the unnecessary detention of vulnerable people. there would also be a boost to the number of mental health professionals by 2020. richard lister reports. when she entered downing street for the first time as prime minister last year, theresa may described the lack of sufficient mental health care as a burning injustice. now, in what the

conservative campaign describes as its first major domestic policy announcement, the tories have pledged to employ an additional 10,000 mental health staff in the nhs, to give more legal protection to all people suffering from mental health issues, and to make mental health first aid available in every school. if you have a child that has severe mental health problems, and you find that child, instead of getting treated by the nhs, actually ends up in a police cell, that is a terrible thing for the child, it'll probably make their condition worse. but it's also very bad for the police as well. we want to stop that. the tories say they will rip up the mental health act amid concerns it is allowing the widespread detention of people against their will. the liberal democrats say the conservatives delayed such reforms while in the coalition, and failed to fully fund children's mental health care. when i come across families who are waiting desperately for their children to receive the care they need, they feel badly let down by this government.

so, for me, it's empty rhetoric at the moment. labour says there are 6,000 fewer mental health nurses than in 2010, and less investment. health care charities welcome the attention but worry about the future. daily at sane, we hear of people struggling to get help, who are being turned away and neglected. we've lost over 25,000 beds since 2000. the main focus may be on brexit, but health care is also a key battle ground in this campaign. french voters are going to the polls today to choose their next president. the second and final round of the election pits the centrist candidate emmanuel macron against the far—right leader marine le pen. more than 50,000 police officers have been deployed amid very tight security. 0ur correspondent hugh schofield is at a polling station in paris.

yes, in the and a miserable day here in paris, but but does not seem to be putting off the voters over turning up at a fairly steady stream at this school. 0verall, turning up at a fairly steady stream at this school. overall, the government tells us that 28% of the population have voted by midday, which is broadly in line with what happened in the first round last time out. it indicates a 80% turnout overall, which is fairly good. the choice is pretty stark, between the nationalist, protectionist marine le pen and the pro—business, pro—eu emmanuel macron. viewers need to know that there is flash photography in this coming piece. emmanuel macron was the first of the candidates to vote this morning, at a voting station near his home in the seaside resort of le touquet. with him, his wife and former schoolteacher brigitte. a short time later, marie le pen was also in front of the cameras in the northern working—class town

of henin—beaumont, one of the strongholds of her front national party. turnout will be one of the things to look out for today. neither of the main parties, the socialists and the republicans, has a runner in the race, and that may deter some voters. also, some on the radical left view mr macron and ms le pen as as bad as each other. but in general, participation in presidential elections in france tends to be high. i think it's very important, particularly this year, because it's a vote for democracy. we know what happened in the us, the brexit is on its way, so it's very, very, very important to vote. sorry, my heart is actually beating really fast now. yeah, we have to vote, because, i mean, for democracy, we have to vote, it's... we should. and it's a big decision. as ever, security is tight. the champs—elysees attack just before the first round, still very much on people's minds.

now, polling stations close here in paris at eight at this evening, seven o'clock in britain. very soon after that if not immediately, we should get a clear indication of who has one. emmanuel macron, as all the standards have been showing, is the clear favourite. but let's see. standards have been showing, is the clearfavourite. but let's see. hugh schofield in paris, thank you very much. 82 nigerian schoolgirls have arrived in the capital, abuja, where they're due to meet the country's president, after being freed by the islamist group boko haram. they arrived by bus this morning. the girls were among 276 taken captive in the north—eastern town of chibok in 2014. they are the second group of chibok girls to be freed, and were released in a prisoner exchange deal. around 50,000 people are being evacuated from the german city of hannover later, so that experts can remove five unexploded allied wartime bombs.

the bombs were found during work at a building site. some 2,500 firefighters, rescuers, and police officers are being deployed to help with the operation, which effects around a tenth which affects around a tenth of the city's population. it's an historic day at lord's today, where ireland are playing international cricket for the first time. they are playing england in the second one—day international of the summer. ben croucher has been watching the action. up to mighty london came an irishman one day. this is how far irish cricket has come, a first game at lord's, the home of cricket. england soon showed them the way around. alex hales and jason roy looked in no mood to extend the hospitality out in the middle, scampering to 49. ireland had a man who was equally at home here, though. tim murtagh has played county cricket at lord's for a decade, and took the first wicket.

