08/05/2017 BBC News at Six

Today at 6.00 - the transition of power is underway.

France's new president will be formally installed

Side by side today, the President-Elect and the outgoing

head of state, at a formal ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe

to commemorate the end of the Second World War in Europe.

As France enjoys a bank holiday, we talk to parents in a Parisian

suburb about their thoughts on a Macron presidency.

It will be hard for him, because I'm sure lots of people

vote for him yesterday, but it's almost

The Conservatives say they will stick to their immigration target.

Theresa May wants it down to the tens of thousands a year -

A new surge in the number of migrants crossing

the Mediterranean - more than 7,000 rescued

One of the women I see has got a little child with her.

Summer isn't here yet, and some rivers are already running dry -

fears that we could be heading into a drought.

And coming up in the sport on BBC News, can Chelsea relegate

Middlesbrough and be just one more win away from the Premier League

title with a victory in their meeting tonight

Good evening from Paris, where the President-Elect,

Emmanuel Macron, has been celebrating his decisive

victory over Marine Le Pen in yesterday's election,

and he's already started work on forming his government,

ahead of his formal inauguration on Sunday.

He's already been congratulated by many world leaders, including

the British Prime Minister, Theresa May.

Mr Macron won with 66.1% of the vote, with Marine Le Pen

The turnout was 74%, the lowest in nearly

50 years, and around 11.5 million people abstained.

Earlier today, Mr Macron and President Hollande appeared side

by side at a ceremony here at the Arc de Triomphe,

to mark the end of the Second World War in Europe.

After a bitter and divisive campaign, Mr Macron has promised

to fight the "forces of division that undermine France".

Our Europe editor, Katya Adler, reports on the day's events.

It's been a day of reflection in France. Paying tribute to World War

II fallen. Taking stock of fresh challenges ahead. France's brand-new

President-Elect here at VE Day commemorations, taking his cue from

outgoing head of state, Francois Hollande. France's soon to be

youngest ever president looked a little unsure last night as well.

Rehearsing for his new role, as he prepared for his first public

appearance. But by the time he took to the stage Emmanuel Macron had a

confident, for many controversial, message, and to the tune of the EU

anthem, he said Europe was the future of the new dynamic France.

Leading Europhiles are delighted. If in understated tones.

TRANSLATION: Emmanuel Macron carries the hopes of millions in France and

across Europe. He led a courageous, pro-European campaign, and stands

for openness in the world. Emmanuel Macron has raised high expectations,

promising many things to many people, to dramatically reform

France, caring for the fragile while boosting business, and to be very

tough on Brexit, but he doesn't have his own government or MPs in

Parliament, so is he flexing muscles he doesn't yet have? France's

President-Elect has made Brexit threats aplenty. Damp and desperate

in Calais today. After Brexit, Mr Macron has vowed to tear up an

agreement where France prevents thousands of migrants making their

way to Dover each year. And he's talked of luring banks and

businesses from the City of London this side of the channel. At a

campaign event in London today, the Prime Minister said Mr Macron's

Brexit ambitions must be matched. He was elected with a strong mandate,

which gives him a strong position in the negotiations. In the UK, we need

to ensure we have an equally strong mandate, and an equally strong

negotiating position. But domestic discontent, not Brexit, will be Mr

Macron's main focus. This was a trade union demonstration earlier

today. Macron was foisted on us by banks, lobbies and the EU elite, she

says. He doesn't represent much of France. As a centrist politician,

Emmanuel Macron faces opposition left and right. Only weeks away from

a crucial parliamentary election. Despite all the lively

celebrations we saw last night, when Emmanuel Macron

greeted his supporters after the result was declared,

and despite his very decisive margin of victory, there are revealing

trends among those who voted for him in yesterday's run-off

against Marine Le Pen. There is in some quarters a real

sense of voting against Le Pen rather than for Macron,

so to find out more, earlier today I went to one

of the Parisian suburbs to meet some parents at a junior

football tournament in the city. It's the annual Bank Holiday

football tournament in this eastern suburb of Paris,

a typically diverse community on the outskirts of the capital,

and where the reaction on the terraces to yesterday's

election seems to be more I'm sure that lots of people vote

for him yesterday, but it's almost against Marine Le Pen,

and he's young, and he doesn't have any past...

