i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: a decisive win for emmanuel macron. the 39—year—old centrist sweeps to victory in the french presidential election, promising to fight division and protect the people. translation: a la task ahead is arduous but every time i'll tell you the truth. your further, arduous but every time i'll tell you the truth. yourfurther, your energy commuter route will always carry forward. a night of defeat for marine le pen. but, with nearly a third of the vote, she insists the national front remains a realforce. south korea also goes to the polls to choose a new president. we look at the frontrunner, moonjae—in. good morning.

it's 8am here in singapore and 2am in paris, where emanuel macron is set to be youngest ever president in french history. in a televised address, mr macron promised to fight the divisions in his country, re—build the links between the eu and its citizens, and to combat threats posed by terrorism and climate change. results are still being counted, but projected results show mr macron has won more than 65% of the vote after sweeping aside the challenge of his far—right rival, marine le pen. our coverage begins with this report from our europe editor, katya adler in paris. young, dynamic and very, very confident. emmanuel macron, said to be the youngest leader since napoleon, took the crowd by storm.

translation: in the face of extremism, i know there are disagreements and i will respect this. and i will be faithful to that commitment taken, i will protect the republic. this is an incredible moment. the mighty france, an economic and political world heavyweight key eu nation will be presided over by a 39—year—old virtual political newcomer, who has made a lot of big promises. to bring revolution, to change hungry france and the european union. business friendly, yet socially just, neither left nor right wing. sound like a tall order? his delighted supporters have faith. i am very happy because he is a good choice to keep our valour in france. we love europe. i'm very happy about this result.

france is not an old country dying, france is not an old country dying, france has hope. but easy it won't be — this is a divided country. marine le pen may have lost an eye, but millions voted for her and her far—right programme. translation: i propose to transform our movement into a new political force, a force which more and more french people are calling for and which is more necessary than ever before to rebuild our country. i call on all patriots to join us for a decisive political battle which begins this evening and we continue in the months ahead. farfrom being defeatist, her supporters were defiant. you are never happy unless you win, but we have got to look at the good side of this result. we have gathered around us people from outside the party

for the protectionist views we have for the programme marine put forward. supporters from the forceful far—left also took to the streets tonight, some in a violent mood. for them, emmanuel macron is no solution. he is part of the problem, they think, of elitist, big business minded government. but tonight, a new french revolution is promised with a new president from a brand—new party announcing a new dawn for france. for his supporters at least, the three colours of the french flag are not just about liberty, equality and fraternity, but above all, hope. by any measure the political rise of emmanuel macron has been remarkable. he's a former investment banker and served as an adviser, and later a minister, in the socialist government of francois hollande, the outgoing president. but he resigned last year to form

his own centrist political movement. our paris correspondent lucy williamson profiles the man chosen to be france's new head of state. he's the choice of a country desperate for change, a politician who's neither left nor right, part of the french establishment yet never before elected. a fresh face who served in the outgoing government. so who is emmanuel macron? to his supporters, he is their emmanuel, their political messiah, a provincial boy from outside the establishment who worked his way to power. he's a new man to politics. he's trying to find new solutions. he is a new face, he is our hope. but he went to france's most prestigious schools, met its most powerful people and made millions in an investment bank. a former colleague says that macron‘s rise is partly down

to charm but that at heart, he is a secretive man. he is able to tell people what they really want to hear. so a very seducive man and he manages to agree with nearly anyone. that is a talent. macron‘s wife, brigitte, told one journalist that her husband never let people close. the couple met when she taught him drama at school. their unusual love affair is a sign, says one of macron‘s old friends, of his determination, self—belief and drive. i think the only person who really knows him inside deeply is brigitte. you have to imagine, he seduced her, he convinced her to marry him, convinced his family.

just imagine, it's not a small thing. france has not opted for the political extremes, the far right rejected in favour of a liberal newcomer with his own promise of change. emmanuel macron has vowed to unite a divided and disillusioned france but his critics say he is the old wine in a shiny new bottle and the price of failure could be high. some say that emmanuel macron has won the presidency by being all things to all people, but he won't be able to govern that way. he has five years to solve france's problems or risk it choosing more radical change next time. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. here is how world leaders reacted to the result on social media. us president donald trump has tweeted his congratulations to emmanuel macron.

