this is bbc news. i am karin giannone, reporting live from paris. emmanual macron sets out a new future for france. after his big win, the president—elect promises to unite the nation — and deliver change. translation: our task ahead is arduous but every time, i will tell you the truth. your fervour, your energy, your courage, will always carry me forward. it was a night of defeat for marine le pen, but, with nearly a third of the vote, she insists the national front is now a realforce. translation: i will be at the head of a battle to gather together all those who choose france to protect its independence, its freedom, its prosperity and its security. hello, iam hello, i am sally bundock in london, with the other stories. financial markets react positively to the outcome of the french election, at one point the euro was at a six—month high

against the us dollar. another presidential election, this time in south korea. we look at the frontrunner, moonjae—in. and tired, confused, but finally free. 82 schoolgirls, held for three years by the islamist group boko haram, meet nigeria's president. hello and welcome to bbc news. welcome to the programme, and good morning from paris, where it is fair to say that a fair few people have not gone to sleep yet. so the pro—european centrist, emmanuel macron, will be france's next president. within a few hours of being declared the winner and in his first address to thousands of supporters, mr macron promised to heal

divisions, restore confidence in the european union, and combat the threats posed by terrorism and climate change. with results almost counted, projections show mr macron has won more than 66% of the vote, sweeping aside the challenge of his far—right rival, marine le pen. his biggest challenge, right now, will be to form a new government. at the moment he hasn't got any elected representatives from within his political movement, en marche, in the national assembly. despite this disadvantage, his popularity with the voters saw him beat his far—right rival marine le pen convincingly. damian grammaticas has this report on how mr macron‘s victory was secured last night. this is an election victory that will reverberate across europe. emmanuel macron, liberal, pro—eu, whose support is globalisation and immigration. brands‘s next president. he is only 39. —— france's. he created his movements

just a year ago to give people tired of traditional parties a new choice. not that the extremes, but in the middle. translation: france one. what we have done for so many months, there is no comparison or equivalent to that. —— retra three. people said to us that. —— retra three. people said to us it was impossible. —— won. but they did not know anything about france. his opponent, marine le pen, was beaten. but she secured ii million votes, a third of those cast. and she said the fact that she made it to the right of meant that her party should now be seen as the official opposition. emmanuel macron‘s election is seen to be a

rejection of the populist wave that marine le pen represented. above all, it is a win for the liberals. emmanuel macron has said he will work to strengthen the eu. and eu leaders have rushed to congratulate him. they see emmanuel macron as giving the eu new evidence. so does this mean that the uk about to engage in brexit will be facing a strength and eu 7 engage in brexit will be facing a strength and eu? —— strengthened. here is how world leaders reacted to the result on social media: us president donald trump tweeted... the british prime minister, theresa may, also congratulated president—elect macron, saying... italian prime minister paolo gentiloni tweeted:

"hurrah macron president! there is hope for europe!" donald tusk, the president of the european council, 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, by any measure, emmanuel macron‘s political rise has been remarkable. he's a former investment banker, and served as an adviser, then, later a minister, in the socialist government of the outgoing president, francois hollande. he resigned, just last year to form his own political movement. our paris correspondent lucy williamson profiles the man chosen to be the country's new head of state. he's the choice of a country

desperate for change, 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. during her speech to supporters, marine le pen remained defiant and look forward to the upcoming parliamentary elections. translation: political parties who have chosen to vote for the man u macron no longer provide a credible opposition. the first round showed

that there was total decomposition of the normal political french life, and that second round is a recomposition round between patriots and globalists. —— emmanuel macron no. that is what will be shown to be french in the legislative elections. ibe at french in the legislative elections. i be at the head of the battle to try and have a wider number of people who want to choose france, and protect what it represents. let's talk now about will happen in the coming weeks and months. some time between tuesday, and no later than saturday, 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 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. so there are challenges ahead. to discuss them with me is the journalist nabila ramdani. i don't suppose you had much sleep, like many here in france. yes indeed. it was a remarkable story that unfolded last night that ended with a victory by emmanuel macron. a victory, which it has to be said, was always predictable. the last opinion poll, when the campaign ended on friday night, gave him a win of 68%. and it has to be said that marine le pen, i have always argued, was riding a populist wave, an artificial one, i would contain,

in the wake of brexit and donald trump. and her chance of winning the election was always zero, frankly. emmanuel macron came from nowhere to have access to the abc —— mr pallas. so do because he was able to provide an alternative to the failing system —— elysee palace. an alternative to the failing system -- elysee palace. emmanuel macron himself has said that he wants to heal france's device. there were 10 million people who did not vote for him but voted for the far—right marine le pen. not everybody in france is celebrating. paris has been dealt with celebrations, but 90% of the people here voted for emmanuel macron. what about the rest of france? he knows that he has the challenge ahead, not least of all to unite a divided country, but also to try and fix major institution

