this is bbc news, broadcasting in the uk and around the globe. i'm joanna gosling. our top stories... voters across france are going to the polls in parliamentary elections, as president macron�*s party seeks to maintain control of the national assembly. at least 59 dead as a result of monsoonal floods in bangladesh and india. meanwhile, parts of western europe experience an extreme heatwave. translation: the situation could even get worse, could cause damage to fauna, to agriculture, - to everything. — already, there is no more water. the british transport secretary accuses union leaders of "punishing millions of innocent people" by pressing ahead with rail strikes later this week.

america becomes the first country in the world to approve covid vaccines for babies. hello and welcome to bbc news. polling stations have opened across france in the final round of voting for parliamentary elections. at stake is control of the 577—seat national assembly, where the liberal party founded by president emmanuel macron has held sway for the last five years. but, president macron�*s candidates are facing strong opposition in the form of an alliance of left—wing parties. i'm joined now by our correspondent hugh schofield. only two months since emmanuel macron won the presidency convincingly, much of a challenge

that he face this time round? it is that he face this time round? it is a big challenge. _ that he face this time round? it 3 a big challenge, surprising challenge, not from the far this time. but from the left. this coalition which has been created by the force of will of one man, jean—luc melenchon, the man who came third in the presidential election, who came from the far left of french politics but by dint of personality and tactical genius has got all of the left or most of the left into his camp and persuaded the very demoralised socialist and greens to fly under his banner, and together, as a group, they are set to do it really well in these parliamentary elections and pose a real challenge to president macron. it doesn't look as if this new left—wing coalition will win a majority, is called npes, but it looks like they will get around 200 seats in parliament which would make it easily the main force

of opposition to emmanuel macron. his party looks set probably to win this election, but not with anything like the panache or the elan he was hoping for. he was hoping that this election would be like other elections, and follow the presidential elections in which people say, he is now the president, let's give him the parliamentary majority he deserves. it is not going to be like that this time partly because he has been re—elected which means that there is a general lack of enthusiasm for him which is a huge opportunity for the opposition and above all the newly invigorated left. if opposition and above all the newly invigorated left.— invigorated left. if he doesn't end u . invigorated left. if he doesn't end u- with a invigorated left. if he doesn't end up with a majority _ invigorated left. if he doesn't end up with a majority in _ invigorated left. if he doesn't end up with a majority in the - invigorated left. if he doesn't end up with a majority in the national| up with a majority in the national assembly, how difficult will it make it for him, in terms of governing? it depends rather whether it is a loss of majority completely, whether he emerges as the second party or a loss of a relative majority which

means that he needs to form coalitions. probably it will be the latter. i don't think there is any of the most optimistic forecast for the npes that they would win but they could form a blocking minority, and that would put a stick in the spokes of the wheel of macron. he will have to form alliances and coalitions ad hoc, probably with the republicans party, the old mainstream right, the gaullists, partly like the socialist they are a reduced force in french politics, but if they are 40—50 seats in parliament then they would form this kind of bridging party which would help president macron whether they felt like it or not but they would face a very strong opposition.

marine le pen did well in the presidential elections, because of the fact that she was tapping into voters was multi—concerns on cost of living in a way that voters say that emmanuel macron was not tapping in for them. emmanuel macron was not tapping in forthem. how emmanuel macron was not tapping in for them. how much has changed since then in terms of what he is offering? you said about the strategy for the left—wing parties in pulling together. is it more about their strategy than offering something different again? yes. about their strategy than offering something different again? yes, the rima something different again? yes, the primary concern _ something different again? yes, the primary concern in _ something different again? yes, the primary concern in all— something different again? yes, the primary concern in all of— something different again? yes, the primary concern in all of this - primary concern in all of this election is about cost of living. noticeably for example unemployment, which used to be the big number one concern five years ago has more or less disappeared. the jobs are out there. it is more about cost of living in the sense that people no longer have the wherewithal to buy the things they want to buy to keep up the things they want to buy to keep up the standards they want to keep up. plus worries about schools and hospitals becoming much less

reliable, and the whole republican ideal beginning to break down. these are problems which the far left and far right tap into in different ways, combined with this hostility in general to president macron, outside of the prosperous cities. what is interesting is the fact that the far right has been kinda replaced by the afar rift as the main opposition force in the last two months. —— the far left. marine le pen was the potential challenger, and now it isjean—luc melenchon, whose coalition is likely to do very well here. they are both tapping in to the same sort of current, i would say. but it is worth pointing out that even though marine le pen has been eclipsed slightly, her party, has not been doing badly in parliamentary terms, it is looking like doing very well and could get up like doing very well and could get up to 30—a0 seats in parliament which is is never done in the past,

