These three things will change the world today.

1. Brexit day is here: Article 50 will be filed today

The British prime minister Theresa May has launched the proceedings that will see the UK officially withdraw from the European Union.

Under Article 50 proceedings, May has to formally notify EU council president Donald Tusk that the UK is leaving the EU in a letter.

May has two years to decide the leaving terms with the union before 29 March 2019 when the relationship is officially terminated.

In a speech today, the prime minister is expected to say:

“Now that the decision has been made to leave the EU, it is time to come together. When I sit around the negotiating table in the months ahead, I will represent every person in the whole United Kingdom – young and old, rich and poor, city, town, country and all the villages and hamlets in between.”

The EU is unhappy with the situation and said the Brexit bill for the UK could end up being around £50bn, in order to deter other countries from leading.

Read more: Here’s what to expect once Article 50 is triggered

After months of speculation, Samsung is ready to announce its new smartphone, the Galaxy S8.

It will be an opportunity for the brand to prove itself after the launch of its last device, the Galaxy Note 7, went up in flames. As well, its major rival Apple has just been named the top smartphone maker in the world, heaping the pressure on Samsung even more.

Rumours state that the new phone will have an edge-to-edge display, will come in two sizes, and feature Samsung’s new intelligent assistant software Bixby. It is also expected to have a headphone jack, unlike Apple’s iPhone 7 device.

The announcement will begin at 4pm today. You can livestream the event on Samsung’s website.

As the race for the next French president heats up, former prime minister Manuel Valls has said he will vote for centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron.

This is a break from tradition, as Valls is a socialist and yet has decided to switch his allegiance from the election’s socialist candidate

Valls has said he wants to do all he can to ensure that the National Front leader, Marine Le Pen, who is second place in the polls, does not win.</s>Why did this happen?

Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies and that you are not blocking them from loading. For more information you can review our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy.</s>France's former Prime Minister, socialist Manuel Valls, has said he will vote for centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron over the contender from his own party, Benoit Hamon, to prevent Marine Le Pen from winning the presidential election.

Macron is currently leading in the opinion polls, while far-right candidate Le Pen is in second place. Meanwhile socialist candidate Hamon is polling in fifth place and not expected to progress past the first round. Hamon beat Valls in the race for the Socialist candidacy.

"I'm not taking any risks," Valls told French broadcaster BFM TV. "I will vote for Emmanuel Macron." He is the biggest socialist name to withdraw support for his party's official nominee and back another candidate instead.

Valls stressed that although he will vote for Macron, he will not campaign for his progressive movement En Marche! "I have nothing to negotiate and am not asking for anything. I'm not joining his camp," he told BFM TV.

The endorsement is a mixed blessing for Macron who has tried to cast himself as a candidate bridging the divide between left and right-wing politics, rather than as a nominee for the unpopular Socialist party.

When asked at a news conference about Valls' promise to back his candidacy, Macron said: "I'm suspicious of the hidden agenda of politicians."

The rivalry between Valls and Hamon predates their presidential campaigns. Hamon signed a motion of no-confidence against Valls' government last year, when a controversial labour reform by the former Prime Minister left the Socialist Party divided.

After Valls announced his support for Macron, Hamon hit back. "This sort of soap opera is meant to weaken me," he told France 2 TV. "I'm running my campaign by talking about the French's daily life, not Valls's life."</s>PARIS, March 29 (Reuters) - Former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Wednesday he would vote for Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election, the biggest Socialist Party name to date to turn his back on its official candidate and support the centrist instead.

While it was not clear if the defection would benefit poll favourite Macron, who politely thanked Valls, it prompted angry responses from many Socialists and media speculation about the survival of the largest left-wing party.

Valls, whose announcement came days after veteran Socialist defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian deserted to Macron, said he wanted to do all he could to ensure that far-right leader Marine Le Pen, second-placed in opinion polls, did not win power.

"I'm not going to take any risks," Valls said, adding that he believed Le Pen's score potential was seriously underrated.