Experience? Experience, so it might

be difficult for him. It is a complex picture, even

in a mixed community like this one. One of the coaches -

who left his ballot paper blank, by the way -

told me that the issue of immigration and social

integration raised by Le Pen had TRANSLATION: It is a big problem,

even for established Foreigners coming to France these

days just aren't able to integrate. That doesn't mean all

of them are racist. And it is abundantly clear

that it was fear of a Le Pen presidency more than anything else

that drove many people to vote TRANSLATION: I'm very

happy it wasn't Le Pen, As most people will tell you,

this election was about voting There had been talk

on the left of sitting it out, of refusing to take part,

and while some certainly did, it didn't change

the dynamics of the 2017 race. I have some friends from the left,

from the right, and everybody The first time that,

when I have lunch with people, everybody agree to vote

for that man. And in this Parisian

suburb, another element If Macron gets it wrong, Le Pen

will be back in five years' time, probably with

a very different result. Our Paris correspondent,

Lucy Williamson, is with me. Can we talk about the challenges

ahead for Mr Macron? He's in an unusual position, because he will

have to create a government pretty much from scratch. His on Marsh

movement is a year old, and he doesn't have much experience. So he

will have to create a fairly complex government, with a mix of right and

left, and who we will need a Prime Minister who can hold that together.

He has someone in mind, but he is going to have to do well in next

month's elections. En marche is to knew at the moment, that they are

fielding candidates to try to get a strong coalition, is not a majority.

Thank you. And underlining the challenges ahead, just six days to

go before Mr Macron is installed officially at the Elysee Palace as

president. That's all from us. In the meantime, back to George.

Police in Liverpool say a two-year-old girl who was attacked

by dogs has had surgery for "extensive injuries

The little girl was at her aunt's house when the dogs got

Officers have arrested a man and seized 11 dogs

from a nearby house - as our correspondent

The two-year-old girl was playing with other children in the garden

of a relative's home when she was attacked

She was taken by air ambulance to Liverpool's Alder Hey Hospital

after suffering injuries to her head and body during the

The little girl's aunt, who was looking after the children

for the afternoon, fought off the attack and ran to

Neighbours describe hearing a scream, "The dog's got the baby".

Merseyside Police believe the dogs managed to get into the garden

A man who is 35 was arrested on suspicion of having dogs

There were five adults and six puppies in the address next door.

We don't know exactly where they were but we know

they were either in the house or in the garden of a property

nearby to the one where the child was attacked.

The girl is said to be serious but stable in hospital, but not

Now, in a move to tackle childhood obesity, Labour says it will bring

in a total ban on TV adverts for junk food before

The current rules, which the Conservatives argue

are the strictest in the world, prevent adverts for products high

in fat, salt or sugar from being run around children's TV programmes.

Labour's John Ashworth was back at school today,

learning with pupils how to prepare healthy food.

If the party's elected, he says there will be a new strategy

aimed at halving childhood obesity in ten years.

We want to have the healthiest children in the world.

Yes, that is an ambitious target but to be frank,

I'm ambitious for the children of this country.

Labour wants to spend ?250 million a year more

on public health in England, including more nurses

in schools and getting every government department to help

Last year, 40% of children in England's most deprived areas

were overweight or obese, compared to 27% in the

But it is worth noting the UK as a whole has some of the lowest

rates of tooth decay in 12-year-olds in Europe.

Many schools are doing everything they can to promote healthy

lifestyles for pupils, whether it is through

exercise in the playground or the quality of meals on offer.

The really big problem is what happens beyond the school gate,

when children and their parents choose what they eat and drink.

Labour thinks one answer is to ban TV advertising like this

on all programmes before 9pm for food and drinks which are high

Currently, it is barred for children's TV.

So how did that go down with parents we talked to today?

Well, it's a laudable idea but I can't see it

making much difference, to be honest.

The stuff is still in the supermarkets and shops.

I think the kids are eating too much junk anyway.

If it is not in their heads, they probably won't go looking for

But the advertising industry says it would hit TV companies hard.

This is about free-to-air TV in most instances.

It is about the programmes that we all enjoy and if there's

less money around to make those programmes, we are all

The Conservatives said the government's childhood obesity

plan was one of the most ambitious in the world and the UK already had

one of the strictest TV advertising regimes.

They said Labour's promises were unfunded.

Theresa May has confirmed that the Conservatives will stick

to their target of reducing immigration to tens

It's a pledge which has been repeatedly missed,

with numbers in the hundreds of thousands instead.