at least not for a very long time, and that is a sign of how politics in france is completely changing, and how we could have a parliament, it seems, with these two blocs on the left and right, who are arguing against the president from the extremes and making potentially life in his second term for the president, much more complicated than his first one was.— than his first one was. thank you very much. _ than his first one was. thank you very much. hugh- _ the transport secretary grant shapps has accused the country's biggest rail union of "punishing" millions of innocent people after it confirmed it will go ahead with series of crippling strikes. mr shapps said the travelling public faced a week of "misery" because the rail, maritime and transport union had refused to call off their action, which is due to start on tuesday. our political correspondent nick eardley has more. for anyone who relies on trains, the next few days are going to see significant disruption. the biggest rail strikes in three decades are happening,

and the government says it will cause misery for people across the country. the transport secretary, grant shapps, said this morning children sitting exams will face the extra distraction of changing their travel plans, and vulnerable people trying to attend long—awaited hospital appointments may have no choice but to cancel. and he is blaming unions representing rail staff. the rmt, he says... this was central london yesterday. a cost—of—living march organised by unions. the rail union says it's fighting to protect the pay and conditions of its members, and it warned a general strike might be on the cards. we're very angry.

it's an absolute last resort, the strike. but, end of the day, everybody needs a pay rise at the moment. we've got inflation at 11% and that includes the men and women who keep people moving on the railways. everyone deserves fair terms and conditions, but it will impact so many people, especially post—covid, and with petrol prices going up. that daily commute is going to be just that bit harder for everybody. |the government put in £16 billion| of our money to keep the railways running during the pandemic, and now they're moaning - because they aren't getting a big enough pay increase. _ network rail, which owns the country's railways, says it wants to find a solution and is keen to give people a decent pay rise, but it says increases need to be affordable. labour's leader, meanwhile, says not enough is being done to avoid the strikes. he's accused ministers of feeding off divisions. as politicians argue over who is to blame, from tuesday, millions of train users are being urged not to travel, with only a fifth of services expected to run.

nick eardley, bbc news. joining me now is our political correspondent, damian grammaticas. a lot of politics around these strikes. , , , ., ., strikes. yes, there is blame and counter blame _ strikes. yes, there is blame and counter blame already _ strikes. yes, there is blame and | counter blame already happening before you even see the strikes begin on tuesday because they will have a huge impact right across great britain, so thousands of people, millions, will be affected by this on tuesday, thursday, saturday. we have had grant shapps the transport secretary warning that this will disrupt children going to exams, people trying to get to work. it will affect people's incomes, he says, because of that. it is damaging, destructive and unnecessary, he says. he says it is driven by a militant union going beyond what its members actually really want. but the union says that, whilst it doesn't want to see

a strike and it regrets it, it says that its members are facing a crisis, and that crisis is driven by the fact that we are seeing these very high levels of inflation, and the pay deal that it says will be in effect a pay cut for its workers, along with what it says are other job cuts that the government or rail operators are trying to push through and changes to working hours which would mean more hours, so the union say this is a crisis for them and they cannot just see say this is a crisis for them and they cannotjust see it go by. what they cannot 'ust see it go by. what is labour they cannotjust see it go by. what is labour saying. — they cannotjust see it go by. what is labour saying, what _ they cannotjust see it go by. what is labour saying, what is _ they cannotjust see it go by. what is labour saying, what is keir starmer�*s position? the is labour saying, what is keir starmer's position? is labour saying, what is keir starmer's osition? ., ., , starmer's position? the labour party sa that starmer's position? the labour party say that they — starmer's position? the labour party say that they don't _ starmer's position? the labour party say that they don't want _ starmer's position? the labour party say that they don't want to _ starmer's position? the labour party say that they don't want to see - say that they don't want to see strikes go ahead. they don't think they should be going ahead. they don't want to see strikes happening. but they say that the government has been stoking divisions. they say grant shapps the transport secretary hasn't met with the unions in several weeks, and that the

government has been stoking divisions, they say, and should really be the ones getting around the table, because the government, had on the pandemic taking back control over the railways, saying that the government sets the overall financial parameters, and therefore should be the ones involved in the negotiations. the government saying that yes the chancellor sets the overall pay levels for public sector, but that it is up to the rail companies so everybody if you like pointing the fingers. and no sign that this strike action this week is going to resolve this, in which case we have threats of possibly more strike action to come. the biggest teaching union says that it is going to be balloting 450,000 members on strike action in england unless the government offers a pay rise of more than 3%. if that gets the go—ahead, that would mean strike

