drop a probe into the former national security advisor. the death toll rises a day after deadly terror attacks hit the capital of iran. five of the suspects detained are iranian and were involved in islamic state terror activities. voters in the u.k. are heading to the polls to cast their ballots in a general election. registered tore vote. 40,000 polling stations opened across the u.k. at 6:00 a.m. gmt amidst tight security following terror attacks in london and manchester. theresa may called the snap election for the conservative party were high. she also presented herself as the person to head of brexit talks in brussels. jeremy corbyn campaigned on change and an end to austerity. he has narrowed the gap according to opinion polls. duncan woodside is standing by. you've been speaking to voters at the polling station. what concerns are they expressing today? >> absolutely. very diverse views. it's quite a diverse area. you have wealthy people in large houses in front of me behind largely council accommodation. a lot of labor voters and quite a lot of immigrants. behind me the biggest concerns are things like the national health service. there is hope that corbyn would get into power and provide more opportunities for young people. a return of student grants. those are the big priorities for those who feel that the current system is unequaled. lots of people saying that on the streets around this polling station. concerns are spending and brexit. spending there was a from anyesterday independent think tank that has done some number crunching. they are saying the labour manifesto with all of its various pledges to increase tax and spending is about 9 billion pounds short of where it should be. a shortfall of 9 billion pounds. that is something that is very much on the minds of conservative voters. .rexit is a big issue as well for those who want brexit to happen theresa may is very much perceived as their guardian. is likely to take votes away from the u.k. independence party which polled very well in the 2015 elections but hasn't been pulling very well in the opinion polls. we know the polls have narrowed overall. the major parties remain very much the major parties. it is a contest between conservatives and labor. it has been narrowing. it has gone from over 20% in terms of the lead for the conservatives to around 10% with a big margin of error going into the election. one interesting point is how far young people will mobilize, young people perceived to be in favor of jeremy corbyn. the 18 to 25-year-old age group is one that generally doesn't vote in large numbers. if there is a mass turnout between those ages that could alter the calculus. >> you touched on brexit. in the last few days of campaigning it took something of a backseat to security. is that coming clearly back in focus today? >> that's the push from theresa may. she has been very keen to get the agenda going again in terms of brexit. that was her selling point at the beginning of the campaign. it was in order to get a firm mandate for brexit that she called this election. bit onave flip-flopped a the whole. jeremy corbyn eventually saying he was in favor of retaining aspects of the single market. as you were saying security has also been a big issue in this election. we have had three terror attacks in the u.k. over the last three months. and the one in manchester which appeared to target young children. are deployments of extra police around london. there has been a review of security here in london. there are concerns there may be copycat attacks. the authorities very much preparing for worst-case scenarios which we hope it won't come to pass. domestic issues likely to decide it. >> duncan woodside, thank you. british police investigating the deadly attack on london bridge on saturday say they have arrested three more suspects in connection with the case. counterterrorism officers said two men were arrested on the street in east london late on wednesday night. another person was arrested at a nearby house. comeyfbi director james will give a hotly awaited testimony before the u.s. senate today. he is expected to reveal that president trump pressed him for loyalty. the first time he speaks in public since the u.s. president fired him. confirmed trump had urged him to drop a probe into the former national security advisor michael flynn. it's an opening statement that gives a behind-the-scenes view of what dealing with donald trump is really like. an experience that was so far from the norm for james comey that the former fbi director describes how he began taking notes after each meeting. began toure accuracy i type in a laptop and an fbi vehicle outside of trump tower. this had not been my practice in the past. underhis three years barack obama they spoke alone only twice. in just four months under trump he said the president contacted him nine times. chiefsations the fbi described as uncomfortable, concerning and inappropriate. with requests for loyalty. returned to the subject of my job. he said, i need loyalty. i replied you will always get honesty from me. he caused and said, that's what i want. honest loyalty. >> trump tried to pressure the fbi to lift its russia investigation. >> he said i hope you can see your way clear to letting this go. he is a good guy. i hope you can let this go. whether such pressure is a kin to obstruction of justice is another story. there is athink smoking gun in these documents that says trump has violated the law. there is plenty here for congress to ask about during the hearing. the former director has already managed a work of political savvy. by releasing his statement early he has undercut the testimony of two intelligence officers who said the president had not pressured them. now the key question remains whether there is enough to prove obstruction of justice. >> we will have live coverage of fbi director as he appears before congress 4:00 p.m. paris time. intelligence ministry has said five of the detained iranian ande in participated in islamic state terror activity. 