on whether to legalize same-sex marriage. thousands living in the u.k. flew back to take part in that vote. flights have been full throughout this friday. stephen carroll joins us from dublin. good evening. what numbers of people are turning out to cast their votes? stephen: the turnout is the

story. it looks like a turnout will be higher than usual. the most recent one in 2013, the final turnout was 39%. that figure has been surpassed already before the polls closed. here behind me, with two hours left, the turnout had surpassed if 2%. it looks like this may be the highest turnout for a referendum in ireland since 1995. a referendum on divorced which passed by a narrow majority. you mentioned the numbers of irish people traveling from abroad. that has been a huge factor in this. flights from the u.k., many of them arriving full into dublin. huge queues in the airport as people arrive to vote. part of irish law is you can

only exercise your vote while in the country. there is no postal vote for the vast majority of irish people living abroad. places like canada and even africa as people made to journeys from around the world to be here for this referendum. tom: you were at a polling station in dublin. that is next to a church. of course the vote must be difficult for the catholic church to accept. stephen: yes and it is interesting the rolled the catholic church has played in this debate. it shows the diminished influence of the catholic church in ireland. if you think back to the referendum on divorce, the church played a major part in what was a very closely fought race and all the the catholic bishops are calling for a no vote, social justice campaigners

and members of the clergy prominent figures, have called for a yes vote. 84% of the average people identify as catholic. attendance levels have dropped. comparable to 15%, according to survey evidence. people have distanced themselves in the wake of the sex abuse scandals the past 15 years and the detailed and graphic inquiries into those abuses, which have been published and changed many people's views in terms of the catholic church and irish society. that has played a part. civil society has dominated on both sides and of course with the results that will be known later when the begin counting early saturday morning. it may become the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by referendum. tom: stephen carroll in dublin.

let's get more now and speak to natalie who is at the paris university. thank you for speaking to us. this is an extraordinary progression of events when you consider homosexuality was only decriminalized 20 years ago. natalie: absolutely. this is a historic moment for ireland. it will be teaching europe a lesson in democracy, tolerance and modernity. as your correspondent summarized it, social attitudes have changed toward the lgb community and also attitudes toward the church have changed and the church does not hold the power it used to hold. tom: i wanted to ask you about

the position of the catholic church. in society in ireland, it seems to have slipped considerably from the position of strength and authority it had until a few decades ago. has it lost that influence altogether, or just on this issue? nathalie: i think the scandals that you opted -- that erupted the scandals, the discoveries of the babies, the mother and baby, have stained the reputation of the catholic church and also politicians have also decided to give less, less influence to the way they run the country and the fact this campaign was promoted and also attitudes of change

within the catholic church, it is modernizing. tom: thank you very much, at sorbonne thank you. 20 people have been killed today in a village in eastern saudi arabia. a shia mosque was struck by a suicide bomber when it was packed with worshipers. dozens were injured in that attacked for which the islamic state claimed responsibility earlier on this evening. >> april pool of blood remains after a suicide bomber interrupted friday prayers. worshipers inside were commemorating the imam. an observer described the scene after the attack. >> i was sitting there. i was two minutes away from the mosque. somebody called me to say there

was someone inside of the mosque. i saw a lot of blood. a lot of bodies. they told me somebody came inside the mosque during the prayer time and bonds themselves. reporter: the interior ministry has promised to find all those involved. the bombing took place in the eastern saudi province and is heavily populated by a shiite minority. residents say tension between sunnis and shiites have flared. it is another proxy war with iran. meanwhile, the top terror experts broke out saying it would drive a wedge among the sons of the nation and also he called it a crime and great sin. it shiites were last targeted in the same region last november. tom: two people have been killed

in the capital of the room d after three grenades went off in a marketplace. nine other were injured in that attack which comes at a time of tensions in east africa. thousands of protesters marched through the city today defying a threat of a police crackdown. 20 people have died during the unrest there which was triggered by the president seeking a third term in office which is opponents say violates the constitution. here is the latest from the capital. reporter: we have just calm from where the attack occurred. we confirmed to dad. we followed them here to the hospital. as we arrived, a woman told us there were more than two dead and over 30 wounded. we have not confirmed that yet. we are on our way into the hospital to find out.

so far no news on who threw the grenade in the market. tom: despite warnings of a crackdown, it seems as though a number of people to ask to the streets today. julia: yes. despite two days of live fire from the police, protesters were back in the streets today. it started more slowly. by the afternoon, they were out in the thousands. they told us that on monday they will return to the streets. they are taking a two-day truce to bury the protesters killed. they tell us they will continue on monday. tom: julia reporting from burundi. southeast asia has left thousands of the minority muslim community stranded. this is as they seek asylum. burma is under pressure to address the plight of the rohingya people and provide them with urgent relief.

