this is bbc news. during protests against president pam—s , protesters, some chanting "down with the tsar." the rallies come just two days before vladimir putin is inaugurated thousands of people have gathered in central paris for a protest march against the policies of president emmanuel macron— marking his one—year anniversary in the topjob. the rally was called by the main far—left party, "france unbowed" and was mostly peaceful. police were out in force to prevent a repeat of the violence that marred a may day demonstration earlier this week. virginia langeberg reports. what had been a largely peaceful protest saw tensions fly as some anti—macron demonstrators reached bastille square in the centre of paris. riot police dispersed the crowd with smoke bombs after a media van was attacked.

earlier, it had been a party, of sorts, to mark emmanuel macron‘s first year in the presidential office. rather than celebrating the milestone, this was a rally against the french leader and his economic reforms which his opponent say favour the wealthy. translation: it's discontent and also personally i didn't vote for him and for his ideas, which are significantly pro—rich. i am showing that we are young, us, the masses, the people, who won nothing or less than nothing, we are here and we will also fight for our rights. translation: people need to express themselves a bit and express the anger that they have inside them.

the demonstrators turned out in droves, organisers estimate 160,000. police put the number at a quarter of that size, 40,000. security had been beefed up after separate rallies earlier in the week marking mayday had turned violent in places. the far left party which organised the latest rally says it is planning another demonstration in a few weeks. translation: people need to express themselves a bit and express the anger that they have inside them. the demonstrators turned out in droves, organisers estimate 160,000. coincidentally, the month of may marks half a century since the 1968 protest movement which shook france. although it remains to be seen whether macron‘s opponents have the capacity to change the president's tune. virginia langeberg, bbc news. now on bbc news, it's our investigative programme, our world. this edition goes on the frontline of iraq's fight against illegal drugs. a hunt is under way. basra police, on the back

of a tipoff, think they've found their target. a suspect they believe has been dealing in the highly addictive

and illegal drug, crystal meth. kidnapping, extortion, organised crime are already part of daily life here in basra, iraq's second city. now there's a new threat, crystal meth. i've been invited tojoin the police frontline. this is the elite force that goes out every night on raids to try and crack down on organised crime in this city. they think the suspect is inside. major mithak is leading the raid.

with him, officers from the counter—narcotics unit and swat team. injust two years, police have made more than 4,000 drug—related arrests. at police headquarters, they're keen to show off the results

of their efforts. today, hundreds of suspects are being paraded in front of the cameras. the police want to show the local media, and i suppose the community, the arrests they've made and the progress they're making to crackdown on crime basra. general abdul karim is leading that effort. a war veteran, he recently returned to basra from the fight against isis in the north of iraq. 0k, we're going to go and meet some people whose been arrested. wow, 0k. when did you arrest these guys? where were these guys arrested?

police say consumption of meth has been doubling year—on—year. so you found all these weapons? that's crystal meth. how many grams? one. ig. so why has crystal meth

taken hold in this city? weak border security has meant drugs have flooded into the country, and economic collapse with youth unemployment at almost 50% means there's a ready for the drug. after years of war, occupation and insurgency, the locals here had hoped their city would become the next dubai. but there are no skyscrapers here, just high unemployment, crime and corruption. at basra general hospital, psychiatrist doctor al sabbagh has been seeing more patients come forward with meth addiction. what is the scale of the problem?

in 2015, the iraqi government, together with the us department of health, ran a study looking at addiction in basra. there were once high hopes for iraq's second city.

oil production in basra province generates 95% of the country's oil wealth. but most residents don't see any of that. this is jumhuriyah, one of the poorest most densely populated parts of town. most of the young people here haven't finished school, they're out of work. jumhuriyah is notorious for gangs and drug dealing. shallal rady, whose 21, has never worked. so do you feel safe here?

what about drug users? hello, how are you? nice to see you. i went to see shallal‘s family. salaam—alaikum... they're struggling to get by without electricity or any clean water. his father has serious health issues. what do you think about iraq now in comparison to what it was like

when saddam was in power? the swat team are on the move again. this city is awash with weapons left over from the war and the fight against isis. the team are looking for their second target. young men of the house are hauled out of their rooms.