action in the autumn. yes. the go-ahead, that would mean strike action in the autumn.— action in the autumn. yes, but to be clear on that. _ action in the autumn. yes, but to be clear on that, what _ action in the autumn. yes, but to be clear on that, what the _ action in the autumn. yes, but to be clear on that, what the union - action in the autumn. yes, but to be clear on that, what the union is - clear on that, what the union is saying there is that, if they don't get higher than 3%, they will write to the education secretary this week, saying that if they don't get higher than 3%, what they were doing the first instance is to have a sort of consultation with their members, a consultative ballot, if you like, in the autumn, to see if they are thinking about it, if they are minded to strike, at which point they would follow a strike ballot. so we are a couple of steps away from that but still, what we are looking at here is this huge gulf between 3% possible pay rises being offered and ii%, which is what inflation is projected to reach, and thatis inflation is projected to reach, and that is the difference, that gap is the sort of squeeze that is being put on people, and part of what is responsible for that squeeze, there are other reasons for the oppressions on the cost of living,

and that is —— for the pressure is on. that is what the unions say that there members are feeling. and the health unions are due to see a pay settlement this week so that could also come out with problems there, as well. borisjohnson i boris johnson i set borisjohnson i set out a plan to supply weapons and economic assistance to ukraine. video address, volodymyr zelensky said that russia did not have enough missiles to overcome ukraine's will to survive. we can go live now to northern ukraine and speak to our correspondence, joe inwood, in irpin. so this walker go on for

years to come? we irpin. so this walker go on for years to come?— irpin. so this walker go on for years to come? we are getting a consistent — years to come? we are getting a consistent message _ years to come? we are getting a consistent message from - years to come? we are getting a consistent message from peoplej years to come? we are getting a i consistent message from people in the west now that people should not expect a quick resolution to this. that is what people here have been experiencing and expecting, for two reasons, notjust that experiencing and expecting, for two reasons, not just that the fighting will take a long time and they will need military support for a long time but look behind me. you can see the level of disruption that this town has undergone. over there, the town has undergone. over there, the town of irpin, 60,000 people used to live there. they reckon in this one small town more than $1 billion of damage has been done to stop as you can see they are starting to rebuild. that little bridge was put up rebuild. that little bridge was put up only a few weeks ago. it was an attempt to bypass the damage done here, but there is a huge amount of devastation that has come as a consequence of this war and it will take a very long time to sort all of this out even after the fighting is finished. in this out even after the fighting is finished. , ., ~ ., finished. in terms of ukraine caettin finished. in terms of ukraine getting what _ finished. in terms of ukraine getting what it _ finished. in terms of ukraine getting what it needs - finished. in terms of ukraine getting what it needs from i finished. in terms of ukraine - getting what it needs from other countries, it has been a recurrent

theme. other countries have stepped up theme. other countries have stepped up and a lot of things have gone that way, but they still say that there is more they need. what is the latest on that front? 50. there is more they need. what is the latest on that front?— latest on that front? so, we heard more promises — latest on that front? so, we heard more promises of _ latest on that front? so, we heard more promises of weapons - latest on that front? so, we heard more promises of weapons over. latest on that front? so, we heard i more promises of weapons over the past few days. just over the last 24 hours, the americans say that they are sending more himars multiple rocket launch systems. but it is a never—ending stream of requests from the ukrainians. they say that they need more equipment, far more than has been promised, and that is because they are facing these overwhelming odds, because of the strength the russians have in the east of the country. one thing i would bring to people's attention, we've had interesting comments from the new head of the british army in the new head of the british army in the last hour or so, sir patrick saunders, who has given a remarkable interview to the press association interview to the press association in london where he talks about the fact that he needs to prepare a british army to fight in europe

again, a british army that can fight alongside its allies to defeat russia, quite bellicose language from the new head of the british army who has only been in the role for a short period so we mustn't read too much into this but it was really quite striking language. just lookin: at really quite striking language. just looking at what is going on behind you, joe, we are seeing a fair amount of traffic on the streets, and you have spoken about some limited rebuilding that is going on. what is the picture across ukraine? people are returning, and yet obviously this is a conflict that continues, and you were alluding to concerns as to where, ultimately things lead. concerns as to where, ultimately things lead-— things lead. this is very much a tale of two _ things lead. this is very much a tale of two different _ things lead. this is very much a tale of two different parts - things lead. this is very much a tale of two different parts of. things lead. this is very much a | tale of two different parts of the country. here, where i am in the capital and just outside the capital and in the west of the country, life is starting to get back to normal. people are really trying to get back

