this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a battle between president macron and the left as the french vote in parliamentary elections. the british transport secretary accuses union leaders of "punishing millions of innocent people" by pressing ahead with rail strikes later this week. itjust seems that the union is determined to go out on strike, the rmt, come what may and i think it is a very sad situation and i call on them to reconsider. western leaders — including borisjohnson — warn that russia's war against ukraine may go for years —— and support for kyiv must be sustained whatever the cost. and america becomes the first country in the world to approve use of the so—called mrna covid vaccines for babies.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. polling stations have opened across france, in the final round of voting for parliamentary elections. at stake is control of the five hundred and seventy seven seat national assembly, where the liberal party founded by president emmanuel macron has held sway for the last five years. he held sway for the last five years. is just voting here placed he isjust voting here. he has placed his vote and we saw earlier marine le pen and jean—luc bell on show, his two main rivalsjust two months ago, also placing their votes. the situation with the

presidential election was that in the end, emmanuel macron won with a fairly decisive victory, but marine le pen had a lot of popular support and it was predicted that the vote may have been tighter than it was in the end, but the issue at stake there was the cost of living and french voters voicing concern that emmanuel macron was not focusing on it in the same way that marine le pen was. it is very much the same issue this time around in the elections for the parliament, the national assembly. elections for the parliament, the nationalassembly. it elections for the parliament, the national assembly. it is anticipated that potentially emmanuel macron may lose control of the assembly, there is a left—wing alliance led by jean—luc mel on show came third in the elections and that alliance is taking a lot of the votes and it is anticipated that eventually emmanuel

macron may lose control of the assembly which would have implications for how he gets his policies through. that is him voting. our paris correspondent hugh schofield told me more about the battle facing macron�*s party. the big challenge, the surprising challenge, not from the far right, this time, which he faced in the presidential election, but from the left, this coalition which has been created by the force of will of one man, that isjean luc melenchon, the man who came third in the presidential election, a character from the far left of french politics, but by dint of personality and technical genius, if you like, has got all the left or most of it into his cabinet and persuaded the very demoralised socialists and communists and greens to fly under his banner, basically, and together, as a group, they stand to do extremely well in these parliamentary elections and pose a real challenge to president macron. it does not look as if this new left—wing coalition

will win a majority, but they will, it looks like, get 200, maybe 200 seats in parliament, which would make it easily the main force of opposition to macron. macron�*s party looks set, probably, to win the selection, but not with anything like the panache that he was hoping for. he was hoping that this election would be like other elections that followed the presidential elections, in which people say, right, 0k, we have made this man president, let us get him the parliamentary majority that he deserves. it does not feel like that this time, partly because he has been re—elected, it means that there is a general lack of enthusiasm for him, which is a huge opportunity for the opposition and, above all, for this newly invigorated left. marine le pen did well in the presidential elections, because of the fact that she was tapping into the concerns of voters on cost

of living in a way that voters were saying that emmanuel macron was not tapping on site for them, how much has changed since then in terms of what he is offering, and why is it, you said about the strategy for the left—wing parties in pulling together, is it more about their strategy, rather than them offering something different again? yeah, the primary concern in all of this election is about cost of living, noticeably, for example, unemployment, which is to be the big concern of five years ago has more or less disappeared, people are not worried about unemployment, jobs are out there, it is more about the cost of living and the sense that people no longer have the wherewithal to buy the things they want to buy and keep up the standards they want to keep up, that, plus worries about schools and hospitals becoming much less reliable and the whole republic will republican idea beginning to break down. these are problems that both the far

left and far right tap into in their different ways, combined with this hostility in general to macron that defined outside of the prosperous cities, so what is interesting, of course, is the fact, that everyone notices, is the fact that the far right has been kind of replace by the far left as the main opposition force in the last two months, you know, interestingly it was marine le pen who was the potential challenger at the presidential elections and now it isjean—luc melenchon whose party, his coalition is likely to do very well here. 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 real staff. the strike is the last thing we need. it isjumping the gun, it is unnecessary, talks are still ongoing, the ballot took place before the talks on pay had even started and itjust seems that the union is determined to go out on strike, the rmt, come what may, and i think it is a very sad situation and i call on them to reconsider. 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 a very absolute last resort, the strike. but, at the 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. earlier our reporter, esyllt carr, told me where things stand at this point in the dispute. the talks are due to continue, - but it is clear from both sides that they are not able to agree on a way | through to avoid the strikes whichl i are set to cause disruption acrossl the network this week and the rmt says it has rejected an offer- of a 2% pay rise with another 1% increase and they put the blame on the _ government further not be more progress in his final hours of- talks. grant shapps said the government had done its part to _ support the railway with £16 billion. of support throughout the pandemic and says it is down to employers | and the unions to negotiate this| dispute but this morning labour reiterated —