>> delivered from the sea, but far from salvation. like 3000 others in the past week, these migrants have made it to refugee camps. most of the minority rohingya's escaping persecution. just as many are still a draft. the u.s. military is preparing to sell maritime aviation patrol to the region before the seas become a graveyard. the crisis has set the spotlight on the plight of the people. >> the root of the problem is the political and social situation on the ground. in order to develop a sustainable solution, the union government must fulfill its commitments to improve the

living conditions and security protection, human rights, and freedoms of all communities in accordance with international standards. reporter: discriminated against the u.s. is urging burma to extend citizenship to the rohingyas. >> we will take care of them. for other nationalities, it is difficult. we have to discuss with all of the people in parliament and all of the existing people. reporter: picketing in front of the embassy, protesters are calling on nations to expel burma if the government continues to turn a blind eye to the rohingya tom: crisis. back in france, the eiffel tower has reopened after employees walked off the job. they are protesting a rise in the number of pickpockets who target visitors at the monument.

staff union wants a permanent police presence there. authorities announced on 30's that -- on thursday that it has been up 33% come paired 22014. -- compared to 2014. let's get a recap on france 24 making history. ireland voting in a referendum which will determine same-sex marriage is going to be legalized. a deadly attack. two people are killed in the capital city. a series of grenade attacks rocks the country. and under international pressure, burma is told to address the plight of the rohingya people. thousands are stranded in boats. time now for a check of the top business stories with markus karlsson.

we are going to look at events in lot the eyewear the eu -- in lot to you -- latvia where the eu summit is happening. markus: we saw the united kingdom and greece play a major part as the fears of a british and greek exit out of the european union and the eurozone have played a major part in the past few days. the official focus was on the european union's relationship with eastern european countries and officials finding a deal to provide financial aid to ukraine. the uconn -- the economy is in recession as it pays a price for the stand up with separatist in the east. kate moody has more. kate: a signature representing a lifeline for kiev.

eu officials signed 1.8 billion euros in assistance for ukraine to be distributed in three payments. >> this is a strong signal. kate: the money follows two previous loans and more than 15 million euro bailout for the indebted country. ukraine's economy has shrunk since the crisis began in 2013. this month, data confirmed the economy plunged 18% in the first quarter. gdp will shrink a total 5.5% and others predict the contraction closer to 10%. prices are also rising with the world bank predicting inflation of over 30% this year. in return for assistance kiev

has promised to tackle corruption. its ability to do so will determine how long western powers will be able to support ukraine in a standoff against russia. tom: the head of the central bank is calling on euros and governments to carry out more painful reform. mario draghi spoke in portugal that brought together bankers in academics and says the economic outlook is brighter today than it has been for seven years and he called on the eurozone leaders to use that to speed up reform. he said tough measures were needed to clear away bureaucracy and make it easier to hire and fire in the eurozone. mario draghi: the outlook is brighter today than it has been for seven long years. monetary policy is working its way through the economy. growth is picking up and inflation has recovered.

markus: let's see how the stock markets reacted. the reaction was not huge. from the beginning, if we look at the european indices, we saw a mixed close with the london ftse 100 up about a quarter of a percent. the frankfurt dax was down and the cac 40 was flat. it lets talk you through the u.s. markets and see where they are trading this hour. just over 40 minutes to go on trading, the nasdaq is in positive territory and the s&p 500 and the dow jones are down somewhat. not by much. investors are reacting after janet yellen said in a tourist rate hike would be appropriate at some point in this year. there has been this debate and a lot of talking, thinking about

when the federal reserve will stop hiking interest rates. something investors have not been keen on previously. and a few other stories we are watching the edf has offered two billion euros to buy a part of the areva. the chief executive said he wants to buy the business, but did not outline a price tag. they have been bleeding cash since the french state has been looking for ways to salvage the business. one of the largest insurance companies is cutting its investments in whole companies. it will sell off: industry assets to the tune of 500 million euros. this was announced during a conference here in paris. axa is the biggest institution across the world to shun