not long followed by the second — barry mccarthy tempted roy to drive straight into irish hands. which, in turn, brought england's captain to the crease. eoin morgan, born in dublin, soon making his native countrymen play fetch around the english capital. if england continue to score big and score fast, ireland could discover they still have a distance to travel on their cricketing journey. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 5:35pm — goodbye for now. this is bbc news. 82 nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted by islamist

militants in 2014 have been freed. they have arrived in the capital, abuja. they are due to meet the country's president. they were among more than 270 girls seized from a boarding school in the town of chibok in a night time attack. they were released in a prisoner exchange deal. i spoke to stephanie a little earlier. she reminded us that in spite of this deal, many girls are still missing or being held. there are 115 girls yet to be returned. we have very little information about where they might be, if indeed they are alive. it is assumed some of the girls may not have survived over three years at boko haram. those who have come back before, what condition are they in? what sort of experiences do they tell? have they had a really terrible time or been reasonably well treated? the girls came back in october —

they have since been held by the nigerian government. there were 21 of them. we have had very little access to hear their stories and what they have been through. it is assumed often that these girls taken by boko haram become boko haram wives and married off to soldiers, to militants. in the case of those 21 that does not seem to be the case. this is a much bigger group, 82 girls. it remains to be seen over the next few weeks and months, it remains for us to hear their stories. if we think of other girls we have met — thousands have been kidnapped by boko haram. we have met them over the past few years and they do tell very horrifying stories of being forced marriage, forced

rape, some being forced into becoming suicide bombers. whether they had the same experience, we do not know. what about hopes for releasing others who are known to have been ta ken? the presidency last night, in a statement on this release, said they are still pursuing negotiations for the release, not only of more chibok girls. when we spoke to the president's spokesman, he suggested that lines of communication were now open with boko haram, who made intimations that there may be peace talks even one day. he delicately addressed that issue. iamjoined by i am joined by the media manager at amnesty international, nigeria. thank you for speaking to us on bbc

news that the girls who have been freed today, this is very good news. how long do you think it will be before they have been treated? we are still watching them arrive in abuja. we do not know how long it will take, what procedures the government has full. we are still watching. we're actually looking forward to a process that will make it very easy for them to be reunited with theirfamilies. it very easy for them to be reunited with their families. do we have an idea of how the previous groups of girls who have been released are getting on? nothing is very clear, actually, the exchange should have been very transparent but nothing is clear. the hints and ideally had was that we know they were kept with the dss and they were put to a lot of

processes of screening and protocols here and there. that is why so many human rights organisations are worried. putting them through those kinds of processes also lead to a situation whereby sometimes the privacy is violated. one should not forget, i think, privacy is violated. one should not forget, ithink, it privacy is violated. one should not forget, i think, it is notjust girls who are taken. lots of people have been kidnapped. i presume the hope is that eventually, all those who are still alive will be brought back. yes. that is what we have been seeing. from the beginning of 2014 to date, we have recorded 41 massive abductions. reports of these abductions. reports of these abductions are becoming almost every day. young men, girls and women, are still being abducted. the issue is,

much of the attention only goes to the chibok girls. that is why others are the chibok girls. that is why others a re less the chibok girls. that is why others are less publicised. 0ther duction is do not get media attention. there area is do not get media attention. there are a lot of people, thousands, who have been missing their relatives, who had their kids, their daughter is kidnapped by boko haram. what we are actually saying is the nigerian government should try to use this occasion of the successful rescue to ensure that attention is also given to the plight of others, thousands of others, who are still in the captivity of boko haram, who do not enjoy the support the chibok girls are getting. this is a daily thing from reports we are getting. what we actually are calling for is that the

government of nigeria should do more to secure that area, even those su ccesses to secure that area, even those successes have been recorded. we are saying that more needs to be done to ensure that people are able to go back to their villages and towns and live there safely without the fear of being abducted by boko haram. any sign up talks with boko haram might actually lead to this awful situation in the country ending? any sign of that? we don't actually go into the issue of negotiations between the government and non—state activists, whatever. what we are we responsibility. we responsibility of ne responsibility of the is the responsibility of the nigerian government to ensure that everything is done as much as possible, to ensure that right you know, the victims of the atrocities of boko haram getjustice from 2000