to how things were. you can see traffic is moving. they are rebuilding. later in the day we will see a project in the centre of town where they are trying to rebuild already. if you are in somewhere like lviv where i was a few weeks ago, it really feels normal but then thatis ago, it really feels normal but then that is very, very different to the east of the country, the donbas, places like kharkiv, the occupied south, that feels like a different country to how life is in kyiv, where, quite often feels —— things feel like they are starting to get back to normal.— feel like they are starting to get back to normal. flooding, landslides and lightning strikes triggered by seasonal monsoon weather have left at least 59 people dead in bangladesh and india. rescue teams have been active throughout the region to bring people trapped by floodwaters to safety. the sylhet region in eastern bangladesh is among the worst affected, with much of the area without electricity and internet access. planes have been grounded and trains suspended. forecasters are warning the situation is likely to deteriorate in the coming days. and europe is still in

the grip of a heatwave. parts of southern and western europe have seen temperatures exceeding 40 celsius. the met office in france says this is the earliest heatwave ever recorded. climate scientists says global warming makes extreme heat at this time of year more likely. azadeh moshiri reports. a record—breaking heat wave has put europe on alert. spain is facing the earliest one it has seen in decades. it has led to wildfires continuing over the weekend in areas like catalonia, burning thousands of hectares of land, and forcing whole villages to evacuate. temperatures in france have hit 40 celsius earlier in the year than ever before. with some parts of the country like bordeaux outright banning outdoor events, with their hospitals under pressure. it also means places like city zoos

have had to find creative solutions to keep animals cool. translation: we have a frozen watermelon mix for the giraffes and that we have tabs of blood for the carnivores and here we have blocks of ice mixed with meat for the lions. the sweltering heat also has farmers in italy worried about crops as record droughts are drying up rivers, forcing some towns in the po valley to ration water. translation: the situation could even get worse. it could cause damage to fauna, to agriculture, to everything. already there is no more water. i used to go fishing but now i can only fish for stones. heat and wildfires are not unfamiliar to these parts of europe but they are becoming more severe, happening sooner than usual, and more frequently.

and scientists say that is due to global warming. the united states has become first country in the world to approve use of the so—called mrna covid vaccines for children as young as six months. federal regulators cleared the use of pfizer and moderna covid—19 vaccines and will make similar doses of the vaccine available to around 20 million children. presidentjoe biden welcomed the news, calling it a "monumental step" in the fight against the virus and that parents would be able to start scheduling appointments in the coming week. dr peter hotez, who's the director of the texas children's hospital center for vaccine development, explained what the cdc was recommending. the cdc has recommended use of two different vaccines. either one, eitherfrom moderna, or pfizer, the pfizer vaccine has been released for authorisation with three doses, the first two, three weeks apart, and the third, eight weeks after that.

and for the moderna, so far, it is a two—dose vaccine, but moderna reports that there may be a third dose. i think the big issue is going to be how widely accepted going to be because, here in the united states, for the 5—11 year olds only about 30% of parents are vaccinating their kids for the 5—11 —year—olds, and that goes down to 10—11% where we are, down in texas and the southern part of the united states. so, we are looking at probably single digit potential uses, for the toddlers and very young kids, and may be a little better in the north—east. so, that is where the battleground is going to be in providing the advocacy and persuading parents of the importance of vaccinating their young children. i think there is an education process. we have to make parents understand why covid is still a serious illness amongst young kids, for instance, we have lost 200—400 kids under the age of

five years from covid. that's a significant amount and actually higher than the diseases that we currently vaccinate them against, with 20,000 hospitalisations. so, it is still a pretty serious illness, and covid is still with us so, helping them to understand that, because we have a lot of anti—vaccine activism here in the united states, and the buzz that they put out is that they try to say covid is a serious disease only for the elderly, and that's simply not the case. you see this sharp north—south divide with very low uptake in the southern part of the united states and that's because covid—19 vaccinations have become so politicised that vaccinations are occurring along such a strong partisan divide so, the geographic distribution very much reflects political realities in that the southern part of the united states are predominantly conservative states, what we call red states, republican majority states.