its view that the government should step in to try and resolve this - problem. the problem isn't threatened strike action on the railways, the problem is a government that is on strike and not doing itsjob. in wales, there are no strikes, why? because you have a labour government. in england, we have strikes because we have got a conservative government that, since the beginning of march, has not lifted a finger to resolve this. they have not met or engaged in the talks since march the 8th. that is simply not good enough and i don't know how grant shapps when the buses aren't working, the airports are in chaos, the railways are about to grind to a halt and tell people it is somebody else's fault. what is the likely impact going to be on passengers and businesses? strikes will take place on almost all major airlines on tuesday, i thursday and saturday and on the - london underground on tuesday, very |few services running on those days| and the advice to passengers is not to travel by train, _ but there will be knock—on effects on non—strike days including

tomorrow, when trains - i are expected to end their servicesl earlier and on those days up to 60% of services are expected to be running and this will affect - commuters and people trying to get to work. i there has been concern- from the hospitality and leisure industry who say they could be hit particularly hard. _ the industry will take a hit of about half £1 billion, so our businesses, our workers, who might not be able to get into work, might not be able to work their shifts, and we will also have collateral damage and in the longer term, it is that confidence, which is still so fragile for many consumers, that confidence they have got to book tickets in advance, for sporting events, theatres, music events that are going to be disrupted this week and may well be disrupted in future action, so i think it is the hit that we will take next week, but also the longer term on confidence. talks will resume this| afternoon but it seems as though a resolution is some way off and the people who rely on the railways will be bracing -

themselves for a difficult week. the biggest teaching union, the neu, has said it will ballot its 450—thousand members on strike action in england unless the government offers a pay rise of more than three per cent. the union will write to the education secretary, nadhim zahawi, this week. any strike would take place in the autumn. western leaders are warning that the war in ukraine could last for years and sustained support will be required to defeat the russian invasion. britain's prime minister, borisjohnson who visited kyiv on friday has set out a four—point plan to supply weapons and economic assistance. and as fighting continues around the eastern cities of severodonetsk and lysychansk, nato's political chief, jens stoltenberg warned that the west "must prepare for the fact that it could take years. we must not let up in supporting ukraine and that it should do so even if the costs are high, not only for military support, also because of rising energy and food prices."

our correspondentjoe inwood has been examing the long terms prospects for ukraine as it attempts to resist and rebuild... we are getting, really, a consistent message from leaders in the west now, that people shouldn't expect a quick resolution to this. i think that tallies, really, with what people here have been experiencing and expecting and it is not just that the fighting is going to take a long time and they will need military support for a long time, but if you look just behind me, you can see the level of destruction that this town has undergone. over there, the town of irpin, 60,000 people used to live there, butjust in this one small town, more than $1 billion worth of damage has been done and, of course, as you can see, they have rebuilt, they are starting and that little bridge there was only put up a few weeks ago. it was an attempt, obviously, to bypass the damage done here, but there was a huge amount of devastation that has come about as a consequence of this war and people say it is going to take

a very long time to sort all this out, even after the fighting has finished. in terms of ukraine getting what it needs from other countries, it has been a recurrent theme, other countries have stepped up and obviously a lot of things have gone that way, but they still say that there is more that they need. what is the latest on that front? so, we had more promises of weapons over the last few days, just over the last 2a hours, the american say they are considering sending more multiple launch rocket systems, but really it is a never—ending stream of requests from the ukrainians. they say they need a huge amount of equipment, far more than has been promised and that is because they are facing these overwhelming odds, because of the strength that the russians have in the east of the country. just one thing i wanted to bring your attention to, we have heard some really interesting comments from the new head of the british army in the last hour or so, sir patrick sanders, who has given a really remarkable

interview to the press association, i thought, in london, where he is talking about the fact that really he needs to prepare a british army to fight in europe again, a british army that can fight alongside its allies to defeat russia. really quite bellicose language from the new head of the british army, he has only been in the role a short period, so we must not read too much into this, but it was really quite striking language. flooding, landslides and lightning strikes triggered by seasonal monsoon weather have left at least fifty—nine 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. the headlines on bbc news... a battle between president macron and the left as the french vote in parliamentary elections.

the british transport secretary accuses union leaders of "punishing millions of innocent people" by pressing ahead with rail strikes later this week. western leaders, including borisjohnson, warn that russia's war against ukraine may go for years and support for kyiv must be sustained whatever the cost. the united states has become first country in the world to approve use of the so—called mrna vaccines for children as young as six months. federal regulators cleared the use of pfizer and moderna covid—19 vaccines and will make smaller doses of the vaccine available to around twenty 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 these are 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—a00 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 2000 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.