17 people were killed and more than 40 injured in the assault. iran has called donald trump's reaction to the attacks repugnant after the u.s. president said iran is reapingg what it sows. the afp correspondent in t ehran. >> trump has been extremely aggressively anti-iran throughout the last few months. this will probably be welcomed by hard-liners in iran who laid the blame on its regional rivals saudi arabia. they said the visit had emboldened extremist. they blamed the saudi's for funding islamic state and being the root cause of the extremism throughout the region. think iran will see another opportunity missed by trump and people remembering in 2001 after 9/11 there were candlelight vigils, the government expressed their condolences and offered and the realities of the difficult relationship they reach out at the time. they are noting the opposite reaction from trump today. >> local fishermen have found at least seven bodies in the seas of burma reach out at the time. they are a day after a plane vanished. the aircraft was en route to the carrying mostly families personnel, nine naval ships and three helicopters. joined in the search. pyongyang has fired several short-range missiles from the north korean coastal town. they landed in waters between the korean peninsula and japan. the missile tests present a challenge to south korea's new president who has expressed interest in reaching out. how long has our species been around exactly? new fossils are pushing the evidence back by 100,000 years. the oldest known fossils of the homo sapiens species have been discovered in morocco. the remains are an estimated 300,000 years old. replicas of fossils on earth. an archaeological site in morocco. a discovery that could rewrite the history of our species. scientists say the specimens indicate that the first humans evolved across various parts of africa 100,000 years earlier than previously thought. we support the view that the african continent probably was involved in the emergence of our species. naturally if we move beyond 300,000 further back in the past possibly there is a point of emergence of the very first homo sapiens. people livedhen 300,000 years ago our species already dispersed all over africa. fossils are identified as early homo sapiens. i have a combination of modern and primitive features. we have anatomy that is very close to what we see in humans. have still to undergo a long evolutionary process especially the brain. popular.h less more elongated. >> time for the business news. atare starting with a look the markets and how investors are reacting to the election that is currently underway in the u.k.. a mixed picture in the european markets. the ftse is trading completely flat. up. the dax and paris are markets in europe are also bracing themselves for james testimony in the united states later this thursday. testimony in the united the oecd is predicting that growth in the u.k. will slow down. business investment is expected to fall as well as all of these factors could push the unemployment rate even higher. a brexit related slow down. that's what the oecd is predicting for the british economy. in itsthe oecd is predicting tht growth in the latest report the organization is revising its forecast downwards. gdp growth is now expected to hit one .7% this year and barely 1% next year. a slowdown that could push the unemployment rate above 5% after falling to 4.6% at the end of march, its lowest level since 1975. that is a possible scenario. it's the kind of thing we have to avoid. it should be a call to action. it's unexpected, shocking perhaps for the british as much as the europeans. it's going to be costly. another worry, inflation rose from point a percent before the referendum last year to 2.6% in april. according to the bank of england it could reach 3% by the end of the year. decline in purchasing power are not just for consumers but for the whole country because thanks to brexit the british currency has taken a dive. before the vote one pound was worth more than one euro 30. now it's worth about $.15 less. it has driven up the cost of goods bought from its trading partners. the u.k. already imports more it exports. its trade deficit is among the highest in the union. >> another event investors will be keeping an eye on. supers being called thursday. the rate announcement from the european central bank this afternoon. policymakers are meeting in the estonian capital. the bank is expected to cut its inflation outlook through 2019. the ecb has been under pressure by some members to end its bond buying scheme. the chief market analyst at think markets and asked him what a lower inflation target means to him. >> the devil is in the details. really lowering its forecast that's not really that much of a dovish message. look at the forecast when it comes to growth. if we look lowering its forecast that's not really that much of a dovish message. at the biggest economies of the eurozone their gdp has increased by .4% in the first quarter. i don't really necessarily concur with the message that this is a dovish message for the market. the market will perceive it as a dovish statement and we may see some sort of pressure on the euro. muchnk ecb is still very under par. we know that mario draghi's main objective has been to get inflation closer to the 2% mark. what should governments in the eurozone do to help them achieve that? emmanuel macron says he wants to do that. growth in the eurozone looks promising. how much longer can the european central bank justify its bond buying program? we have to look at the