the british prime minister theresa may also congratulated president—elect macron on his success: italian prime minister paolo gentiloni tweeted: "hurrah macron president! there is hope for europe!" donald tusk, the former polish prime minister who chairs summits of european leaders, tweeted: and jean—claude juncker, the president of the european commission, said: the result made him "happy that the ideas that you defended of a strong and progressive europe that protects all its citizens will be those that france will cherish under your presidency". well, for more reaction to this

historic election result, let's go live to paris and speak to our correspondent, thomas fessy. thomas, we know that emmanuel macron isa thomas, we know that emmanuel macron is a political newcomer. he's also the youngest leader ever for france, so the youngest leader ever for france, so lots expectations there. very high expectation, and i think the first challenge will be to reunite divided nation. we've seen this run—off has been a clash between two radically different visions for france, and in the end it is their vision for a pro— european country — optimism and pro— market, pro—business vision, that won over a nationalist vision for france. but that doesn't mean — doesn't hide the fact that it's been

a very divided country, and marine le pen has been able to secure the vote of ii le pen has been able to secure the vote of 11 million people in the country, and a lot of people who voted for emmanuel macron did so to stop marine le pen, and he will have to ta ke stop marine le pen, and he will have to take that into account when it comes to governing in the next few months. that's right, because many analysts are saying that he was the choice by default, really, but certainly, as you say, quite a big portion of people in the country still seeing marine le pen's very populist agenda as part of what they want. so what will some of macron‘s key challenges the in his first months in office? well, his first key challenge will be to try and win a parliamentary majority in next month's election, because, if he wins a majority, then he will be able to carry out the reforms that he's promised. obviously this is a country that's

been under a state of emergency for nearly two years, and the terror threat has been inviting itself, evenin threat has been inviting itself, even in the electoral campaign, as we've seen with the attack against a policeman here in paris. at the economy has been dominating the campaign throughout this campaign. the french have been raising their concerns about the high unemployment, relocations, and this is how the president—elect — this is what the president—elect will have to look into, and he's promised to reform the libel law, for example, to make it easierfor companies reform the libel law, for example, to make it easier for companies to hire and fire staff. really the economy will be his biggest challenge. thank you so much forjoining us, our correspondence in paris. well it's not only the french — south koreans are also

going to the polls. the early election comes after former president park geun—hye became the first south korean leader to be removed from power through impeachment. moon jae—in of the newly—founded democratic party of korea is the frontrunner with the latest opinion polls predicting he'll win just over 40% of the vote. from seoul, stephen evans reports. this is the man that the opinion polls tip as the overwhelming favourite to the become next president of south korea — moon jae—in of the left—of—centre democratic party, a big change from the ousted right—wing president. crowd: moon jae-in! moonjae—in! "who's the president," he says, "who will speak his mind to the united states, to china, to japan, to north korea?" crowd: moon jae-in! moonjae—in! "who's the president who won't defer to the us or to china?"

if moonjae—in wins power, that would be a big change in policy — a move to the left — a closeness to pyongyang. that's what happened the last time he was in government. but being close to pyongyang might make him more distant from washington. cheering there are five main candidates. whoever gets the most votes on election day wins. the us has installed an anti—missile system in south korea, called thaad, to shoot down north korean attacks. left—of—centre moonjae—in says there's no welcome in korea for it. potentially, there is a little bit of a train wreck, here, where you've got the trump administration saying "pressure, pressure, pressure" on north korea, and suddenly you have a new south korean president who says "actually, that's not going to solve the problem — we need to talk to those guys, we need to improve the relationship." in a room in the national assembly,

defectors from north korea urged voters not to choose moonjae—in. they fear that a centre—left government would allow more contact with north korea, making it easier for north korean assassins to come south to target them. moon jae—in is not president, yet, and he may slip up at the last. but if he wins, a softer policy on north korea is on the way. the hardline did not change kim jong—un. would being nicer be any different? stephen evans, bbc news, south korea. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. north korea says it's detained a fourth american citizen on suspicion of acts against the state. kim hak song is understood to have worked for the pyongyang university of science and technology. it's the second such arrest by the north korean authorities in weeks.

more than 2,000 families have been forced to flee their homes in the afghan city of kunduz after two days of intense fighting between the taliban and the security forces. on saturday, the taliban took control of the district of qala—e—zal. severe flooding in heavy rain has trapped more than 400 people in the village in southern china. the floodwaters are more than three metres deep in parts. local authorities have issued emergency response, sending food and drinking water to villages involved. and riot police in rotterdam have clashed with fans at the local football club, feyenoord, after the tea m football club, feyenoord, after the team suffered an unexpected defeat. thousands of supporters had gathered in the city centre to celebrate their first league title in 18 yea rs. their first league title in 18 years. instead, feyenoord lost 3—0.