"I will vote for Emmanuel Macron," he told BFM TV.

French opinion polls show Macron winning the presidency in a second-round vote on May 7 where he would face off against Le Pen. They show Socialist Benoit Hamon set for a humiliating fifth place in the first round eliminator on April 23.

Hamon denounced Valls' defection and called on all left-wingers to unite behind him 25 days from round one of the election.

"I urge you to sanction those who've started this morbid game...those who no longer believe in anything," he said in a statement. Valls said his choice did not mean he would campaign for 39-year-old Macron -- a fellow minister in President Francois Hollande's government from 2014, but who quit last year to prepare a presidential bid under his own political banner En Marche! (Onwards!).

Valls, who lost to radical left-winger Hamon in the Socialist primaries, is seen by political sources and experts as likely to wait in the wings and seek to build a reformist parliamentary force that would be distinct from En Marche!, but which could get a say in its parliamentary majority should Macron become president.

"I have nothing to negotiate and am not asking for anything, I'm not joining his camp," Valls said. "But nothing will be the same after this presidential election...the duty of reformists is to play their part in a governing parliamentary majority."

Macron, who has drawn support from the political right as well as left, was also quick to say he did not plan to bring Valls into his government.

"I shall be the guarantor of new faces, new ways of doing things," he said on Europe 1 Radio.

The news came a day after third-placed candidate Francois Fillon, under formal judicial investigation on suspicion of financial impropriety, suffered a further blow when his British wife Penelope was put under formal investigation as well.

The inquiry centres on allegations that the couple misused hundreds of thousands of euros in public funds, with him paying her a lavish tax-funded salary for minimal work as his parliamentary assistant.

Francois Fillon has conceded what he called errors of judgment but denies doing anything illegal.

Valls' endorsement is a mixed blessing for Macron, even though their political views are not far apart.

For many Socialists, and above all candidate Hamon, Valls' decision comes from a man who represents Hollande's rightward turn during his five-year mandate towards the business-friendly reforms that upset the left and alienated core voters.

The blow for Hamon clearly compounded existing left-right splits within the party.

"Everybody now knows what a commitment signed by a man like Manuel Valls is worth," Arnaud Montebourg, a more hardline leftist in the Socialist Party, said on Twitter.

"You don't smash the table when you have a family dispute," said Francois Kalfon, another hardliner. "Manuel Valls is digging his own grave."</s>French former Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Wednesday he would vote for Emmanuel Macron in the coming presidential election, the biggest Socialist party name to date to turn his back on its official candidate and back the centrist instead.

Valls, a Socialist himself, said the election was wide-open and he would do all he could to ensure that far-right leader Marine Le Pen, second-placed in opinion polls did not win power.

“I’m not going to take any risks,” Valls told BFM TV. “I will vote for Emmanuel Macron.”

French opinion polls show Macron winning the election in a second-round vote where he would face off against Le Pen with Socialist Benoit Hamon set for a humiliating fifth place in the first round eliminator.

Valls said his choice did not mean he would campaign behind the 39 year-old Macron – a fellow minister in President Francois Hollande’s government from 2014, but who quit last year to prepare a presidential bid under his own political banner En Marche! (Onwards!).

“I have nothing to negotiate and am not asking for anything, I’m not joining his camp,” Valls said.

Valls’ endorsement is a mixed blessing for Macron, who has sought to avoid being cast as the candidate of the unpopular outgoing Socialist administration, instead pitching himself as willing to bridge the traditional left-right political divide.

“I’m suspicious of the hidden agenda of politicians,” Macron told a news conference on Tuesday amid growing talk that Valls was about to make his intentions known.

Valls, who lost to radical leftwinger Benoit Hamon in the primaries, is seen as waiting in the wings to pick up the pieces of the Socialist party after the presidential race and build a reformist force in parliament to get a say in a Macron parliamentary majority.

The pro-business former premier has been scathing about his former education minister.

Hamon signed a motion of no-confidence against Valls’ government last year, when the ruling Socialists split over a controversial labour reform led by Valls.

