i went to sit down with the boss of wh smith.tailer. it means he has had a good ringside seat to all of the changes on the high street right now. he does not do many interviews. in fact this is his first ever tv interview and i began by asking him just how challenging it is out there on the high street right now. much of the problem in the high street comes from the cost of operating there and the biggest cost that we face as retailers is business rates and often our business rates and often our business rates and locations are higher than the rent we paid. and that just can't higher than the rent we paid. and thatjust can't be right. many of the businesses that have disappeared from the high street over the last two or three years have been quite clear about the pressure that disney's rates put on them and, in effect, we have taxed some of the uk's retailers out of business. i think that is one of the things that needs to change. one of the biggest criticisms is that many of your stores on the high street look tatty and tired. t

wh smith has been ranked the uk‘s worst high street retailer for the second year in a row, accordingxperience. in contrast richer sounds and john lewis were at the top of the table. let‘s start with the latest snapshot of the grocery sector and what we‘re spending in different supermarkets. the discount chains are continuing to draw in more customers and the traditional big four supermarkets have lost market share. overall, the grocery market grew by 1.3% over the past quarter compared with the same time last year. because of their growing market share, analysts at kantar say that aldi and lidl have added £344 million to their value compard with last year. together, they have 13.8% of the market. aldi alone has attracted nearly one million more shoppers. tesco‘s share of the market has slipped slightly but it still remains the biggest player at 27.7%. earlier we heard from chris hayward, consumer specialist for ka ntar, who explained why the german discounters are doing so well. the market is seeing growth and i think we‘ve seen the troubles on the high street and the grocery sector

finally, wh smith, they have got a new ceo coming in from october 31.high street division and will step in and take the place of ceo. anna: thank you very much for that. let's talk european politics. european parliamentary elections take place this week. let's take a closer look at france, which will be voting on saturday. emmanuel macron's party facing a tight race with a nationalist. for more on the issues that are driving voters in france, we have a guest from paris. good morning to you. >> good morning. anna: we focus today on france. macron,le for emmanuel he has been up against the yellow vests for many months now. what's the likelihood he comes out victorious this time around? of thelearly a rematch presidential elections that we are seeing in france at the moment. this year, a lection's are held over just one round. that's bad for emmanuel macron. the european affairs minister is not necessarily popular. she's considered very out of touch with the french people. you have a young, charismatic 23-year-old candidate of the national rally. has -- is

wh smith has been ranked the uk‘s worst high street retailer for the second year in a row, accordingfighting back? yes, asking a us court to speed up the legal process surrounding one of a whole string of assaults of the us government is trying to make against them, and a warning today from huawei, the chinese telecoms manufacturer is that this is harming americanjobs. now manufacturer is that this is harming american jobs. now come a manufacturer is that this is harming americanjobs. now come a bit manufacturer is that this is harming american jobs. now come a bit of a history lesson here. it is a telecoms manufacturer, they catapulted to the news agenda because it is owned by the chinese, there are allegations that it is deeply intertwined with the chinese government. it is a world leader when it comes to the roll—out of 5g, the next generation of mobile phone technology. the us claims that it is a vehicle for chinese spying. something it denies. today we heard from the chief legal officer talking about the consequences for consumers everywhere if this continues. we believe this se

wh smith has been ranked the uk‘s worst high street retailer for the second year in a row, accordingery sector out and it shows shoppers are spending more in supermarkets. but it‘s the discount chains pulling in more customers as the uk‘s big four supermarkets all failed to post a rise in sales during the last quarter. the grocery market overall grew1.3% yearon year. aldi and lidl are worth a collective £344 million more than the same time last year and aldi has attracted nearly one million more shoppers. tesco‘s share of the market has slipped slightly but it still remains the biggest player at 27.7%. earlier, i spoke to chris hayward, consumer specialist for ka ntar. he told me why the german discounters are doing so well. the big figures they are for aldi and lidl, so a million more shoppers for aldi and 600,000 more for lidl, but we have to remember that other shops have seen good growth, and also being squeezed, we know that tesco has performed particularly well as well. so there are a few things to think about. with the uncertainty in the country, people are uncertainty in the

