and 58% see le pen's national front as a threat to democracy. has her story for "60 minutes." >> the polls say you can't win. >> translator: yes. they also said that brexit wasn't going to happen. that donald trump wasn't going to be elected. wasn't even going to be his party's nominee. well, they're saying that less and less now. they are much more cautious, much more cautious now. >> reporter: the nationalist policies marie le pen embraces are gaining supporters throughout france and around the world. she's hostile to free trade, rejects open borders, and says globalization, promoted for decades by france's political elites, is destroying her country. so how do you explain what is happening? did leaders go too far? >> translator: yes, yes, of course they've dwogone too far. globalization has become an idealology with no restraints. now nations are forces themselves back into the debate. nations with borders we control. the people that we listen to with real economies, not wall street economies. but rather factories and farmers. and this goes a

it was a process that came to be known as the "de-demonization" of the national front.wo years ago, in a move worthy of shakespeare, she kicked her own father out of the party he founded. >> cooper: do you have any contact with him? >> le pen ( translated ): no, no, no, i don't have any contact with him now. we broke up. broke up politically. it was a very clear decision on my part to have a political break, which he turned into a family breakup, a personal breakup. and that was his choice. >> cooper: le pen is now a as a member of the european parliament, she spent years polishing her persona as a straight-talking working mom and french everywoman, doing her best to make people forget her party's past. it's interesting. when you go to a marine le pen rally or you look at her posters, you don't see her last name. you don't even see the... really, the name of the party very much. >> nonna mayer: but she is right. if she wants to succeed, she must cut all links with that past. she is the daughter of jean- marie le pen, and, for her, that's an obstacle. >> cooper: n

the national front leader may have w011 the national front leader may have won widespread support inaders. vladimir putin says that she represents a fast—growing element of european politics. russia may already be accused of meddling in the us elections to help donald trump when the white house but the kremlin denies those claims and insists it will not try and influence next month's election. recent opinion pulled in marine le pen neck and neck in the first round with the centrist candidate. this meeting delivered a not so subtle hint that russia would be happy to deal with the president le pen. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: we visit roma where the leaders of the european union nations gathered to celebrate the 60th birthday... with one exception. let there be no more war or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. so proud of both of you. with great regret the committee have decided that south africa be excluded from the 1970 competition. streaking across the sky, the white hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers in fiji. this is bbc news. i'm lebo diseko. the late

the national front leader met vladimir putin in moscow.to the week in parliament — a week that brought bloodshed to the streets of westminster and a defiant response from mps. let this be the message from this house and this nation today — our values will prevail. this democracy is strong, and this parliament is a robust. this was a horrific crime, and as an act of terror

the national front leader met vladimir putin in moscow.f newswatch but first it's time for click.

marine le pen of the national front is forecast to clinch the first round in april but mr macron is considered the favourite to win a run—off vote. scientists in britain have created artificial embryos using two types of stem cells from mice, in what they say is a world first. the researchers at cambridge university say their artificial embryo could lead to better fertility treatments. now for the latest financial news with ben and world business report. is it a console or is it a mobile? nintendo‘s new device goes on sale around the world but can it convince gamers to switch? plus the gadgets google wants every home to have. we hear from the company's new hardware boss. welcome to world business report. i'm ben bland. in a minute we'll talk about the currency that's become more valuable than gold. we start injapan on a huge day for computer games giant nintendo. it starts selling its latest device — the switch. it's kind of hybrid machine — combining a home console and a mobile device in one. and it's safe it say it is a massive gamble for nintendo, which is trying to recapture its glory days

now he says he feels most at home with the leader of the front national, marine le pen. le. it's marine le pen. if it were her father in charge, it would be no, because he's a crazy old man. back then there were skinheads, thugs and fascists in the party. with marine it's not like that at all. there's an elegance, a bit of restraint. j'aime la france. marine le pen has tried to rid her party of the racist, homophobic image it had under her father, jean—marie. several of her closest advisers are now openly gay, and she expelled her father after he described the holocaust as "a detail of the second world war". wherejews and gay men were once seen as outsiders, the party's target now is immigration and radical islam. marine le pen is presenting herself as the defender of minorities, against what she says is a growing threat from political islam. gay voters, dues and women all have something to fear, she says, and the front national is the party to protect them. ——jews. analysts say the party is now being pulled in two directions. they have said there is a red line we shall n