dr peter hotez. today marks five years since the finsbury park terror attack — when a van was driven into worshippers outside a mosque in north london. one person, makram ali, was killed and nine others injured when a van was driven into worshippers outside a mosque. a study commissioned by football's world governing body has found that more than half of all players at the finals of the european championship and the african cup of nations suffered online abuse. fifa used new technology to assess the scale of the problem, as russell trott reports: england's marcus rashford, bukayo saka and jadon sancho were all targeted online, following their penalty misses in the euro 2020 final, leading to widespread calls for a clampdown on racist abuse on social media. now, a study commissioned by football's world governing body fifa says more than half of all players at the finals of the euros and the african cup of nations suffered some form of social media abuse.

fifa used artificial intelligence to track almost half a million posts. it found that homophobic and racist comments were the most common. much of the abuse came from fans of the players�* home nations. with the world cup in qatar just five months away, fifa said they would work with unions to implement a plan on how to protect players. footballers has worked hard to stamp out racism inside stadiums. outside, it has not been so easy. russell trott, bbc news. it's fathers' day here in the uk, and the duke of cambridge has released a fathers' day photograph to mark the occasion. prince william is pictured laughing with his children during a family holiday, with his arms around prince george, who's eight, and seven year—old princess charlotte, while four—year—old prince louis sits on his shoulders. the photograph was taken in jordan last year. although the photographer hasn't been officially revealed, it's thought to be his wife, katherine, who's well known

for taking the family snaps. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear. hello, there. for those of you up and off early enough this morning to catch the sunrise, you were in for quite a treat with some orange—looking skies first thing. that's because there was a little bit of saharan dust in the atmosphere, really producing these beautiful tones. however, a northwesterly wind will put paid to that — a rather breezy day in store today, this area of low pressure enhancing some showers in the north—west and these weather fronts just a little bit of a nuisance flirting with the channel coast and producing the risk of some showers as we go through the day as well. but there's also some sunshine, particularly sandwiched in—between the two. that northwesterly wind will continue to drive more cloud further south throughout the day. we run the risk of a few scattered showers to the south and continuing showers into the far northwest. but generally speaking, despite that brisk breeze, it'll be pleasant enough, but the wind direction will make it feel cooler.

on north and west—facing coasts, 14 to 17 degrees, we may well see temperatures peaking into the low 20s in one or two areas in the south—east. the risk of showers continues for the early half of the evening and overnight, particularly into the south—west, accompanied by gusts of winds close to 40 miles an hour at times. clearer skies further north, so temperatures will fall into single figures, so it'll be a fresh start once again to monday morning, a much more comfortable start, a night for getting a good night's sleep. but first thing on monday will be a dry, settled, quiet start, a lot of sunshine is likely to come through. this weather front, however, in the far north—west will gradually introduce more in the way of cloud and some nuisance light rain as the day continues. but it will be a dry start, a sunny start for many, and we keep that sunshine throughout the day. some light, patchy rain to the northwest of the great glen, clouding over to the north of northern ireland, but in the sunshine those temperatures are likely to respond and we could see values peaking at around 22 or 23 celsius in one or two spots

in the southeast in particular. now, as we move out of monday into the middle part of the week, it looks likely that these weather fronts will start to ease away. a ridge of high pressure builds for a time before, as we approach the weekend, we'll start to see lows developing in from the atlantic. basically, that translates to more sunshine through the middle part of the week, more warmth returning across wales, central and southern england, before we see some showers developing for the start of the weekend. that's it, take care.

hello, this is bbc news with joanna gosling. the headlines: french voters are going to the polls to decide who will control their national assembly. mr macron beat the far right in april, but this time the challenge is harder. the transport secretary grant shapps accuses the country's biggest rail union of "punishing" millions of innocent people after it confirmed it will go ahead with series of crippling strikes. but union leaders blame politicions for failing to stop the strike.

at least 59 people are now known to have died in lightning strikes and landslides triggered by severe monsoon storms in bangladesh and india. millions have been left stranded by rising waters over the past few days. parts of southern and western europe have been hit by extreme heat this weekend — temperatures reaching 40 degrees celsius in some areas. in both spain and france temperatures have broken records. let's get all the latest on the sporting action now. here's chetan. england's matt fitzpatrick holds a share of the lead going into the final day of the us open golf. he's alongside the american will zalatoris at the top of the leaderboard on four under par, while rory mcilroy, chasing a first major since 2014, is just three shots behind. joe lynskey reports. in the trees of massachusetts, they are rarely far from the trapdoor. brookline is a golf course thick with hazards. it can bring out new approaches. but one man from sheffield has tamed the conditions.