today marks five years since the terror attack at a finsbury park mosque, which saw one person, makram ali, killed — as well as nine others injured. prime minister borisjohnson has said on twitter that his thoughts are with the families affected — and terrorists will never change our way of life. london mayor sadiq khan has also condemned the attack — adding that london stands united against terrorism. colombians go to the polls today in the second — and final —

round of presidential elections. they will choose between two very different candidates — leftist gustavo petro, who has promised more equality, or populist businessman rodolfo hernandez, who's been labelled a colombian trump. 0ur south america correspondent katy watson reports from colombia's capital, bogota. they pray a last attempt at salvation — and a prayerfor colombia's men. in a country used to decades of civil conflict, even the priests use the language of war. this is a call to action. they're fighting to put men back in control. but this isn't just about religious conservatism, it's about political indoctrination. these priests are issuing a thinly veiled warning not to vote for the left. this is the man they're scared of. gustavo petro is a former mayor who promises to tackle poverty.

a former rebel, too. if he wins these elections, he'll be colombia's first ever leftist president. and this is the man he's up against. rodolfo hernandez is a businessman, an outsider, a man who's been called colombia's trump, and a man whose tiktok videos and womanising have become more famous than his politics. his supporters, though, aren't fazed. translation: ifi had money, i'd do my own thing if it made me happy. . he's a good thing because he's a businessman. he's a self—made man. he's a little confusing. the truth is that a vote for adolfo is against pedro. because we don't want socialism, we don't want these politics that are against the freedom, the economy, we are afraid about petro. for communities used to being cast aside, petro's politics

are a welcome change. petro's running mate is a black woman, also a first in colombian politics. this weekend, their supporters have been out in force trying to convince voters. translation: one of the problems this country has is inequality - in black and indigenous communities and women. and they represent that difference. one's mixed race, one's black, and both believe in inclusion. so often we call elections historic. but i think you can really say that with this vote, because whoever wins, it'll be a real departure from any politics this country has seen before. katy watson, bbc news, in bogota. the indian government has said it is issuing a—hundred emergency visas to sikhs in afghanistan — a day after their last place

of worship in kabul was attacked by islamic state militants. reports say around forty other applications are being reviewed. at least two people were killed in the assault on saturday — a sikh worshipper and a taliban fighter who confronted the militants. india's prime minister narendra modi condemned the attack as barbaric and cowardly. afghanistan's sikh community once numbered in the tens of thousands — but after decades of violence, only a handful remain. it's father's day here in the uk, and the duke of cambridge has released a father's 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, catherine, who's well known for taking the family snaps. you're watching bbc news.

hello there. for those of you up early enough to catch the sunrise, you were in for a treat with orange looking skies first thing, there was a bit of saharan dust in the atmosphere producing this beautiful tone. however, a north—westerly wind will put paid to that, a rather breezy day in store today, this area of low pressure enhancing showers in the north west and these weather fronts, just a bit of a nuisance flirting with the channel coast and producing the risk of showers as we go through the day as well. there is also some sunshine, sandwiched between the two, that north—westerly wind will move cloud further south throughout the day, we run the risk of a few scattered showers in the south and continuing showers in the far north west, but generally speaking, despite that brisk breeze, it will be pleasant enough. that wind direction will make it feel cooler on north and west facing coasts, 14—17 degrees, we may see temperatures peaking into the low

temperatures in the south east. the risk of showers continues overnight in the south west, accompanied by gusts of wind is close to a0 mph, clear skies further north, temperatures will fall into single figures, it will be a fresh start once again to monday morning, a much more comfortable start, a good night's sleep, first thing on monday, a dry, settle quiet start, a lot of sunshine is likely to come through, this weather front in the far north west will gradually introduce more in the way of cloud and some light rain as the day continues. it will be a dry start, a sunny start for many, and we keep that sunshine throughout the day. some light and patchy rain to the north west, cloudy over to the north of northern ireland, and in the sunshine those temperatures are likely to respond, and we could see values peaking at around 22 or 23 degrees in a few spots in the south east in particular. 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 will start to see lows developing in from the atlantic. basically, that translates to more sunshine through the middle part of the weel, more warmth returning across wales, central and southern england, before we see some showers developing.

hello, this is bbc news with joanna gosling. the headlines: a battle between president macron and the left as the french vote in parliamentary elections. the british transport secretary accuses union leaders of "punishing millions of innocent people" by pressing ahead with rail strikes later this week. itjust seems that the union is determined to go out on strike, the rmt, come what may, and i think

it is a very sad situation, and i call on them to reconsider.