to date. thousands have been killed. thousands are still missing. thousands, over a million have been displaced. it is a huge, humanitarian situation we have in nigeria right now. what we are saying is that the government has to do more. more needs to be done to rehabilitate and restore life to normalcy for many of those who were affected by the violence of boko haram. we are very grateful to you. thank you very much indeed. thank you. people in france are voting in the final round of the presidential election. they're choosing between the centrist, emmanuel macron, and the far—right leader, marine le pen. both have promised change, but their policies on europe, tackling terrorism and managing the economy are radically different. karin giannone is in paris for us.

hello. welcome to a school where there is a polling station. it is still raining. the turnout across france is holding steady. the official figures across france is holding steady. the officialfigures are across france is holding steady. the official figures are slightly down on the first round but nothing particularly significant. the french only have to wait a matter of hours until they get a pretty definitive result. just after the polls close at eight o'clock local time, 7pm in the uk, a figure appears of the winner. that is all based on the collation of data from partial cou nts collation of data from partial counts in polling stations right across france. they are confident that will be the actual outcome of the election. i have been speaking to one of the key people behind that. he is from one of the pollsters. they come from a sample of polling stations that we build.

we have interviewers in those polling station. the interviewers attend the ballot count and they send us the information for the first 200 ballots, then the first 400 ballots. they send us the information on a continuous basis. we take this information. our computers, pundits and experts look into it. at eight p.m., computers, pundits and experts look into it. at eight pm, we are confident that we are able to give the final results. he is confident that there are winners name will be coming out a minute or so after the polls close. not long to wait at all for the french. let'sjust remind you of the security background to all of this. france is still under a state of emergency and has been so since the attacks of 2015. there has

been a security alert in the last hour or so at the louvre. the threat has not turned into anything significant. just outside the museum in paris is where emmanuel macron has been planning to hold his victory celebrations, where he to win put up that has not turned into anything significant, we believe. there are tens of thousands of extra security personnel on duty in france for this election. 50,000 police, 7000 army and 12,000 extra officers on the streets of paris alone. while police are thinking which candidate they are choosing in a selection today, security forces are thinking about keeping france safe. we have special election coverage coming up. it will be at 6:30pm on the bbc news channel. that would be presented by my colleague, christian fraser. thank you very much indeed. let's go to london's docklands where

john mcdonnell has been speaking. what did the shadow chancellor have to say? he has been setting out the broad picture of labour possible approach to the economy, which is very different to that being offered by the conservatives at this stage in the general election campaign. unashamedly pro—tax, pro—spending. he said labour will raise a lot of money to spend on public services and it will be people on higher incomes, those above £80,000 according to labour, to pay more tax to go to public services. he talks about raising billions through borrowing to go on public infrastructure spending. there is a policy difference emerging between labour and the conservatives on this big question of tax and spending. labour are big question of tax and spending. labourare framing their big question of tax and spending. labour are framing their tax promise both at lower and middle earners, saying they will not pay any more,

either in income tax, vat or national insurance, and making it clear that people on incomes over 80,000, many who work around here would pay more to fund labour spending plans. he taught also about the need not to look beyond the local elections and to look towards the general election. yes. inevitably he was asked about the pretty dire local election results labour face last week. he conceded that the council elections were disappointing. he thought labour could come back in the next four weeks and win this election. he has is to say that. he believes given balanced coverage through a general election campaign, more focus on labour's was the score he thinks labour's was the score he thinks labour can bring this back, despite what everyone around him, pundits, opposition parties, are saying. we do not inc he can. he was bullish

and making a case which, as i said, was starkly different in the fundamental principles to those being offered by the conservatives. thank you very much. more billionaires are based in the uk than ever before, according to the annual sunday times rich list published today. the hinduja brothers, who made their money from banking and manufacturing, top the table and are said to be worth more than £16 billion. joe lynam reports. sri and and gopi hinduja have been associated with the labour party since the mid—1990s, and acquired british passports in 1997. their investments in oil, it, energy and the media have made them worth £16.2 billion, according to the sunday times rich list, up by a quarter in a single year. not far behind on £16 billion is the ukrainian music mogul len blavatnik. he owns warner music as well as stakes in a number of other companies. at number nine, the duke of westminster, worth £9.5 billion, is the highest—ranking british born person on the list. he owns property in large