82 chibok schoolgirls, held for three years by the islamist group boko haram, meet nigeria's president. 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. welcome back to newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. our top stories: france has a new president—elect. the pro—european centrist, emmanuel macron, who's just 39, was voted in with a projected 65% of the vote. but more than a third of french voters chose marine le pen's hard—right vision for france. she vows to turn her attention to the coming parliamentary

elections. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. of course, they are all reacting to that french election win. the south china morning post in its early edition reflects on the impact of the french presidential election. it's front page story says that whatever the result, the choice would resonate far beyond france's borders, from extremist strongholds in syria, to hong kong's trading floors and the halls of the un security council. the china daily headlines what it calls president xi jinping's vision of international trade. it reports on the arrival of the first china—europe block train, carrying chinese—made products to warsaw. when the train returned to china, it was laden with polish commodities. and finally, the straits times says that employers in singapore

will have to provide better insurance coverage for theirforeign maids. from this october, they will need to buy personal accident policies with coverage of at least $60,000. well, let's return to the french elections. let's talk now about will happen in the coming weeks and months. some time between tuesday, and no later than next saturday the 13th, the government of the sitting president, francois hollande, will resign. by monday the 15th, emmanuel macron will be sworn in as president of france at the elysee palace — at the moment there's no precise date for this. but it won't be clear until next month how easy or hard it will be for mr macron to push through his agenda. that's because in earlyjune, the first first round of elections to the lower house of the french parliament takes place. and a week later, it's the second and final round. based on those results, a government reshuffle is likely. douglas webber told me the result

would be viewed in a positive light by most national politicians. i think most governments around the world today will be casting an immense sigh of relief that marine le pen has not become the french president. if she had done, given her programme, she would have taken france out of the eurozone, then out of the european union, and out of nato. thought would have added a huge degree of uncertainty to the national economy and national financial markets. i don't think there are many governments that could have an interest in seeing this type of political outcome in france. one person who would have liked le pen to win is the russian president putin, who, during the campaign in france, very demonstratively hosted marine le pen. as well as that islamist groups around the world, such as isis, or the taliban — they would have liked france to have

elected a president with whom they could then conduct the so—called clash of civilisations. it is now much less likely to take place. we keep talking about the parliamentary elections injune. because it's not a clear road ahead for him. he still has a lot of challenges, doesn't he? absolutely. we're talking about a political who established his own political movementjust one year ago. he has no mps at all in the french parliament, as things now stand. it will be historically absolutely unprecedented if he were to win a majority in the parliament in next month's elections. on the other hand, however, he has a lot of momentum going from this very clear victory. he also will benefit from a certain honeymoon effect, as presidents always do, in france, when they're newly elected. there was an opinion poll last week suggesting that he might get close to a majority in the parliament. another second opinion survey suggested that a majority of french voters yesterday weren't voting for him, they don't want him to have a majority in the parliament,

they were voting primarily to keep marine le pen out. so it's all very much in the balance, and without a clear majority or stable coalition in the parliament, he will find it hard to put in the kinds of reforms he has in mind, especially for the french labour market. indeed, as you say, some critics are saying he is a president by default, because so many people were against marine le pen's populist agenda. looking at foreign policy, how will france be facing the rest of the world? obviously still a part of the eu, but how do you envision that? this is a very good day for the european union. if one bears in mind brexit last year, and the growth of the radical right wing and anti—european parties around europe, it looks as if the populist tide has been halted, for the time being, in europe. we can expect that the elections in germany in september will yield another pre—eu government.