Meanwhile, Ukip has said it wants to cut immigration altogether over

a five-year period with what it calls a "one in, one out" policy.

Here's our political editor, Laura Kuennsberg.

They couldn't leap to their feet fast enough. Ministers and wannabe

MPs gathered in Harrow in north-west London, exactly the kind of closely

fought seat where they believe they have a chance. Great to be with you

all this morning, as we move into the next phase of this vitally

important general election campaign. But it was Team to Reza who year

after year missed their target for net immigration which has been three

times higher than the limit of 100,000. What is the point of

sticking to an immigration target that many of your colleagues think

is unworkable, some people even think it is pointless, and when you

were in charge as Home Secretary, the target has been missed for six

years. We want to bring net migration down to sustainable

levels. We believe that if the tens of thousands and of course, once we

leave the European Union, we will have the opportunity to ensure we

have control of our borders here in the UK. So the target space but note

you did not hear a deadline. Three Cabinet ministers here, why should

voters believe the Prime Minister will meet the immigration target

when she did not when she was Home Secretary for six years? She's made

it very clear that when we leave the European Union, things change.

Michael Green she will see the policies bring. But her record as

Home Secretary was you missed the target for six years. I think you

look at her record as Home Secretary, you will find you

achieved great things. It wouldn't be a British campaign without a

banana somewhere. Whatever point this voter in Leamington spa was

trying to make. Labour does not put a number on its immigration plans

but say the target just does not work. Theresa May made that promise

in 2010 at the same in 2015 and did not get anywhere near it on any

occasion at all. Obviously, our manifesto will set out our policy

when it is produced. Ukip has its own new idea for tighter control,

one in, one out. Ukip will go into this election with a policy of

balanced migration, which means zero net immigration over the next five

years. Scotland's First Minister, pulling pints in Perth, wants power

over immigration in Edinburgh. Having a Tory target that is not

practical, will not be met but is driven by ideology, will harm the

economy and it is another reason why it is important that we have MPs in

this election standing up for Scotland's interests. I have got my

running kit with me. Close by, the Lib Dems were of the votes in Saint

Andrews. It was policy during the coalition but they are unimpressed

today. Don't set a silly, artificial target that you know you will break

just because it will please a couple of newspapers. Yet the target will

say, -- stay, easier to hit, in theory after Brexit but no

explanation from the Tories so far of what they will do in practice. We

are in rather a no man's land, the time before the main political

parties are ready with their final manifestos. It is only then we will

see exactly what promises they are willing to make in black and white

but it is absolutely clear however unworkable, however discredited,

Theresa May is adamant she will stick to her immigration target. But

how she plans to get there? We are still in the dark. Laura Kuenssberg,

BBC News, Harrow. The transition of power

is under way in France. The country's incoming

President Emmanuel Macron is set Summer is not here yet but there are

already be as we could be heading for a drought.

Coming up in Sportsday on BBC News, former Premier League player

Sulley Muntari claims Fifa and Uefa don't care about racism,

after he walked off the field during an Italian league game,

More than 7,000 migrants have been rescued in the Mediterranean

That's according to the Italian coast guard.

Officials say as many as 200 are feared to have drowned.

So far this year, numbers are 50% higher than at

They're thought to have made the treacherous crossing from Libya

The BBC's Reeta Chakrabarti has spent the last week on a rescue ship

and joins us live from Vibo Valentia in Southern Italy.