parts of central london. there are a record 134 billionaires in this year's top 1000 on the list, with a cumulative wealth of £658 billion. in order to get on the list, you need to be worth at least £110 million. although there are no women in the top 20 who became billionaires in their own right, the sunday times says this year's list is more diverse than ever. it says that many have benefited over the past yearfrom booming stock markets in europe and north america. joe lynam, bbc news. i think ithinki i think i spotted our political correspondent in the docklands in london in a bit of sunshine. what about the prospects for the whole country for the next few days? fa ncy fancy that at some sunshine. some of us are fancy that at some sunshine. some of us are getting to see some this

afternoon put up dry and bright weather has become a bit vague theme. there are some differences, depending on where you are. it is down to the north or north—easterly wind it is feeding a lot of clouding. there are patches of cloud further south. the best of the sunshine is where you have shelter from the wind will stop over the last few days i have been showing you pictures of the scottish highlands. today it is cloudy. the sunshine further south. for the rest of the afternoon you can see it is a process of feeding the clouding across northern and eastern areas. there could be the odd spot of drizzle. the gloomy afternoon for the north of scotland. temperatures could get up into the high teens stop parts of northern ireland we have seen a lot of sunshine already are have seen a lot of sunshine already a re close have seen a lot of sunshine already are close to 20 degrees. a lovely afternoon to come here. into the south—west, west midlands, and central and southern england we will

see spells of sunshine at times. temperatures could get close to 20 degrees. more cloud on the north sea coasts. through this evening and tonight the cloud will continue to roll in across the eastern half of the country, may be big enough to give the odd spot of drizzle at times. it has been cool in the east by day. by night it will stay milder. the coldest weather will be further west. that will translate into sunny spells in western areas through tomorrow. not quite as warm as it does today. cooler air working its way across the country. a lot of cloud towards the east. along the coast, nine, ten, 11 degrees. 13—16 in the south—west. 0n coast, nine, ten, 11 degrees. 13—16 in the south—west. on monday and into tuesday, watch the white lines, the isobars, on this chart and how they stretch further apart. the north—easterly wind will be turning lighter. it may not feel quite as chile on tuesday. still a fair amount of cloud across

the eastern part of the country. equally the odd spot of drizzle. 0ut west more in the way of sunshine. feeling cool generally for the time being the temperatures around 13-16d. being the temperatures around 13—16d. for the middle of the week, more in the way of sunshine and less cloud and it will turn warm up with temperatures in the south close to 20 degrees you can keep up to date with the details by logging onto the bbc weather website. hello. this is bbc news — the headlines: labour promise not to raise income tax for those earning less than £80,000 a year, as part of an election "personal tax guarantee". theresa may has announced plans to replace the mental health act in england and wales with a new law tackling discrimination and the unnecessary detention of vulnerable people. the liberal democrats say their manifesto will include a commitment to keep the "triple lock" on pensions — which guarantees they rise by as much as wages, inflation or 2.5% — whichever is highest. voters in france go

to the polls today in the final round of its presidential election. they're choosing between the centrist, emmanuel macron, and the far—right leader, marine le pen. the islamist militant group, boko haram, has freed 82 schoolgirls in nigeria in exchange for a number of its fighters held by the government. let go on the sports news of the day. here is richard. we'll start with today's premier league action at anfield where liverpool host southampton. jurgen klopp's fourth—placed side are aiming to keep up their push for a place in next season's champions league. the match kicked off a few minutes ago and it's philippe coutinho has recovered from a dead leg. the match has kicked off and it is goalless. a former premier league champion,

a two—time european cup holder or a recent league cup winner. by 2pm this afternoon, one of them will be a league one club. they are blackburn rovers, birmingham city and nottingham forest and they are fighting it out to avoid the drop from the championship. blackburn have a 2—0 lead against brentford. -- 2-1. nottingham forest 3—0 ipswich town. birmingham are currently 1—0