there is a good prospect, now, that there could be a kind of renaissance of the franco—german relationship, and that is normally a pre—condition for any big advance in the european union. that was professor douglas webber there. we have an update from the french interior ministry. they say that he was elected with just over 66% of the vote. and in fact, they have updated by saying they had counted virtually all the votes, and he has been elected with 66.06%, to be precise for the elections. and moving on, now, after more than three years in captivity, 82 nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by the extremist group boko haram have been freed. they met the nigerian president after being freed in a prisoner swap. they were among more than 200 girls taken from their school in the town of chibok. more than a hundred are still being held there. with more details, here's our africa correspondent, alastair leithead. released only a day ago.

three years held in the forest by boko haram, here they are, in the nigerian capital, meeting the president. campaigners and the families of those held still don't know if their daughters are among those freed. or that more than 100 are still being held. whether she is among the one that's freed or still in captivity, i don't know yet. whether my baby is freed or not, i am very happy. this photograph was the first proof they were free. a helicopter ride to the capital. and once in abuja, they were under the care of nigerian soldiers, taken for a medical checkup. they looked tired and confused by all the attention. some needed treatment. i am very glad that you are here, and every nigerian today must be forgetting how

they were suffering because this is a veryjoyous moment. this boko haram video shows the girls shortly after they were kidnapped in april 2014. they were taken from chibok government girl's secondary school. it sparked international outrage and a global campaign to have them freed. last october, the first 21 were released, as negotiations finally bore fruit. the government says talks will now continue to free the rest. these girls have grown up under boko haram. captives are often forced to marry their captors. emotions will be in turmoil and returning to their families and communities will not be easy. alistair leithead, bbc news, nairobi. well, you have been watching you stay on the day that emmanuel macron was voted president of france. the interior ministry has confirmed he won 66% of the vote. hello there, good morning. there's going to be some

more sunshine around for the next few days. we may well have seen the peak of the temperature, though, over the weekend. it was pretty much wall—to—wall sunshine in northern ireland. and here we had the warmest day of the year so far. same temperatures in glasgow and we had the warm air all the way from wales towards the south coast. but these areas that had the warmth by day are getting the chill right now with the clear skies. and in rural parts, we may find temperatures not far away from freezing. in the towns and cities, this is what the temperatures look like. and further east across england and scotland, there will be more cloud off the north sea. essentially, an east—west split to the weather on monday. another lovely sunny day for northern ireland. best of the sunshine in scotland in the south—west. sunshine for wales and western england. but a cloudier day than yesterday across the midlands and south—east england. some sunshine, though, developing, at times, across scotland. some cloud filtering

into northern and eastern areas and the north—east of england. sunshine coming and going across the north—west of england. lovely day, again, in northern ireland — not quite as warm as yesterday. pleasant in the sunshine across wales and the south—west. a cooler, cloudier sort of look to the weather across the midlands, towards south—east england. a fair bit of cloud across yorkshire, lincolnshire and east anglia. well that cloud is coming in off the north sea around this area of high pressure which dominates weather across the week and stretches back to southern parts of greenland. the position of the high will be crucial, though. they may well be a bit more cloud around, come monday. still, not as much, not as much sunshine in western parts of england and wales. temperatures again typically into the mid—teens. we're not seeing 20 or 21 but it will feel warmer eastern scotland and as we lose the wind of the north sea. but if we lose the cloud overnight, the dawn on wednesday could be quite cold almost anywhere in the countryside. it will warm up quickly across england and wales, southern scotland,

northern ireland in some sunshine. we may see afternoon highs of 19. a spot or two of rain on the weak weather front. our high pressure, though, is being squeezed well way into europe, and the pressure is great to be falling from wednesday onwards, and that means the weather is going to start to change. —— going to be. for much of the week, it will remain dry. sunshine around. if we get clear skies, chilly at night. later in the week, the chance of some rain moving in northwards. this is bbc world news. the headlines: france has chosen a new president. the pro—european centrist, emmanuel macron, who's just 39, was elected in a convincing victory. he promised to fight divisions in his country, and to combat the threat of terrorism. more than a third of voters chose marine le pen's hard—right vision for france — she vowed to turn her attention to the coming parliamentary elections,

and said her national front party was now the main opposition. 82 nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by the extremist group boko haram three years ago have met the country's president after being freed in a prisoner swap. they were among more than 200 girls taken from the town of chibok. and north korea has detained a fourth american citizen on suspicion of a cts fourth american citizen on suspicion of acts against the state. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news.