we report from northern france, and meet some of the young national front activists hoping to cause aolitical earthquake. i'm aaron heslehurst. in business: terms of disengagement. the eu will set out its stall on brexit later but britain says trade talks must get under way at the same time. plus: cash cows and spread betting. why the price of butter is soaring on us markets. but first: michael flynn was briefly president trump's national security adviser but now his lawyer has says he is prepared to give testimony about russian meddling in the election in exchange for immunity from prosecution. the news came just hours after the senate intelligence committee began investigating russian interference in the election. that hearing heard top democrat senator mark warner describe the tactics used as "propaganda on steroids". here's laura bicker. he was one of donald trump's close advisers and appointed national security advisor. it's understood that he is asking, and is in discussion with the senate, house and house intelligence committees, about giving testimony in return for being grant

it is estimated he would be national front leader marine le pen and a second-round runoff. meanwhile, things have gone from bad to worse for conservative candidates francois fillon. he is five points behind macron in the polls. police reportedly raided his paris home this morning and more senior staff have quit his campaign. reporter: another emergency meeting at francois fillon's campaign headquarters. the party bigwigs not talking. fillon's former finance minister had this thought. >> it is between him and the voters now. , theter: but, for fillon bad news gives piling up. one day after announcing he would stay in the race despite in approaching judicial investigation, many key supporters are abandoning ship. thursday, his former campaign manager publishes letter of recommendation -- letter of the nation. -- letter of resignation. the defections keep coming. partyeputy from fillon's demands to withdraw. >> he went on the evening news and said that if he was put in an investigation, he would drop his campaign. now he knows that investigation is coming and he has to keep hi

she leads the national front party.e nationalfront party. she's is leading in the polls. she leads the national front party. she's lost immunity from prosecution for treating graphic images of atrocities committed by the islamic state group. those images involve pictures of james foley being beheaded by the islamic state group. she could face criminal enquiry if that was the case. this offence carries a penalty of three years in prison. we're a long way away from anything like that. the decision remove her immunity was taken by the european parliament. let me show you what emmanuel macron said as he delivered this new manifesto. we in our project have chosen first of all to look to the future. the transformation of the world of work, the transformation of our productive model. the digital transition. these are risks. but they are also brilliant opportunities. and so, at the heart of this project, there is the heart of this project, there is the refusal to acknowledge defeat. i will not say in this project that we have a

for her part, the national front leader said that, if she were to win, she would consider lifting theine conflict. earlier, we spoke to the co—founder of the news website rue89.com. he thinks her visit is highly strategic. the trip to moscow is not unusual. what is unusual is that in this election, the context, she is received by vladimir putin. she has a problem in that her rivals, like a emmanuel macron, can be seen with angela merkel and theresa may, without any difficulty. she cannot. she has only met as heads of state the head of state of lebanon and off chad. meeting vladimir putin shows she can be presidential and talk directly to some of the most powerful people on this land. but is it a wise meeting, given some of the accusations that have been levelled at rush hour over its alleged interference have been levelled at russia over its alleged interference in your selections. there is a lot of fear about that in europe, as well as conspiracy theories on rumours that russia is supporting the far right. my feeling is that with her supporters it will go well, because she can show t

. >> our guide to the town's deputy mayor since 2014 when the far right national front took over aftersperous streets are desserted, the cool mines on which it was built, closed. unemployment is merely twice the national average. it was naishl national socialist territory. who so what changed? >> you can explain it by people being fed up in france and around the world. >> as a frenchman i've seen roamers get more help than i do. i understand what she means when she says we need to put a stop to this because in france we don't feel at home anymore. >> those who vote for national france don't admit to it. i think we stigmatize people who vote for national france. i don't like having someone dictate my vote to me. >> many of the people we spoke to were not willing to share their thoughts on camera. not far from the town hall this charity helps some 600 families to survive. food is sold at 20% of its normal price. the nan created the supermarket says to his customers many are trying to survive on less than 400 you're rose a month, a corruption scandal was just too much. to many it seemed l

the national front leader met vladimir putin in moscow and he said he was not trying to influence eventsamme all about