a boss of wh smith he said in some places the rates are higher than the actual rent.system on profits. necessarily, boots's location is absolutely crucial. this is where they have a presence on one or more spots. a lovely picture of the early days. it was funded in 1849 by a farm worker who sold his mothers herbal remedies. was it one of those kill all. it doesn't say dodgy. i didn't say dodgy. i like you putting words in charlie's mouse. in the daily mail, sarri, training last night. what do you do when you lose yourtemper, night. what do you do when you lose your temper, throw your baseball bat on the floor and then gives it a good boot. easy someone who is known... is that unusual behaviour? he shows his emotions. this is not an extraordinary moment... it is extraordinary enough of the papers to take pictures of it. this was a 24 hours before the big game. he is undera 24 hours before the big game. he is under a huge pressure and talk of him potentially going to juventus, they are looking for a new manager and he has talked about considering his future. all sorts o

. >> billionaire robert smith surprised 396 graduates of morehead college yesterday of wh could be the greatest graduation gift ever. >> my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. >> now the exact amount of paying off all those loans is still being netiated, but morehouse says it could be in the tens of millions of dollars. many ask, who is robert smith? well, he is the richest african-american in the country with a net worth of about 4.5 to $5 billion. his fortune comes from prite equity. he's the founder of vista equity partners which focuses on enterprise software and data companies. now smith once said that of his nearly 300 buyout deals at vista, he has never lost money. now smi grew up in denver where his parents were teachers. he went to cornell and then to columbia for his mba. he started out as a chemical engineer at kraft and goodyear and went on to do goldman sachs in san francisco before founding vista in 2000. he has used his wealth for biggest tious. het the most expensive home sold in downtown manhattan last year, the $59 million pent house of the new

wh coming up. >> announcer: "news4 midday" starts now. gkv this midday. i'm cory smith. +p'g. t-uachm/hjt 2019.nce the n on news4 this morning shows where it started.es would-be thiev in a 7-eleven in white oak. >> later a chase and crash on the beltway. and three people in custody. >> let's head to darcy spencer joining us with the latest on the case. rtrcy? >> repo: good morning. we're right here at the convenience store with all this th morning. e're$8oa at new hampshire and lockwood drive. the would-be robbers were inside of the store and little4í0h;cdy ri outside of the store watching. this was allth part o ongoing investigation into atm thefts. this surveillance videoshowsb rush into the=@@ 7-eleven stor silver spring,bout 3:45 in the morning. you could seel$hemfxn!x tamperi with the cameras and appearing to use t spray paint cover the lens and then quickly and[d suddenly run out. montgomery county police were ence oring this conve store. that is because of a recent sh police arrested the two suspects. 29. poice chased the pickup truck on to the&g÷"@ beltway, and the driver crashed and

fox news team coverage of severe wh, jeff paul on the ground as the governor visited maclean up site in el reno. fort smith, arkansas as waters continue to rise. hi, matt. >> leland, you could see the arkansas river is well beyond the banks. here near van buren, there are businesses and semitrailers that are already under water. we've watched this river rise by the hour. it is expected to crest at all-time high of 42 and a half feet in the coming days. here in the fort smith area, 500 homes have been evacuated, according to police and to the south, whereul the water is headed toward russellville, 10,000 sand bags sacked according to the army corps of engineer, national guard is deployd and people have been asked to evacuate. national weather service warning of widespread damage with impact to life and property. >> just use all your assets that are going to keep you safe. you have to have your life vest, any flotation device. i'm praying it doesn't get to that point here, but i know it has up north, so -- >> yeah. >> police tell us this has become a risk management scenario, authorities are forced to flood