the latest now from hugh schofield in paris. no doubt that this was terror related?”schofield in paris. no doubt that this was terror related? i do not think there is any doubt. we can explore what kind of terrorism, whether a so—called lone wolf or whether a so—called lone wolf or whether it was part of a wider plot. but i do not think there is any doubt that the man had islamist intentions. the interior ministry told us he shouted out, this is for syria. he was attacking a policeman with a hammer. and there has also been an unattributed source close to the investigation saying he had on the investigation saying he had on the way to hospital said that he was a soldiers of the caliphate. so does seem there is no doubt that this man motivated by islamist ideas. whether 01’ motivated by islamist ideas. whether or not the theory which i've heard that this is some kind of spill—over, knock—on effect from the london attacks, that is one theory. the idea that you have some major event which dominates the media and that in some way gets into the brain of people who are incli

hugh schofield talking giving us and update from paris a little earlier on.s firefighters continue to battle a forest fire which killed more than 60 people over the weekend. many of those who died were trapped in their cars as they tried to escape. 0ur correspondent james reynolds reports. these are the flames of portugal's worst disaster for more than a quarter of a century. for a thursday, here in the centre of the country forests burn. 0n thursday, here in the centre of the country forests burn. on saturday, flames quickly engulfed this road. the fire caught families who had been trying to drive to safety. it is hard to conceive of their last minutes. portugal has more forest fires than any country in southern europe. it has years to make proper preparations, but on this road dozens preparations, but on this road d oze ns lost preparations, but on this road dozens lost their lives in the fire. this village watched the fire ‘s approach. a dozen residentsjumped into this water tank to escape. 84—year—old marta was helped on by her daughter. 0h, 84—year—old m

let's go to hugh schofield in paris. what is happening?etely sealed off, emptied of taurus. we are told there were 900, 1000 visitors stuck inside of notre dame waiting for the all clear so they can leave because police, having sealed off the large esplanade are continuing to search the area in case there is any other suspect device or fugitive person. case there is any other suspect device orfugitive person. it looks unlikely. the incident happened a little more than half an hour ago. a man, apparently wielding a hammer started threatening and all attacking passers—by, visitors, but also it seems, police who were on duty outside the police headquarters, as people who know paris will know, is right across the esplanade from notre dame cathedral. it was police on duty outside the complex building, so it was riposted with their service weapons and shot him twice. the man was on the ground. eyewitnesses said the man was on the ground, surrounded by officers and the ambulance workers arriving and taking him away. we don't know if the man is al

hugh schofield has the story.last sunday's first round, is within an ace of pulling off the second part of his quiet revolution. if all goes as expected, he is about to secure the biggest makeover in decades in france's parliament, the national assembly. it's notjust that his en marche! party looks set for a crushing majority, the actual candidates are very different from what went before. half are totally new to politics. half are women, which means the new parliament is likely to be one of the most feminised in the world. the opposition parties, meanwhile, are preparing for the worst, which, in the case of the socialists, could mean a total wipe—out. so great is the president's predicted victory that the big problem may be the lack of opposition. can that, some ask, be good for democracy? emmanuel macron says that he wants french democracy to be alive again, that he wants the french parliament to work, to criticise, to propose. can he do that with a majority so big, with such a big abstention rate? but not all v

that was hugh schofield in paris.his hour,: —— also making use this hour: iran has sent planes loaded with food to qatar — which has had all its transport links with neighbouring arab states severed. saudi arabia, the uae and others are accusing qatar of supporting jihadi groups. the qataris deny this. three men have been arrested after an easyjet flight from slovenia to southern england was diverted to germany. the pilot was alerted to a suspicious conversation on board, including what police called "terrorist content". passengers were evacuated down emergency slides. a backpack belonging to one of the men was blown up by police. the us territory of puerto rico has just been voting in a referendum on whether to become america's 51st state. such a move would also require approval by the us congress. many puerto ricans who turned out were retirees hoping eventual statehood would give them access to more federal funds and the right to vote for the us president. today is world against child labour day. asia—pacific enjoy