the french presidential candidate and leader of the front national marine le pen loses immunity from in sport, british cycling needs to sort out its problems forced that is the call from uk sport, following negative headlines over doping and culture issues. andy is on court against philipp kohlschreiber in dubai. he is currently 2—1 up in the first set. sam billings is likely to open for england in their one—day international against the west indies in antigua tomorrow. steven finn will also play with jake ball and alex hales out of the side. i will be back with more on those stories just after half past. the family of mark duggan, the 29—year—old who was shot dead in 2011 by a police marksman have gone to the court of appeal in a bid to challenge the inquest verdict that he was lawfully killed. mark duggan's death sparked riots in tottenham that spread nationwide in the summer of 2011. mark duggan's shooting in august 2011 sparked riots in tottenham where he was shot and then around the country. mark duggan was stopped following a police operation, and the police said they had intel

i want to ask you, a lot of people might look at front national and say not a lot of years ago, front national wanted to deport 3 million foreigners, a party of holocaust denial and scene phobia. and marxenophobia. you yourself being born in egypt, how do you feel this necessarily is going to make a safer and better france? >> you know this has nothing to do -- when i arrived in france back in the '70s, immigration was still very low. so when immigration is low and done, you can integrate into the country, you can integrate and assimilate people. you assimilate individuals, you do not assimilate peoples. that's the first thing. regarding the genesis of front national, everything changed since the arrival of marine le pen in 2011. if you take the genesis of all of the french party, it started back in the '70s with an extremist line. and this party's evolved to a more centrist attitude a few decades later. if we cannot make politics by looking in the past, we must look forward and now front national and marine le pen is the head of the sovereignist movement in france. >> yeah. >> and th

the national front leader met vladimir putin in moscow. she said he was ‘not trying to influence events‘. in about ten minutes on bbc news we'll have this week's edition of newswatch but first it's time for click. driving in india is an experience. the roads are crammed and the horn is omnipresent and the rules are... well, they're there somewhere, i'm sure. and that's why we will not be doing a story about self driving cars in india any time soon. and despite the fact that it seems like everybody here owns a car, that's not true. many people choose to travel by train instead. but if you think that is any less intense... think again. yeah, about those rules... mumbai central station is a massive, heaving hub connecting the city to the north and east of india. but if you look closely, you will see something else connecting the commuters to the rest of the world. 116 wireless access points provide free wi—fi to anybody with an indian phone number. it is provided by google which says that about 2.5 tb are being downloaded here every day. and

over the future be for france if the national front won?t to reverse the actual trend of the european union, that is absolutely crazy, tried to build the kind of a euro aquatic superstate, which the people do not want. thank you very much for your time. you are welcome. that was fascinating. i wa nt to welcome. that was fascinating. i want to ask you a question that relates both to emmanuel macron and marine le pen. it seems to be emerging that one of the biggest issues in this campaign, as it was in the united states and the brexit vote is the issue of immigration. at one point does emmanuel macron have to ta ke one point does emmanuel macron have to take a clear stand on the immigration issue if he is going to carry supporters with them? at the moment it seems like he is trying to please everyone on an issue where it is impossible to do that.|j please everyone on an issue where it is impossible to do that. i think their national front will try and focus minds if they get through to the second round. they are seen success in some of their

marine le pen still has to prove she can get past the glass ceiling which always prevented the national front to get national positions in france so far. so far better understanding the national front and who its voters are, i will be going around some of its strongholds in france next week, starting on monday, with the north of france, near lille, ner the city where she tryiey eied to conque power. as many cities are plagued with high jobless rates of 17%, when the national average is 10%. it's an old mining city. it's very interesting because there traditionally they used to vote for the left, or the socialists or communists, moving further east on tuesday to hayange it's the same thing. a symbol of the failings. when they closed their plant in 2012, it left many men and women unemployed. so we'll be studying this, and going to the south of france, more traditionally right-leaning voting population where jean marine le pen, her father, has had strongholds for the last 20 years or so. we'll see you on monday. >> claire, sounds good. thank you very much. claire fournier joining us out of pari

the national front candidate said leaving the single currency, "needs to be done carefully." she added that reinstating border controls and keeping factory jobs in france would be her priority if she wins power. $48 asl is trading near some opec members backed an extension of the deal to cut output. five opec producers joined with oman to voice support for extending the supply curbs past june. russia said it needs more time before making a decision. >> we have decided that in order to make any decisions like this, there needs to be a ministerial meeting. we have asked the opec secretary to prepare more materials on the current state of the markets and for this material to the computed to members. in south korea, prosecutors are seeking a warrant for the arrest of ousted president park. she was questioned last week about the undue influence scandal that forced her from office. she's accused of pressuring businesses to donate millions of dollars to a confidant in return for government favors. the scandal has embroiled some big names including the de facto samsung heir apparent.