industries with a large carbon footprint. in the japanese carmaker mazda and mitsubishi are recalling another 600,000 cars over airbags. they were made by the japanese car parts maker. the number of recalled vehicles globally would double to 34 million. 11 carmakers in total have been affected, including toyota and honda. that is the business for now. tom: thanks very much indeed. time for us to go to the french riviera you for our daily update on all the goings-on at the cannes film festival. today we went to meet the hollywood star sienna miller. cannes rendezvous starts right now.

>> hello from the cannes film festival. today most of us know that until recently in her 20's, her career was driven by the tabloids obsessed by her love life especially her relationship with the jude law. she went off to have a baby and now she is back and she is on the film festival jury. let's go meet sienna miller.

sienna miller, hello. in film, "foxcatcher" won a prize. now you are on the jury. what is it like? sienna miller: i've tried not to think about that. the way we are approaching it is to really find what we celebrate in each thing. there are a lot of prizes and i'm deferring to the more knowledgeable members of the group. just to be a part of that conversation and two cb's films and discuss them has been an enriching experience so far. >> you have been in two of the best films, how are you feeling? sienna miller: i feel great. you never know what anything is really going to be. "foxcatcher" is such a

magnificent piece of work as a film. >> come home. we miss you. >> ok. >> clint eastwood, what is he like? sienna miller: everything you would hope he would be. completely animatic. he has a clear idea of what he wants. it is a unique experience. to work with somebody i grew up in awe of, it was extraordinary. i can't quite believe it. >> you play the wife of a murdered hero. sienna miller: it did not dawn on me until i started shooting. there is no widow part i and. they happen that way. >> you met both of the women.

what was that like? sienna miller: it was quite intimidating. invaluable in terms of research and the process of figuring out who she was in these moments. >> one of your upcoming films reunites you with adam cooper. you both play chefs. tell us about that. sienna miller: i trained with a chef, which was extraordinary. i love cooking. now i can really cook very well. i've cooked about 50,000 pieces. it was really funny because we came straight back off of the film "american sniper" where he was a texan and suddenly he is throwing pans at my head. it was hilarious. we work very well together. >> your career seems to be in a

different place now. are you making different choices? sienna miller: i used to focus on the role. now i'm focused on the director regardless of the part. and then you get cast, and it is a domino effect. it is luck and timing. when you are in your 20's, you are everywhere. and then you kind of disappear. this year you are in five or six films, including ben affleck's "live by night." i kind of did disappear. i had a child. i did a piece of work when i was pregnant which came out after i had a baby. it was critically well-received. that helped and also a lot of the attention i had been a victim of, that went away.

that really helped and allowed me to become the actor i wanted to be without everybody constantly getting in the way. >> having a baby, did that affect your career choices? sienna miller: the great thing about this, "american sniper" i worked three weeks on. a lot of these parts are in and out. it is not like i'm committing to five months. i think the timing is important with a child. and of course everybody changes when they have a child. >> in hollywood, a lot of actresses stop in their 20's because of the pressures. you seem to be ready to take on hollywood. sienna miller: i don't know anyone who stopped in their 20's. all of my friends are working. if that is what you want to do,

whatever the pressures are you you continue. i don't see hollywood as an entity i need to attack. i have worked since i was 22. hollywood does not define my job. i did a play on broadway. i'm going to do another one next year. it is the combination of it all. >> a lot of talk this year about equality between men and women in film. do you think there is equality now? sienna miller: i think there is a big problem in terms of gender equality in the world. i also feel confident this past year there are conversations taking place which are exciting. it feels like there is a conversation and awareness to really rebalance what is unbalanced. hollywood is no different. hopefully we are making headway. >> what about world cinema?

you have worked in hollywood britain, what about other cinema? sienna miller: cannes is the epicenter. i would have watched so many films b

rom pacifica, this is democracy now! >> these past two weeks my team has been presenting evidence to a grand jury that just today returned indictments against all six officers for the following offenses. amy: just over a month after the death of freddie gray sparked massive protests in baltimore, a grand jury has indicted six police officers, one