hugh schofield, bbc news, paris.killed 57 people. 18 of the victims died whilst trying to escape in their cars in an area north of the capital of lisbon. several firefighters are amongst the 59 people reported as injured. the prime minister antonio costa said, that this fire was "the greatest tragedy we have seen in recent years in terms of forest fires". the cause of the fire is currently unknown. very high temperatures in the last few days, but not in pedrogao grande, which is where this fire took place, but there were lightning strikes, and the prime minister suggested that this may have been the cause of the fire. this spread rapidly overnight, and that could have been part of the problem. this isa have been part of the problem. this is a thickly forested area, so some roads passing through our vulnerable. this seems to have been a majorfactor. as you mentioned, 18 people were overcome by the fire as they tried to flee in their cars. many of the death seem to have taken place along roads in that forested area. we

hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. polls have been open for a few hours now. what is turn out like? very low. even though last week only one in two voters voted, it's going to be even lower this time round. partly thatis even lower this time round. partly that is due to the lovely weather france is then drying, but partly it is fatigue. this is the fourth vote in the last couple of months, and there is a sense of inevitability about macron‘s expected victory. among his opponents, there is a sense of demoralisation, that there is no point did turn out. his supporters will come out, but his enemies will have some months to come that he got in with a minority of the actual public vote. i suspect that will be thrown in his face. if, as expected, he does achieve this landslide victory according to forecasts, what are the challenges facing him? we know what his plans are, which is to move quite fast with his programme of reform, particularly on labour reform. france is accused of having a very rigid labour system, which mean

hugh schofield, bbc news, paris.th an audience of up to 2.5 million people a week. so, as gardeners' world turns 50, kay alexander has been digging through the decades to investigate how a show, rooted in plants and personalities, has experienced such enduring success. a new horticultural programme, 5 good evening. september. the sun still shining. in my family, everything stopped dead for gardeners' world. my mother was a keen gardener and so was this little girl. peter seabrook was one of the presenters in percy thrower was god and everybody watched every friday without question. and—if he sheweda—plant- the next day they would be sold out across the country. the effect was remarkable. in 50 years there are a number of personalities who have made their name on gardeners' world, including geoff hamilton whose garden was one of the eightgarciens! the next main presenter. if this does not make you drool, nothing will. anerhaving—laeenepaat my mission in life is to impress upon people the pleasure to be gained from gro

hugh schofield reporting there.rt of our reality check series , ahead of thursday's election , steph mcgovern has been exploring what the outlook is for taxes. tax, not many of us like paying it and sometimes we feel like we are paying in more than we get out. so where is the money coming from? what is it being spent on? on this chart you can see a big contributor is income tax at £175 billion per year, not far behind our vat and national insurance. to show government spending, you can see a lot of money going on social protection and health. you can also see with education and defence being big ones. that all amounts to about £750 billion every year. so how do people feel about the tax that they pay, and what the money is spent on? we have sean, liz and hannah here. does tax bother you? is taken out as i own money, i don't really notice the money, not the same as the self—employed but i would like to see governments tackle big corporations rather than individuals. you see tax is a big thing, liz? is not a punishmen

hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. another terror attack unfolded on the streets of britain. eight people were killed when terrorists drove a van into pedestrians on london bridge, before launching a knife attack in borough market. the journalist and martial arts expert geoff ho was stabbed in the neck when he confronted two of the attackers to protect his friends. he's still receiving treatment for his injuries. he spoke to the bbc this morning about the moment he came face to face with the attackers. i saw some of my friends and others scramble for the back, some hid under tables, some went into the back of the restaurant. one of my friends was behind me and i knew there and then that unless i delayed them, the worst could possibly happen. i knewi them, the worst could possibly happen. i knew i had to delay them because the police were in the area. all i needed to do was buy to them time. unfortunately i saw what looked like suicide vests on them, soi looked like suicide vests on them, so i knew i wouldn'tjust charge

hugh schofield in paris and kevin connko hugh schofield in paris and kevin connolly and jenny hill, thankmeeting. it started at 2pm. i was going to say lots to discuss, but you know that! we are waiting the departures and we'll take you over there as soon as those departures begin. in case you're losing track of exactly what's happening with brexit — let's catch up with chris morris, our reality check correspondent. it was interesting hearing from hugh there, he said it isn't a punishment, but actually the french will be quite happy to see britain uncomfortable with all this? the french were always going to be one of the most difficult people on the other side of the table and that's partly because they're just france and it's the tradition! but yes, they're one of the countries that say look, let's not give very much up say look, let's not give very much up here. i think for the eu as a whole, probably the worst thing is they have been through the five stages of grief and they had come to terms, we are going to lose the uk, let's get on with it and suddenly the rules have changed again a