but the man they are after is missing. what has happened? it is hard to ignore basra's crippled infrastructure. addicts live in these impoverished districts where crystal

meth addiction flourishes. many addicts and dealers end up here at the prison. this man is the deputy governor. what are the issues you face here? prison authorities have had to expand detention centres to cope with the numbers of attics and dealers. major, this is one of the rooms? how many people in this room? and this is a combination of drug dealers and drug users?

yeah. you just keep them all here together in one room? yeah. i am taken deep into the prison to see what the conditions are like for those who have been convicted. quite overwhelming. i mean, i've been to many prisons in many parts of the world but to see these people just crammed into here, they take shifts sleeping so one person will sleep and one person will stay up all night and then they swap. it is incredible. i mean, the conditions are really bad. do they go out at all?

what kind of drugs did you have? crystal. how did you start using crystal meth? what about your family? what were they seeing? your wife didn't know? ali hammoud has already served ten

months of a five—year sentence for dealing. how did you become a dealer? and did your family know you were dealing? sobs. the drugs trade has been driven partly by the security vacuum left when forces were sent to fight isis

in the north of the country. general abdul karim wants to show me the smuggling route. general, where are we going? but with so much security here, general, how were they able to get across the border? the porous border here between iraq and iran means the southern province

has become a prime smuggling route. back injumhouria, i've come to the shisha bar to catch up with 21—year—old shallal who i met earlier. i am meeting up with his friends who are all angry with the government in baghdad. what about drug abuse? that is a big problem here in basra as well. it is 3:00 in the morning and the swat team are honing in on theirfinal target in jumhouria. meth addiction is fuelling crime in the city. and it is young men mostly who are the perpetrators. 15 years after the fall

of saddam hussein, iraq is in a fragile and perilous state. with all the attention on the fight against isis in the north, basra and the predominantly shia south feels forgotten. and it is the young who are paying the price.

another iraqi generation at risk of being lost. hello there. a glorious start to the bank holiday weekend. top temperature 2a degrees was reached in hampshire. after a lovely day on saturday, there were glorious sunsets up and down the uk, like this one in wakefield in west yorkshire. not find everywhere. seam is in the icy. this will play the irish sea coast once again on

sunday. elsewhere, a lovely sunny warm day. sane through the central belt of scotland. rees and ran across the far north of scotland. temperature wise, around 25 degrees inafew temperature wise, around 25 degrees in a few spots. warmer still as we head on into bank holiday monday. we import warm and dry air of the near continent. it will be another glorious sunny day for most areas. a bit of low cloud and sea mist in irish sea coast or areas and shells across the north and west of scotland. maybe some cool sea breezes affecting the eastern and north—eastern scotland. further south, into the low to mid 20s celsius. we could see 26 or 27 in the south—east of england. this will be an early may bank holiday record breaking the previous record of 2a degrees which was in hampshire back in 1999. into tuesday, we start seeing subtle changes. the area of

loaded pressure starts pushing in, it week cold front into the western side of the uk. it will be an east—west split. starts fine and sunny for much of the country. this wea k sunny for much of the country. this weak weather front will bring some rain to northern ireland and was in scotland. maybe the odd spot. the south it will be a bland —— band of cloud which were in and break. most east of england. hot day, 27, maybe 28 in one or two places. the west it will be cooler. this into wednesday, the next area of low pressure, it will bring stronger winds, particularly across western scotland, northern ireland, and a more active weather front. it will bea more active weather front. it will be a fine start to central southern and eastern parts of the country. 0ur breaks up every rain into west of scotland. the best of the sunny spells across the south—east. 19 or 20 is likely. cooler and fresher further north and west. this is bbc news. i'm nkem ifejika. our top stories: first a backlash in britain,

now offence in france. president trump faces criticism for saying the bataclan attack in paris could have been stopped by giving people guns. sir alex ferguson, the most successful manager in british football history, undergoes emergency surgery for a brain haemmorage. fans and friends wish him well. around 1,600 anti—putin protesters are arrested at rallies in russia, including his leading critic alexander navalny. digging up the secrets of mars. nasa's newest probe blasts off to the red planet on a mission to find out more about its rocky core. also coming up: the first proper look at prince louis as photographs of the newest british royal are released.