problems and deep—seated problems that had to do with mass unemployment, global terrorism, and he admitted as much in his victory speech last night. he would have two, first and foremost, try to govern. and that will involve having oi’ govern. and that will involve having or attempting to secure a working majority in the upcoming parliamentary elections. but for those who did not vote, the question is how you deal with the politics of prejudice and had? if there was an easy solution to that, heads of state before him would have sorted that out when the national front came into existence. but many might say that they were voting to have a chance of success in their lives in the malaise that france has fallen into. there is no doubt that the

national front and its historical legacy represents a dark side of french society. and that is why it will make emmanuel macron‘s cast very difficult, because it is made up very difficult, because it is made up of people who are not prepared to work with everyone, and who are not prepared to work with different types of people. emmanuel macron seems rather confident about his prospects of getting the national assembly full enough of people who support him or with people from his movement itself to carry through reforms. what do you rate with his chasers? —— what do you rate his chances? it is not a straight forward matter of party politics. we are talking about voting blocs. and not to get too technical, but he will need 290 seats in the national assembly, and a recent opinion polls gives him between 240 and 286 at the moment. and there is no doubt that a

lot of mps from different political persuasions will be drawn to him. in the end, an mp wants power, and they will not be sitting there waiting for the next socialist or conservative government to get a chance to governing. so there is a good dynamic that is actually building around emmanuel macron. we talked about the people who did not vote for him. we talked about the people who did vote for him. what about the people did not over either candidate? there was a high rate of abstention. indeed. a lot of people we re abstention. indeed. a lot of people were not convinced by emmanuel macron, not least of all because he represents a stretch mix between hard—working represents a stretch mix between ha rd—working capitalist and represents a stretch mix between hard—working capitalist and the relaxed frenchman. he likes being around his family and friends. he does long lunches and being with his dog. in that sense, he is a traditional regimen. remember that he isa traditional regimen. remember that

he is a provisional —— provincial frenchman that can't that came from —— that came from amiens. but he is no supermac. it is no small task. we appreciate your time. there is of course, much more about the election on our website including live updates on what president—elect macron will be doing next as he prepares to take office. just go to to bbc.com/news. i, nelson rolihlahla mandela, do hereby swear 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 president—elect, emmanuel macron,

has promised to unite the country, restore confidence in the eu and tackle terrorism following his election victory. but more than a third of french voters backed marine le pen's hard—right vision for france — she's vowed to turn her attention to the coming parliamentary elections. so let's talk you through the market reaction to that result in france: we saw a real rally for the euro — the currency, of course. at one point, it spiked to a seven—month high versus the us dollar. it's now come down from that seven—month high, but also shares in general are rallying. strong day injapan. relief about the result in france, but also this follows a record high for the s&p 500 on friday in the united states. good news about the jobs markets in the us also. all in

all, the rally continues in asia, and that's likely to happen in europe as well when the markets open in europe in a few hours' time. elections are really dominating the news at the moment, and it's not elections are really dominating the news at the moment, and it's not only in france — south koreans are also going to the polls. the early poll comes after former president park geun—hye became the first south korean leader to be removed from power through impeachment. moonjae—in — who's leader of the newly founded democratic party of korea — is the frontrunner, with the latest opinion polls predicting he'll win more than 40% of the vote. 0ur correspondent steve evans is in the south korean capital, seoul, for us. steve, tell us more about the frontrunner who ran for presidency in 2012 and lost to ms park. he's ce ntre—left. in 2012 and lost to ms park. he's centre—left. he's been in government before, though not as president. when he was in government before,

there was what was called the sunshine policy in this country whereby seoul talked to pyongyang. there were relatively open borders, movement between the two countries to some extent, joint industrial ventures. so the big issue for people outside the country is now, if the polls are right, and if he becomes president, would he have a radically different approach to pyongyang and to kim jong radically different approach to pyongyang and to kimjong un radically different approach to pyongyang and to kim jong un from his predecessor whose policy was hardline, no contact, ever—tighter sanctions, no relenting on that? furthermore, a different line from mrtrump — a furthermore, a different line from mr trump — a leftward movement would probably mean an easing of the relationship with north korea — what would that do with the relationship with washington? that's the big question. steve, for now, thank you very much indeed. steve across that for us. we'll hear more from him later on. 82 nigerian schoolgirls

kidnapped by the extremist group boko haram three years ago have met their country's president after being freed in a prisoner swap. they were among more than 200 girls taken from their school in the town of chibok. at least 100 are still being held. 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 president buhari. campaigners and the families of those held still don't know if their daughters are among those freed, or the more than 100 still being held. whether she's among the ones that's freed, or still in captivity, i don't know yet. but, whether my baby is freed or not, i'm 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 girls' 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. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news:

we're getting more reaction to the events of last night — the victory of simba makoni, the french presidential election. let's hear what germany is thinking and making of all this, with stefan simons of der spiegel. what are germans thinking as they wake up, this news from last night? a sigh of relief again. you know that angela merkel took the opportunity to call makoni almost as soon as he got elected — he wasn't even arrived at the louvre, she already had called him at his headquarters. it means, for the german—french motor, which makes up the german—french motor, which makes up all of europe, a good time ahead. so that's all she has been banking for. marine le penjoked during that presidential debate that a woman would end up being president of france, whether it was her or angela merkel. that was a realjibe at