hugh schofield in paris has the details. first of all, remind ourselves that this is a two—round election. this is just the first round of voting. in the 577 constituencies, normallyjust two, will qualify for the second round. sometimes there will be three that go through. next sunday, we will have the definitive result. normally, you get a clear picture, or at least the pollsters can, from the first round, of what the end result is going to be. and normally, what we see today is a clear indication of the end result. and the end result looks like it is going to be huge majority for the en marche party of emmanuel macron. up to 440 seats — that would be three quarters of the seats. the result is above anything they could have dreamt of. it certainly bears out all the predictions emmanuel macron himself made, who, as he was making his bid, he said without an established party, it would not matter, because he would have with these people behind him, they would have the logic of institutions and he would bring them into parliame

let's get more now from our paris correspondent hugh schofield.round of voting was fairly predictable since. . the candidate running against the macron team and said she does not expect to win. she said she does not expect to win. she said her opponent will take it and it isa said her opponent will take it and it is a shame, she said, because i am from this anywhere, but anyone that comes with a macron ticket is winning and that is what will happen. that and are very high abstention, low turnout. the opposition left and right have very low expectations of today, but what this person was saying is the worry is there will be a parliament now which will be dominated by the macron team that there will not be a souness opposition there are tall. it could mean that when macron sta rts it could mean that when macron starts with his economic reforms, the only expression of opposition will not be in parliament but on the street with demonstrations. we will have to see, but the short answer to your question is no one expects any major change and the result

we can talk now to our paris correspondent hugh schofield. .. on to get people in place!m is the most extraordinary story and it looks like he has pulled off this feat not just by it looks like he has pulled off this feat notjust by becoming president, but also then securing the majority he needs in parliament to see through his programme and as you say all this done from a standing start, less tha n all this done from a standing start, less than a year ago with a political party that did not yet exist, looking like it will provide the vast bulk of parliamentarians in the vast bulk of parliamentarians in the national assembly which will convene after the second round next week. just to be played this is the first round of voting, and the project as we are talking about are based on exit polls from the first round. there will be a second round then with the two front runners in each of the 577 constituencies, but the calculation is done are pretty much in concordance with all pollsters and media, making the bed that emmanuel macron made has paid

hugh schofield, he looks like he is seeking a bit of shelter from the sunshine, like many people.s been the warmest day of the year so far, quite a few places above 30 degrees. and a fair amount of sunshine, but more cloud in north—eastern scotland and more cloud in north—western scotland. 0utbreaks cloud in north—western scotland. outbreaks of rain, as well. the cloud associated with the weather front has been sitting in the same place all weekend. and it will continue to sit in the same place this evening and overnight. further south it will be dry with clear spells. temperatures dropping no lower than 19 and 20 in the towns and cities. into tomorrow, the weather front is still in the same place in the north and north—west of scotland. there will be lots of sunshine for england and wales, pretty hot in the south—east, 32, maybe 33, cooler and fresher further north, the cooler weather will spread further south as we head into tuesday and wednesday. that is all for now. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: the leader of kensington and chelsea borough council has been defending

hugh schofield has more.nt of notre dame cathedral was packed with tourists went to shots rang out. a man with a hammer had attacked the police officer on patrol. the officer's colleague shot the ascendant wounding him in the chest. we were at the front and people came running towards us sleep we kept running but we did not know if it was a gunshot, what because it was but now it seems to have cleared, it is better. it was, the authorities are convinced, a terrorist attack. the interior minister visited the scene and told reporters what was known of the assailant. the aggressor sheltered while he was hitting the policeman. this is for syria! we don't know any more at this moment. —— shouting. this is for syria! we don't know any more at this moment. -- shouting. in the panic following the shots, hundreds of tourists sought refuge in the cathedral. they had to wait for two hours as police sealed off the area. among those inside was the former american ambassador to the un, nancy soderberg. everyone kept lookin