George, spring is here, the seas are calmer and the migrant boats are

coming again and in major numbers. The Easter weekend saw over 8000

people make this lethally dangerous crossing and this weekend, similar

numbers. This aid ship that I am an brought over 500 people from that

rescue zone to this Italian port and a charity Save The Children said was

their biggest operation yet. Seven uneventful days at sea

with the rescue mission, We have two rowing boats,

possibly also one other boat. Team, please prepare

on deck for rescue. A scene, said the crew,

like never before. First two, then three,

then, as we were spotted, more and yet more boatloads

of people veering towards us, One woman I have seen has

got a child with her. This toddler named Blessing is one

of the tiniest travellers. Her mother, Joy, who's Nigerian,

said she risked the journey because she could not return

to her home country. She'd been working in Libya,

where she was repeatedly kidnapped I asked her what she hoped

for from the future. Blessing is happily ignorant

of her mother's grief and oblivious to the peril

that she has just faced. Goodness knows how many people

are crammed into that rubber dinghy. The vast majority on board are men

of working age from West There are many factors driving them

but the turmoil in Libya is key. Last year broke records

for the number of migrants making the crossing and this year looks set

to top that. Italy has borne the weight

of housing and caring for them, but opinion is hardening,

with claims that these rescue missions are a taxi service

for migrants and even that the aid agencies are colluding with Libyan

people smugglers to bring Our sole mission is to save

the lives of people and especially children who are escaping violence,

persecution and extreme poverty. We have no contact whatsoever

with people smugglers. Earlier in the week,

a body was spotted. This crossing from Libya has become

an established route, run by ruthless criminals,

who care little whether their desperate passengers

will see another day. The BBC has unveiled

details of its general There will be two

Question Time Specials hosted by David Dimbleby,

in which leaders will face The first will be with

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn There will also be a seven-way

debate with senior party figures The Halifax bank says prices in the

UK fell by 0.2% between debris and April. -- house prices fell. It is

the first quarterly drop for more than four years, the lender says

household finances have been squeezed by rising prices in the

shops, weakening demand for homes. It's the kind of sight you'd

expect to see in summer but in some parts of the UK,

rivers are running dry This Met Office map of rainfall

in April shows that most of the UK experienced less than half

the average amount. The darkest areas are those that

have received less than a third. Danny Savage reports

from the Yorkshire Dales. Across large parts of

Britain at the moment, A dry spring, preceded

by low winter rainfall, This wouldn't be an unusual

widespread sight in late summer When I had a walk and ride

round up there on Friday, you get a lot of small ponds and wet

holes that are usually They're all dry now,

absolutely bone dry. There's nothing at all

in the bottom of them. Stuart Hird has farmed

here all his life. The riverbed drying up isn't unheard

of but he's noticed the hillside You can tell that it has been a lot

drier because we are actually noticing sheep that actually come

down to the parts of the river that You are noticing sheep

standing on the river bank, drinking, whereas ordinarily,

they would be spread about up on the fells and drinking out

of little springs and streams and things like that,

which suggests that there isn't as much water up there as what there

has been in other times. These pictures were taken around

England over the last few days, showing rivers many miles apart

in a similar condition. But Yorkshire Water says there

should not be widespread alarm. I think nationally,

it's been very dry. Up in Yorkshire, I think it

has been a dry winter, probably the driest in the last six

years but we have seen recharge. Sort of, every other month,

we have seen some rainfall but in the last six weeks,

we have just seen dry. A few dry months does not

make a drought, though. It may be bone dry in some

of the headwaters of these river catchments but we are a long way

from a water crisis. A few miles down the valley,

the wharf looks a lot more healthy and reservoir levels

are holding up, too. A prolonged dry spell may

change things but it Danny Savage, BBC News,

Upper Wharfedale in North Yorkshire. Look at this picture, I don't think

anyone was complaining in Scotland today that it is dry, absolutely

stunning, this is a picture from one of our Weather Watchers from Argyll

Bute but look at the contrast. That is not for me, thick cloud and

a cold breeze of the North Sea and you can see that distinct difference

between the East and the West, which was basking in sunshine across

western and northern areas where is eastern areas stayed cool and cloudy

and over the next few days, little or no rain so the drive he will

continue through most of this week and there is a hint, some rain on

the way. Tonight, very little change. Starry skies across many

western parts of the UK and thicker cloud across eastern parts. Tomorrow

morning, again, starting on a beautiful note so if you live in

Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff, down to Plymouth and the south coast of

England, stunning, clear blue skies and nice enough in the afternoon but

the Midlands and Eastern counties on the cool and cloudy side, 11 degrees

in Norwich and Hull. Tomorrow night into Wednesday, it will be chilly

with a grass frost on the way. Wednesday across frost but then

really strong sunshine and temperatures shooting back up into

the mid-to high teens. Decent day on the way for most of us on Wednesday.

Into Thursday, starting to see changes, the atmosphere rearranging

itself, shifting a little bit, starting to see cloud streaming in

from the south so perhaps thickening cloud and spots of rain in the south

but nothing too heavy and still lovely weather across the north of

Glasgow, 16 degrees. Friday, weather fronts moving through and potential

downpours with thunder and lightning and it looks as though the outlook

in the next week or so is certainly looking more unsettled so the

wellies will be out and the puddles are on the way.

That's all from the BBC News at Six so it's goodbye from me.

And on BBC One, we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.