succession will continue to be a contentious issue >>> the gam bia is now a republic. the move is to distance the west african nation from it's colonial past. it was controlled by britain for more than 150 years until independence in 1965. 95% of gam bia's 1.8 people are muslim. others are assured they will be able to follow their own religions >>> results are coming in from saudi arabia's elections. so far three women have won seats. women voted and stood as candidates for the first time in saturday's local poll. around 900 women and six thousand men ran for the councils which is the only elected bodies. france is voting in the second round of regional elections with the far right looking to consolidate its lead. the national front party led by marine le pen caused a stir by winning the largest amount of votes in vote 1. the turn out in the second round will be key. only 50% of those el scrabble voted last week. -- eligible. china is remembering the issue. 30,000 people were killed after being captured by japanese forces in 19 is 37. the 7th star wars film is due for

. >> reporter: this was the taliban's third high-profile that tack in four days >>> gam bia is officially an islamic republic. it is to distance the nation from it's colonial past. it was controlled by britain for 150 years until 1965. most people are muslim. others have been assured of rights to follow their own religion. with the weather of richard. >> reporter: one sform through japan and one through philippines. there it is on the edge of our screens there. it is boweled on there but produced some strong winds which caused problems right across the country. winds guesting in excess of 100 kilometres her hour. this rainfall total is a guarantee. it is completely open to that direction. the storm itself has moved away out into the pacific. you can see it heading up here where it is going to deepen to 930 millibars. it will be quite violent seas. japan, the weather conditions are looking better over the next 24 to 48 hours. meanwhile, further towards the south we have got what at the moment is a tropical storm, but it's going to develop into a typhoon and as it does so it will head in to