balance sheet. the european central banks balance sheet far exceeds other major banks balance sheet. look at bank of japan. the sheer size of the european central bank balance sheet is way larger than these banks. they cannot afford to keep these running. he comes the patient isn't really in the hospital we see that unemployment has improved. productivity has improved. need wheno particular it comes to that kind of quantitative easing. something dog lovers can get behind. bringing their furry friends to work. tech companies in california are encouraging employees to bring their dogs. boostsy their presence productivity, relieves stress and improves the work environment. companies call it a win-win for companies and their employers. it benefits our business. our employees work longer hours because they've got their friends here. harvard medical school has published a study that proves that dog help lower blood pressure, reduce heart rate every time you pet them. where everyonent is working hard it's really nice to have the ability to pet the dog. >> back to you. >> thank you for the business roundup. time for the press review. we are taking a look at the international papers. good morning. starting with the u.k. where millions of people are voting today in the general election. >> if you look at the front pages of the british papers you might have the impression that they are ganging up on jeremy corbyn. that's what the guardian says. the guardian actually endorsed corbyn himself. thethey are ganging up on jeremy corbyn. that's what the guardian says. mirror comes out in favor of jeremy corbyn but probably has a very unflattering picture of theresa may for its front page with the headline lies. many of across the u.k. them are urging british voters to choose theresa may. don't sun's front page, chuck britain in the corbyn. he will declare war on business and hike taxes to fund his socialist promises. that's what the sun says. starring -- mail is trying to stay true to its hyperbole. >> it calls on readers to reignite the british spirit and vote may. also endorsing the tories, the financial times, daily telegraph and the independent seems pessimistic about corbyn's chances. it says final reckoning. may is on track for a sweeping win. makingction is also headlines in france. let's have a look at a few of those papers. greattholic paper says written is full of uncertainty. the editor saying on its front page that it is not a united kingdom but a divided one. northern ireland and scotland wants to defend their own interests as the fallout from brexit continues. the right-leaning paper says it is double or nothing for theresa may. dominatingctions some headlines. a lot of analysis on iran. after the first ever terrorist attack committed by the islamic state group that is also taking place in toronto -- tehran yesterday. terrorism has targeted the sole democracy in the region. something that may be questionable by some. you get a sense of the level of shock and surprise after the attack claimed by the islamic state group. a french language lebanese daily says figuratively the iranian embankment has given in. the isp has struck the heart of tehran. it was a fortress that seemed impenetrable. the independent reminds us that the last attack on iranian soil was seven years ago. this does come as a total surprise. it kind of makes sense because the islamic state group represents sunnis who regard shiite iran as a nation of heretics. the british paper says iran probably has other enemies notably saudi arabia and its allies which has just cut off ties with qatar because it was conciliatory with iran. not a surprise that the revolutionary guard which initially was restrained now blamed the saudi's for this deadly attack yesterday. >> former fbi chief james comey's testimony reveals concerns about his former boss. he will read his statement to congress about his time as fbi chief before he was unceremoniously fired by donald trump. document.ad his we learned that comey confirmed that trump did put pressure on him to shut down an investigation into the former national security and his links to russia. what's really interesting is there are two issues at stake when you look at this document. questions arising about trump's presidential conduct. if he did demand loyalty in exchange for not being investigated himself. also have to determine whether comey was fired because he refused to drop an investigation against trump. there are a lot of opinions across the u.s. press. comey statements make it clear that trump is asking more like -- acting more like a mob boss. the washington post has an article written by a republican who says that if comey thought trump had acted inappropriately why didn't he asked upon it at the time -- asked upon it at -- act upon it at the time? >> barack obama was seen dining with the canadian prime minister. >> it seems like he is on a worldwide tour of bromance. not setd this picture twitter heart aflutter? date and trudeau had a man to discuss their shared commitment to developing the next generation of leaders. if you look at twitter nobody is really talking about those object is. the images of them having dinner and embracing at the end of the evening have been turned into a flurry of means like this user who says find someone who looks at you the way trudeau looks at obama. one man who is certainly missing from this pictureobama. is joe [man singing in spanish] sami: finnish crooner reijo taipale sang about the land of fairy tales in the year of 1963. by thehen, finlandnd had alrdydy been intoxicated by tango for 3 decades. in the early days of the twentieth century, tango drifted to the nordic shores on e backs of sailors andnd traveling music men. i first got interested in this music when i heard the bad boy of the argentine tango, astor