of course the national front party is a far right party. despite her attempts to normalize the image of the party, many are still seen as -- >> we're going to that debate. >> all of these candidates have the necessary qualities to become president of the republic. marine le pen -- >> good evening get settled. this is our first debate for the 2017 presidential election. >> we are ourselves to the future confidently. i am a fighter, don't be afraid. don't doubt. i will lead to a strong recovery. >> national decline, we have had enough. thatroject is a project will liberate and protect us. we must be proud of our project has that is what we want to do. i am a candidate in favor of work. represent people who can't be fooled a third or fourth time. vote. my commitment is to restore order. to do that we need everyone. a free french people. all, everyone will have the same amount of time after 90 seconds you will see a red light go on. discuss andable to clear and myself will be moderating the debate. was drawnof speaking by lots. what about the e

what will this mean for the leader of the far right national front, marie la penn. >> that's a big questione in france. already the mainstream candidates and france's president have been congratulating the dutch prime minister on his victory, celebrating the fact that apparently the excream -- all celebrating the defeat of extremism. i'll tell you what the french president said. the president of the republic congratulated rutte. the only true response to the nationalist impulses and isolationism that are shaking the world. yet, while there is a celebratory attitude from france's candidates and politicians i would caution there is a difference between a wilders and le pen. if there is a great deal of similarity between the pro european main treatment progressivists, there is a difference between the various pop you lists standing in the election that you mentioned. marie le pen is much less openly anti-muslim than geert wilders. he was extreme and strong on that question of being anti-muslim. marie le pen has developed a more nuanced view. we have been spending time with her voters saying if

m marine le pen's national front inspires europe's far right worries others who hahave seen underratedopulist campaigns soar to victory with brexit and the election of donald trump. >> i think this event is important for france of course that also for europe. particularly if marine le pen wins. that the eu itself is under threat. with britain's exit from the eu there are only three big countries that remain. germany france and italy. if france were to leave as well that would be the end of the european union. former economy minister emmanuel macron may be tied for the lead with marine le pen. >> the least interesting candidate. the least colorful is macaroon. i mean macron. >> untouched by the scandal that has engulfed his competitors, then one been all but eclipsed. has been all but eclipsed. genie: new details on the man behind the attack at orly airport in paris yesterday. the suspect took a female sosoldier hostage before being shot dead. the autopsy report shows he had traces of cocaine and cannabis in his blood as well as twice the legal limit of alcohol. the orly airport attacke

. >> while this arraignments shift in policy on the national front, california is already ahead of the game when it comes to clean energy. the governor blasted the president on twitter. we mentioned those comments at 4:00. and he wasn't alone in voicing the opinion. california activist tom steyer was among they will. >> we will create better paying jobs and our society will groat faster. >> today president he signed an executive order calling into question the obama administration's clean power plan, currently capping the amount of greenhouse gases. >> my administration is putting an end to the war on coal. >> fossil fuse will be the focus boosting energy production. >> states in local communities know what is best for them. they understand it. they've been doing it a long time. >> it was called disappointing but say they boenlt have much an affect california. >> we plan to continue that path the president hoping to lift a more or the-up on the sale of coal might know leases on public lands insisting his plans will bring more jobs to americans. >>> from thousands of people today was th

they are continuing to do it right now in france with the national front which they are trying to propel to power. it's taking place in germany. we can have vladimir putin dictated the political destiny of people all over the world simply because he has a lot of clever cyber hackers and people who know how to inject fake news and propaganda. we need to get back to the habit of telling the truth in america. democracy depends on the truth. madison said popular government depends on popular information. if you don't have it its prologue to a farce or a tragedy or both. people who need to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives, and so we need to get to the truth of this which is why we have been calling for a 911 style commission to deal with it because we have a lot of serious problems we need to work on. i'd love to talk about what we can do in terms of healthcare and education, and the president even mentioned climate change in his address to congress. when that is an overwhelming problem, the overwhelming problem confronting all of humanity. >> the