simba makoni. well, it certainly worked. it's a way of saying —— or emmanuel macron. it worked. france, so far, has been completely under the control of berlin, is what she was saying — which isn't true. but macron will have more success around to what extent european rules on finance should be used on france. i think he'll have more leverage because he comes in as a pure european with a basic confidence on the german side. he comes in as a pure european but, if we go back to the first round of the presidential election, almost half of france's population voted for a eurosceptic candidate. that's still there. well, that's the problem of these elections. we all say macron won by some 64.5% — that sounds lovely. in reality, he has less than a third of french population behind him. le pen did extremely well, with more than

11 million voting for her — that's more than 4 million than the first round of elections. so yes, you're right. emmanuel macron will have a ha rd right. emmanuel macron will have a hard way of convincing his own folks that, yes, we have to work together with germany and europe. we've seen, even unconventional moves like jean—claude juncker breaking with convention and actually endorsing emmanuel macron. europe has been watching this so closely, hasn't it? they see him very much as a line to the european commission on issues like brexit? absolutely. imagine that, if macron doesn't get his act together this time — i mean, the reforms, the structural reforms france has been, you know, left aside, under sarkozy, which was not implemented under hollande — now, macron is the last chance for french democracy. 0therwise, macron is the last chance for french democracy. otherwise, it's going to bea democracy. otherwise, it's going to be a last exit. so in that context, if, in five years from now, le pen is going to be the next president, that's not only catastrophe for france, it's going to be end of the

european project. stefan simons, thank you very much from der spiegel. we'll be back with you later, and other guests as well. we'll also look at the european papers. before we go for this half—hour, let's bring you what marine le pen was doing — although she lost the election, ah, she didn't look too disappointed about it. she hasn't taken defeat too badly, because this is what she was up badly, because this is what she was up to last night — captured on french tv, you can see the far—right leader of the national front dancing away with supporters at the party ho... looking like she's not taking defeat too much to heart there in those pictures from last night. paris has been very lively through the night — there were some demonstrations and clashes with police in one part of paris but, it's fair to say, there have been many people here in the capital who have not been to bed yet. back to you in london. hello there.

lots of spring sunshine over the weekend for many of us. northern the weekend for many of us. ireland should do wel again, northern ireland should do well again, as it has all weekend. the warmest day of the year here so far. clear skies means it could be a chilly start in rural parts across the west, with those temperatures not far away from freezing in one or two spots. these are the numbers in the towns and cities and as you head further east across the uk, there will be more cloud coming in from off the north sea. that leaves us with that west—east split on monday, with that west—east split on monday, with the sunnier skies for northern ireland, western parts of england and wales, and south—west scotland. some sunshine at times further east, but probably a cloudier day than it was yesterday for the midlands and south—east england. we'll keep cloud at times for northern and eastern parts of scotland. the higher temperatures in the south—west, in glasgow perhaps, but not quite as warm as it was yesterday. it won't

be quite as warm as it was yesterday in northern ireland, but still lots of sunshine, as there will be for much of wales and the south—west. bit of patchy cloud here. more cloud through the midlands towards the south—east, again for east anglia, through lincolnshire and across parts of yorkshire. that cloud coming in off the north sea around this area of high pressure. that dominates our weather for the start of the week. it extends all the way into southern parts of greenland. as we move into tuesday, we may start the day with more cloud around, even for scotland and northern ireland, so there will be sunshine at times, maybe the best of the sunshine for england and wales towards the west coast. we won't have that onshore wind off the north sea. whilst temperatures generally will be into the mid—teens, it will feel warmer for eastern scotland and north—east england. quite a chilly start, perhaps, early on wednesday if the cloud breaks up — those temperatures in rural parts again could be close to freezing almost anywhere. we're going to warm up quickly in the sunshine for england and wales, southern scotland and northern ireland. could be 19 degrees from

the midlands and southwards. more cloud for northern scotland, and perhaps one or two spots of rain on that weak weather front. high pressure pulling away from midweek onwards. the pressure starts to drop and the weather starts to change as these weather fronts move up from these weather fronts move up from the south. for most of the week ahead, it will remain dry. there'll be warm sunshine. but where we have clear skies at night, it will be quite chilly. later on in the week, as pressure falls, there's the chance of some rain moving northwards. hello. you are with bbc world news. the headlines: france's president—elect, the pro—european centrist emmanuel macron, has promised to unite the country, restore confidence in the eu, and tackle terrorism and climate change. his first priority following his decisive win will be to form a new government. his defeated rival marine le pen has vowed to turn her attention to the coming parliamentary elections. she said her national front party was now the main opposition, after receiving more than a third of the popular vote. 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.