our correspondent hugh schofield in paris says it's a remarkable achievement for mr macron.off his feet notjust by becoming president but also then securing a majority that he needs in parliament to see through his programme. as you say, all is done from a standing start less than one year ago. the political party that did not even exist then and looks like it will provide the vast bulk of parliamentarians in the national assembly which will convene after the second round next week. just to be clear, this is the first round of voting and the projection we are talking about is based on exit polls from the first round of voting. there will then be a second round between the two front runners in each of the constituencies. the calculations by different pollsters and media organisations are in concordance and they suggest that the bet that emmanuel macron has paid made has paid off handsomely. what we're hearing now on the airwaves are people saying on a second, mrs too much. it there is no opposition in parliament and were squeezed to the outside there is a danger to democracy.

our correspondent in paris, hugh schofield, told me about the significance of the elections. system, they are often caricatured as a system where only the president counts. he or she does count for everything if they have got a majority in parliament. if not, they have co—habit, as it is called here, which means all sorts of compromises in dealing with different governments and parties. he needs to get the majority, in stark contrast to what seems to be happening in britain, there is apparently a real momentum behind him. all the polls have shown we are in for a sweeping change in parliamentary politics. everything is suggesting his party en marche will get a majority. it is a two round system with results system so we won't get results today but we will get a sign next week when the second round takes place. the polls suggest he is in for a big majority with two main established parties, the republicans on the right and the socialists on the left, in for a drubbing. the socialists can been wiped out almost completely. contrast this to british politics where confusion seems b

let's get more now from our paris correspondent hugh schofield.there is real fatigue here in france at elections. two rounds of presidential, second round of legislative, and every time, turnout falls, particularly when there is an election just after the presidential, people feel the big vote was the presidential and therefore there is a kind of inevitability surrounding the election of people supporting emmanuel macron, other people —— people who would usually be opposed to him, people from the working class who voted maybe far right or far left who have not bothered, plus a sense that, among many voters, we voted him in, let's give the tools to do the job. all that works in his favour. the low turnout does mean his opponents will be able to say, hang on a sec, there was no great enthusiasm behind the vote, therefore it is slightly delegitimised, i suspect we will hear a lot about in the coming weeks and months. this is democracy, it is the way that this democracy works, i don't think it is an argument that holds up. he ran for the presidency, w

our correspondent, hugh schofield is in paris.nce had a thumping majority himself in the presidential contest? indeed. they are important though, because the french system is president shall often caricatured as a system where only the president count. he or she does count for everything if they have got a majority in parliament. if not, they have decaux habit, as it is called here, which means all sorts of compromises and dealing with different governments and parties. he needs to get the majority, in stark contrast to what seems to be happening in britain, there is apparently a real momentum behind him. all the polls have shown we are in for a sweeping change in parliamentary politics. everything is suggesting in france but his -- his —— his party will get a majority. it isa —— his party will get a majority. it is a two round system with results today but we will get a sign next week when the second round takes place. the polls suggest he is in for a big majority with two main established parties, the republicans are rightand es

hugh schofield is in paris for us.e national assembly, the building which is about to see this great change. —— river seine. figures coming in and they are very vague, could be anything between 350, 400, 420, four emmanuel macron's farty, whatever the case, clearly a convincing victory that he needs, and has been asking for, if not the pulverising defeat of his opponent some had predicted. —— for emmanuel macron. look like there will be a survival of a proper opposition, with the republicans, and i am joined by a couple of people who are vetera n joined by a couple of people who are veteran journalist and interpreters of france. let's talk to you first, there is going to be in opposition, a decent opposition, there had been fears expressed this would be so convincing and crashing a victory that the opposition would not exist, barely. it is still an absolute majority. it's pretty good. not the soviet style majority, like my colleague said, but it is overwhelming. it is good, in a democracy, that the position remains, bu

let‘s get more now from our paris correspondent hugh schofield.nce will be second round make apart from formally declaring the results? probably not a great deal. the candidate who is running against emmanuel macron‘s team said she does not expect to win, she more or less said her opponent will take it and it isa said her opponent will take it and it is a shame, she said, because i am from this area, but anyone who comes in with a ticket from emmanuel macron is winning. that will be the story of the day and that and a very high abstention. it does mean the opposition left and right has a very low expectations of today, but what this person was saying is that the worry will be there is a parliament though dominated by emmanuel macron that there will be no opposition and that there will be no opposition and thatis that there will be no opposition and that is not necessarily very good for democracy. it could mean that when emmanuel macron starts with his reforms, the opposition will not be in parliament but on the street with demonstrations. we will