defeathowing this is a far right le pen, the national front leader. she was hoping for a wilders victory. that this would give wind to her sails. this windmill is giving her a painful slap in the face. molly: and we have royalty coming to the french capital, will and kate. william's be prince first visit since his mother died here 20 years ago. the purpose is a soft power diplomatic charm offensive at the request of the foreign office. the duke and duchess of cambridge will meet senior french politicians in a bid to boost anglo-french relations in the wake of brexit. this is the first stop. they will visit germany and poland in july. they are not the only members of the royal family. prince charles and camilla will italy, andia, austria at the request of the government. molly: it is st. patrick's day. i did not put on green, but we put on sweaters. i will say happy st. patrick's day. >> a of people, particularly stateside, think they are irish or believe they have irish ancestry. the irish times has 17 questions to test your irish-ness. i did terribly

the national front leader gave an hour-long radio interview .onight marine le pen faced very few toughions but she did reiterate her stance on brexit and she thanked the u.k. for showing us the way out of this huge prison. she did not talk about allegations of financial impropriety that are overshadowing her campaign and her party. genie: she is a candidate in the upcoming french election. let's stay with the socialist candidate, benoit hamon. he has revealed his official election program. candidateialist party wants to repeal the controversial labor reforms in france. he wants to establish a basic universal revenue for everyone which he says will be financed profits.y taxing back for this paper, it's a program that is very much left wing and it is one that may have trouble competing with emmanuel macron. in this cartoon uc macron and his big cruise liner with the elephants representing the heavyweights of the party. he is challenging him to a race. it's clear that he is at a disadvantage in this election. have: french researchers made a breakthrough in the fight against hiv and aids.

the national front of france has risen enormously.e saw until yesterday the far right make huge advances in the netherlands. responsibility for our friendship to last is to continue pursuing european values. we should not pursue them to make but with rigor, europe one that protects our steel industry and workers. that was before a corruption scandal under full investigation for misuse of public funds. enthusiasm.ster he is pushing a far left agenda that has failed to excite voters. polls show him a languishing in fourth place. today he lashed out at his rivals and accuse them of being controlled by big money. won the left primary in january. now he has revealed his presidential program. the media in france focusing on major reform ideas. attack companies that use of robots or machines in place of real workers. he also said union workers should make up half. of hisd by the idea primary opponent, he once to temporarily nationalize certain companies to protect jobs. he says half of all public contracts should be reserved for small and me

that path is most often associated with the national front, but due to the numerous scandals, that hasade it so that people are now fighting -- hiding the fact that they're going to vote for him. according to "l'opinion," fillion may be in front of a .emmanual asking are you going to choose the strategic vote, the hidden vote, or the professional vote? molly: all right, we do have a focus, the winter truth. truth" is a winter measure that prevents landlords from kicking other tenants of they cannot pay rents during the cold winter months. it goes into effect in november and ends tomorrow on april 1. this means the start of every stressful period for families who are facing financial difficulty. according to the communist paper on their front page, they're asking -- do we want to stop this, or are we going to keep it up? molly: a controversy in the u.s. regarding gender, americans debating whether or not it is ok with aan to eat alone man he is not eating with. if you ask american vice president mike pence, he would say absolutely not, he does not elite alone with women other than his -

>> there is this class ceiling for the national front to pass the 50% threshold.ferent situation from 2002, in particular when you look at the original 40% tons, we have seen 45%, which is changing a little bit the picture compared to a decade ago. it is difficult to make an exercise of probability. the grass where you are tracking probabilities of very small shift of the voter has significant impact on the probability, and this is where the probability exercise in my you is very treacherous. i would not rely too much on this probability because things can change dramatically chest with a small shift. we are keeping an eye on marine le pen who is taking on french radio at the moment saying the french need to work with syrian and russian intelligence. we will see if she comments on london and see if she uses those events in the election. is aligning herself with the russians especially considering donald trump in the white house relationship with russia. >> as investors, the endgame is to say between politics and economics, we have to focus on the economics and imp