“I’m not surprised,” he told France 2 television. “This sort of soap opera is meant to weaken me. I’m running my campaign by talking about the French’s daily life, not Valls’ life.”</s>French centrist presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron has won the backing of Socialist former prime minister Manuel Valls. 

 

 Valls said on BFM television Wednesday he will vote for Macron in the two-round presidential vote on April 23 and May 7 "because I think we must take no risk for the Republic". 

 

 Valls considers the independent as the best candidate to face far-right leader Marine le Pen. His move is a further blow to the campaign of Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon. 

 

 Polls suggest Macron is the front-runner in the election, whereas Hamon has no chance to advance to the runoff. 

 

 Macron thanked Valls for his support on Europe 1 radio, but said he wouldn't be part of his government if elected, because he wants to renew France's political elites.</s>Valls' throwing his support behind Macron is a potential blow to ruling Socialist Party candidate Benoit Hamon, who defeated Valls in the party's January nominating primary.

"Manuel Valls will soon call on voters to support his former rival Emmanuel Macron, and this, from as early as the first round of the election," Le Parisien said, citing a source in Valls' primary campaign.

Neither Valls nor Macron's campaign could be reached for comment. A source close to Valls told Reuters the Parisien report went too far because it was too early and Valls had not decided yet.

Socialist Party official Carlos Da Silva, who was Valls' substitute in the National Assembly while he was prime minister, said on his Twitter account the Parisien story was false. He did not provide further details.

Both Hamon and Macron were ministers in governments headed by Valls.

Recent opinion polls show Macron as the front-runner in the election and that he will go on to defeat far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a runoff, while Hamon will be eliminated in the first round.</s>France's main Left-wing party was on the brink of implosion on Wednesday after former prime minister Manuel Valls backed independent frontrunner Emmanuel Macron in next month’s presidential election, instead of his own Socialist party’s candidate.

Mr Valls, 54, a reformist once likened to Tony Blair, is the highest-profile Socialist yet to say he will vote for the 39-year old Mr Macron. The centrist was, he said, the best hope to foil the rise of the far-Right, as Mr Macron is polling to beat the Front National's Marine Le Pen in the election's second round runoff on May 7.

Benoît Hamon, 49, the Socialist’s official candidate, beat Mr Valls in the party’s primary but is predicted to finish a humiliating fifth in the first round of the election on April 23.</s>French Prime Minister Manuel Valls vowed on Tuesday to do whatever was necessary to ensure a controversial flagship economic reform bill passed into law.

"The government will do whatever is needed to make sure this bill goes through," Valls told French parliament at the start of a session due later to vote on a package of deregulation and other measures aimed at stimulating growth and employment.

Earlier, Valls received a mandate from his cabinet to use a rare decree mechanism to pass the text.</s>French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron has won the backing of Socialist former prime minister Manuel Valls.

Mr Valls said on BFM television that he will vote for centrist Mr Macron in the two-round presidential vote on April 23 and May 7 “because I think we must take no risk for the Republic”.

Mr Valls considers the independent as the best candidate to face far-right leader Marine le Pen.

His move is a further blow to the campaign of Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon.

Polls suggest Mr Macron is the front-runner in the election, whereas Mr Hamon has no chance to advance to the run-off.

Mr Macron thanked Mr Valls for his support on Europe 1 radio, but said he would not be part of his government if elected, because he wants to renew France’s political elites.

Mr Valls’s decision is infuriating some Socialists, already deeply divided over the legacy of unpopular president Francois Hollande’s term.

“Our candidate, after the primary and the unanimous (political) convention of the Socialists, is Benoit Hamon”, the first secretary of the Socialist party Jean-Christophe Cambadelis wrote in a statement.

Mr Valls, as a contender in the Socialist primary, had pledged to support the winner of the vote.

Former economy minister Arnaud Montebourg described him as a “man without honour” in a tweet.
Former candidate Manuel Valls (PS) announces his support for Emmanuel Macron (En Marche!) rather than for his own party's nominee, Benoît Hamon.