let's speak to our paris correspondent, hugh schofield.ial election in five weeks ago, becoming the youngest ever french president, he has now pulled off this second clue. if the results are borne out next weekend, he will have a party with as many as a50 seats in the 500 and 70 set —— in the assembly. that is coming from nothing. an extraordinary achievement which will rewrite the face of french politics. what it means is that he will first of all be able to see through his programme of reforms unimpeded by having to make deals inside the national assembly. that is very important for the french economy. it also means that we have now in france a man who is emblazoned with this aura of optimism and confidence. everything he has touched so far has turned to gold. contrast that with theresa may, who years meeting here tomorrow, by the way, a woman who called the election last week and had a rather different outcome. thank you. while we've been on air, scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon has been addressing her snp members of parliament

our correspondent hugh schofield, who's in paris, told me a little earlier about the circumstances surrounding a brief press conference, the man is dead. we thought he was because there is social media footage of him lying spread eagle on the ground near the car. and indeed of police removing his clothes, presumably to check for explosive devices. it was it seems if boiled orfailed devices. it was it seems if boiled or failed terrorist attack on the shots elysee. the second in two months. two months ago a policeman was killed at the shopping end of the sheep trump's elysee. this was further down, for people who know paris, near the greenery and parks. maybe elysee palace, the presidents residents. about two hours ago, the driver of this white renault directed the car into a convoy of gendarmes, deliberately, and the impact set off an explosion on the car. it can't have been a very big explosion because footage shows the car still in tact visibly from outside. there's also footage showing billowing yellow smoke coming out of the vehicle and the police from the convoy and passers—by went up and

let's speak to our paris correspondent hugh schofield.looking for any other accomplices are anything and gradually all of these people who we re gradually all of these people who were stuck are being let out. this important tourist area is returning to normal. what happened was that a man was shot after it seemed he started attacking and threatening passers—by and police with a hammer, it is also reported he had to knives on him. at one point it looks like he may be had attacked police officers on duty outside the police headquarters which is right on the suicide of the square from notre dame, but the latest report suggests he attacked a police among the crowd in the middle of the square who were organising security generally. he attacked those police officers and he hit one on the head with a hammer and was shot by the other four stop the square was then emptied and was left was the body of this man injured or dead on the ground. the police around him and then an ambulance came and took in. what we don't know is the identity of the man,

our correspondent hugh schofield is in paris.deliver this and it looks like he is going to have an overwhelming mandate. yes. once again he has pulled it off. as you say, this party didn't even exist to 15 months ago. it was invented over the internet by him and his small group of supporters. and within a year he has turned it into this force which has turned it into this force which has beaten the other parties into the dust. so yes, he has brought it off, and those who doubted and were saying he might win the presidency but would then be hamstrung by the fa ct but would then be hamstrung by the fact that the big parties would continue to dominate parliament, they have been proven wrong. there was a logic to the system, the situations, which she analysed and predicted, and that logic was that when a president is elected the electorate says fair enough let's give you the tools to do what you said you would do, and the electorate does not want to hamstring him, they want to give him an honest chance. so what we have seen is a real

we can go over to ho schofield who is in paris for us. hughic and police, but which does not seem to have led any injuries. the only victim is the man who, i think, we can callan victim is the man who, i think, we can call an attacker himself because the interior minister, who hasjust been at the scene has said that he is dead. there have been pictures circulating on social media of a man‘s body being searched by police. the police actually undressing him, clearly, police spreading along the ground and making sure he is not carrying an explosive device. this followed an incident in which a white renault overtaking a convoy of blue police vans on the champs elysees, veered into and crashed into, deliberately crashed into the lead vehicle, the lead van and at that point, there was an explosion on board the car and smoke started billowing out of the car and then the police from this convoy came and smashed the windows the car to get the man out and at that point they discovered that he was armed and that there was a gas cannist ter in the car as