she's leader of france's extremely right national front parties. >>> ryan zinke trotted up the nationalall on horseback accompanied by a posse of u.s. police. he's from white fish, montana. zinke heads a department that manages a fifth of our land in the u.s. including national parks. >>> "the boston globe" reports former president barack obama is this year's resip yenlts of the profile encourage award. the john f. kennedy library foundation said it was honoring mr. obama, for, quote, elevating the standard of political courage in a new century. caroline kennedy and her son jack schlossberg will present the award in may. >>> and the las cruces sun news has a story about sleep pods at two new mexican schools. the pods feature a reclining chair and a sensory reduction bubble. at the touch of a button 20 minute sequence of relaxing music and soft lights calls for a time-out for students and teachers. >>> still to come amazon reveals how a tiny mistake turned into a major headache for hundreds of thousands of websites. this is my body of proof that i can take on psoriatic arthritis with hum

but opinion polls show fillon trailing behind the far-right national front president marine le pen and independent centrist emanuel macron. the latest development is seen as adding to fillon's uphill battle. >>> japan's ruling and opposition party members are set to agree on a historic legal measure to allow the emperor to abdicate. it could extend the option to future emperors as well. nhk world's tomoko kamata has the details. >> translator: opposition members like the social democrats previously had different opinions from the governing coalition, but they now say they're ready to agree on creating a special legal provision for the sake of unity. >> reporter: lawmakers have been discussing what can be done to address a video message emperor akihito gave last august. >> reporter: japanese law has no provision for the emperor to give up the throne. and the emperor's not supposed to be seen as interfering with politics. but prime minister shinzo abe took the hint. he asked diet members for a formal debate, indicating he wanted all parties to come to agreement. >> translator: this is a

the national front party in the european legislature but is under investigation in france for postinghree graphic images of i.s. executions on twitter two years ago. they included the beheading of american journalist james foley. today's vote confirmed a preliminary decision of the eu legislature. northern ireland is holding cap elections today for the second time in 10 months. that's in hopes of resolving a political crisis that saw the power-sharing government collapse in january. the northern ireland government must be run by irish republicans and british unionists together. a breakdown in trust to make it difficult for power-sharing to resume after the elections. steven o'reilly reports from east belfast, where protestants and catholics still live in segregated communities. >> the main protestant area of the east belfast still bears the marks of three decades of conflict. this community was once ruled by gunmen loyal to the british crown. writing on the walls is starting to change. extending the hand of friendship across the divide. this resident lives near a violent interface for

this "opinionway" poll predicts that far—right national front leader, marine le pen, will win the firstmacron in second. fillon is in third. and in the second round, macron is expected to be the clear winner. here's hugh again. the suggestion is that emmanuel macron will be the next president. the basic fact remains that whoever gets through to the second round to fight marine le pen is most likely to wind, even though marine le pen is apparently going up slightly in the polls in the second round, consistently the polls say she is likely to be beaten, either by emmanuel macron or by francois fillon. so the fight is to see who will be the second person in the second round. emmanuel macron is riding high. francois fillon has fallen in the polls, although they have not totally collapsed. emmanuel macron has had good news with his centrist agenda. he feels that he has the momentum behind him. right now, emmanuel macron is the favourite to be the next president. we also heard earlier via the afp news agency that centrist party udi — which was allied to the fillon campaign — is "pausing its s

her national front party, accused of misusing eu funds. on. sir bruce forsyth has reportedly returned home, after spending five nights in intensive care. the 89—year—old was being treated for a severe chest infection. in a statement released by his agent, sir bruce said he wanted to "say a special thank you to all the nhs doctors, nurses and staff" for their "kindness and ca re". let's see how the weather is doing. it's been a cold, blustery day. there are blue skies, sunshine, but equally, low pressure not far—away. central and eastern parts of england look dry. gale force winds. temperatures only 6—7d towards the north. scotland will see rain and hill slope fishing northwards. strong winds, but elsewhere more persistent rain moving in. much of our reign sitting across wales and southern and central parts of england. hill snow across wales pushing across, seeing that rain over the pennines. an improved day across scotland and northern ireland.

