it s crunch time in france, as the centrist emmanuel macron and far right candidate marine le pen go head to head in the battle to become the nation s next president. polling stations in rural areas have just closed, those in major cities, including the capital paris, stay open for an additional hour. first indications are that turnout is slightly lower than in the 2017 presidential election. a few hours ago, turnout was put atjust over 63%, down two points on 2017. if emmanuel macron wins, he ll be the first french president to be re elected to the elysee in two decades. for marine le pen, this is her third attempt at winning the presidency and if she fails, it could potentially be her last. this report from our paris correspondent, lucy williamson. the candidates say this election is about democracy, even civilisation. many voters say they are being offered a choice between cholera and the plague. marine le pen s promise to slash immigration and taxes and ban the muslim hea
we start in india where figures out in a few hours time are expected to confirm the economy grew around 8% in the three months tojune. it s a growth rate to be envied by many countries here in europe. in fact, india s economy is predicted to double in size in the next eight years and become the second biggest in the world later this century. but what happens there has an increasing impact on the rest of the globe. food prices in india are soaring, threatening hardship for millions, and there are implications for everyone. as our india business correspondent nikhil inamdar reports. feeding herfamily feeding her family of four, this humble vegetarian meal costs are third more than it did a few months ago. with prices of most april soaring the money she brings home as a domestic helper is not enough. she has now taken part time work as a seamstress to earn additional income. i work as a seamstress to earn additional income. additional income. i am a sinale additional income. i
a general election. the backdrop a flat lining economy millions struggling with the cost of living and polling indicating the conservative party is lagging far behind the opposition. not to mention financial markets on edge for anything that might worsen the uk s finances. the memory of prime minister liz truss s disastrous tax cutting budget no doubt not far from mr hunt s mind. so let s remind ourselves what he came up with. the rate of national insurance paid by employees and the self employed, will be cut again by 2 pence in the pound. that comes on top of an earlier 2p cut mr hunt announced in the autumn. in april, full child benefits will be paid to households, where the highest earning parent is getting up to £60,000. the current limit is £50,000. and the non dom tax break for wealthy uk residents whose permanent home is overseas, is to be scrapped raising £2.7 billion a year for the government. that announcement is highly controversial as it was a key p
the ecb s decision to raise its benchmark rate by a 0.25% to 3.75% matches a peak last reached in 2001, at a time when it was trying to boost the value of the newly launched euro currency, which is now used in 20 countries. ecb president christine lagarde has warned consumer prices are still rising too fast and kept its options open for further increases. what i can assure you of, is that we are not going to cut. that is a definite no. but, on the other side, it could be a hike, it could be a pause. if it is a pause, it would not necessarily be for an extended period of time, because as i said, it will vary from meeting to meeting, because we continue to decide on a meeting by meeting basis, every time, informed by the data. a day after the us federal reserve raised its interest rate for the 11th time, new data suggests that it s not excessively dampening the world s biggest economy. a preliminary estimate suggests that the us economy grew 2.4% on an annualised basis between
use the euro currency. next week, it s the turn of the bank of england with another rise widely expected. but with inflation starting to ease, are we finally seeing the peak in the cost of borrowing? and when can we expect rates to start coming down again? let s hear first from michelle fleury in new york. the federal reserve has moved with unprecedented speed to get inflation under control. since march of last year, it has raised its benchmark rate by 5.25 percentage points. its latest move is likely to push up the cost of borrowing for american businesses and consumers even further. with inflation showing prices rising more slowly than a year ago, the key question at the press conference was whether this rate increase was the last or would it hike again later this year? fed chairjerome powell wouldn t be drawn. i would say it is certainly possible that we would raise funds again at the september meeting if the data warranted it. and i would also say it is possible that we w