front. troubles anyone? >> the two national institutions that was part of that so we wouldn't have another world war ii that followed world war i, the two multi-national institutions that were created and staved in fighting off world war iii thus far the two organizations that have done the work in stopping world war iii are nato and the european union. all things considered, forever you factor in military power and economic power and international influence, i think it's fair to say the uk is the strongest and most important cornerstone member of the european union. now, as of today they are starting the process of getting out. it's happening. that alone is profoundly disstabiliing in lots of way to the uk itself probably our greatest ally on earth. we are also about to have two hugely important elections in other cornerstones of europe. both germany and france are heading towards very very important national elections that will not just determine the immediate short term future of politics in those countries, determine whethe

next is marine le pen, leader of the far right front national, these days likening herself to presidentccused of misusing eu parliament funds for french political activity and could be prosecuted for treating a graphic picture of an isis beheading. and the third is emmanuel macron, the centrist candidate pitching himself as the freshfaced. no scandal yet, but then as a fresh face, there is still time. he has dismissed chatter that he's gay, saying that if he was, he would be open about it. he is at 24% in the poles. joining me from paris now is the political journalist pierre haski. we have had him on the programme several times, including standing in the freezing cold in paris. nice to talk to you again! can we start with francois fillon? he said he would step aside, he hasn't, what is going on? it is a big mess. yesterday he was standing firm and reaffirming that he would go right to the end. and today his campaign is just falling apart. all, we heard that this morning, police were searching his private home in paris. then he had several desertions in his team, the deputy campaign man

her national front party accused of misusing eu funds.t is struggling, it strongly denies the "fake jobs for family" claims, and fights on. in other news: the united nations says the syrian government and a number of opposition groups have agreed a clear agenda for the country's future during a week of talks in geneva. it is the first time for over a year that the two sides have attended talks. they are due to meet again later in the month. the us vice president, mike pence, says there is no comparison between his use of a personal e—mail during his time as indiana governor and hillary clinton's use of a private e—mail server when she was secretary of state. he contacted advisers on terrorism and homeland security via an aol account during his four years as governor, though he did nothing illegal. a row between ankara and berlin over a series of cancelled turkish political rallies in germany is continuing to escalate. on friday the turkish president accused berlin of aiding and harbouring terror. recep tayyip erdogan said a german—turkish

marine le pen of the national front is forecast to clinch the first round in april but mr macron is consideredof stem cells from mice, in what they say is a world first. the researchers at cambridge university say their artificial embryo could lead to better fertility treatments.

her national front party, accused of misusing eu funds.mpaign knows, he strongly denies the fate dollars for family claimed that fights on. we do apologise for the technical difficulties, but we are pleased to be with us bbc news. these are some of the main stories. the un says a clear agenda has been agreed on for three's future. it is the first time in overa year three's future. it is the first time in over a year that the two sides have attended talks. they are due to meet again later in the month. the us vice—president mike pence says there's no comparison between his use of a personal e—mail during his time as indiana governor and hillary clinton's use of a private e—mail server when she was secretary of state. a row between ankara and berlin over a series of cancelled turkish political rallies in germany is continuing to escalate. on friday, the turkish president accused berlin of "aiding and harbouring" terror. recep tayyip erdogan said a german—turkish journalist detained by turkey was a "german agent" and a member of the outlawed

thursday is also a big battle the national front leader marine le pen, the first to visit the agricultural will attempt to build further support she makes a speech about the french economy. she faces about the french economy. she faces a separate investigation after being accused of misusing eu funds which she denies. it is not affected her ratings and she remains the most likely candidate to continue on to the next stage. there's been outrage at a judge's decision to grant bail for the wife of a man who killed 49 people in the pulse nightclub in orlando, florida, lastjune. noor salman, widow of omar mateen, is accused of obstruction ofjustice and aiding and abetting his material support to the so—called islamic state and her trial is pending. a california federaljudge said ms salman is not a flight risk or a danger to public safety. the magistrate ordered that she be released on a bond. and into the custody of her family. we believe it isa custody of her family. we believe it is a just, equitable and appropriate decision that allows the two reunite with her children. thejudge acknowledged

we report from northern france, and meet some of the young national front activists hoping to cause aout its stall on brexit later but britain says

marine le pen of the national front is forecast to clinch the first round in april but mr macron is considereday in parliament.