80 years on, the fear of hunger is still so real he carries a plastic bag of food with him wherever he goes. the famine is a dark chapter in britain's colonial history, and it's still hugely contentious. british colonial policies, as well as a cyclone, were among the many complex causes. at least three million indians died. it's one of the largest losses of civilian life on the allied side during world war two. survivors like him have almost never been asked about their memories of the famine, but they never forgot it. to this day, the impact endures.

the rural areas of bengal were the most devastated. so we've driven a couple of hours outside of kolkata, and we're now deep in the jungle in the sundarbans, and i'm here to meet some of the last survivors of the bengal famine of 1943. this woman was nine when her father put her on his shoulders and took her to calcutta. on that train ride, she witnessed harrowing scenes. in calcutta, many people were begging forfood or money. soon shejoined them.

whether it's taking food wherever they go, remembering an act of kindness, or grief, for those who survived, this isn't history. there is no memorial to the three million people who died, but 80 years on,

those who survived the famine never forgot it. the kremlin has stepped into the row over the arrest of the russian—born founder of the messaging app telegram saying that france should not allow �*political persecution.�* pavel durov, who is a french citizen, has been placed underformal investigation in france, after being detained last weekend. the judge said he was suspected of being complicit in allowing illicit transactions, including images of child sex abuse, and drug trafficking, on telegram. henry wyard is a financial crime researcher for global anti—financial crime specialist, themis, and he explained a little more about the allegations that durov is facing. telegram is far from the only social media company to be under the legal microscope this year. this year, the european commission launched proceedings

against the owner of facebook where telegram has only been found to be wanting is in cooperation with legal authorities. it has been charged with a lack of providing the necessary information. we have seen much more from other social media platforms but telegram is neither a member of the internet watch foundation and organisations which work with online platforms to remove material around child sex abuse. �* , , ., ., abuse. because it is not a member— abuse. because it is not a member of— abuse. because it is not a member of those - abuse. because it is not a i member of those platforms, abuse. because it is not a - member of those platforms, when it says there is a fine line between freedom of speech and protecting users from serious harm. do you think it because it has notjoined those platforms it does not have a footing to make that argument? so i think that is exactly the case. there is a question around exactly why telegram is poor at responding to requests from authority. it could be a

question of resources and staffing. they said earlier this year they only employ around 30 engineers which is clearly different from other multinational social media organisations. i think the fact that it organisations. i think the fact thatitis organisations. i think the fact that it is not signed up to these organisations which are industry standards is a sign that perhaps the platform does not have an interest in doing that. i think we need to be very clear that to my mind at least this is not a question of freedom of speech. this is about preventing the most serious types of organised criminal activity.— criminal activity. you are watching _ criminal activity. you are watching bbc _ criminal activity. you are watching bbc news. - criminal activity. you are i watching bbc news. news criminal activity. you are - watching bbc news. news coming to us from the courts and a 17—year—old boy has been convicted of murdering holly newton by stabbing her to death in northumberland last year. holly was aged 15. another boy was winded when her killer attacked them in an alley when the killer had left school. the

killer was 16 at the time and cannot be identified for legal reasons. he was also convicted of wounding with intent. he told the court his mind was blank at the time of the attack as he is autistic and wild he had been carrying a knife it was only to cause harm to himself. sentencing will take place on the 30th of october. the rac has warned drivers to expect a rise in fuel duty in the government's upcoming autumn budget in october. the tax has been frozen since 2011. but when the prime minister was asked about it on a visit to berlin yesterday, he didn't rule out a change to the policy. ben boulos has more. this means that petrol and diesel prices at the pump could soon rise, pushing up the cost of motoring for both individual drivers and businesses. when petrol prices jumped after the pandemic and russia's invasion of ukraine, the previous conservative government cut fuel duty by 5p a litre in march 2022 to ease some of the pressure on drivers. since then, it has been at 53p.

there's now growing speculation that the cut could be reversed in the budget at the end of october, and that would push fuel duty back up to 58p a litre, so an increase of 5p. that would raise an extra £2 billion a year, and help to plug the £22 billion shortfall between what the government has coming in from taxes and what its spending. but why the speculation now about fuel duty going up? well, the prime minister has already ruled out raising the main taxes — so that's income tax, national insurance and vat, but refused to rule out raising fuel duty. the rac says drivers haven't actually been getting the full benefit of the current fuel duty cut. it says they're being overcharged by retailers whose profit margins have grown bigger, while falls in the wholesale price haven't been fully passed on. it's very clear from the rac�*s analysis of fuel prices that

drivers haven't been getting the benefit of the 5p duty cut, so we think the chancellor has no option but to put it back up. but we don't want to see drivers pay more, so we really hope retailer margins will come back down to fairer levels. they're at 15p per litre at the moment compared to the long term average of 8p. so it's not opposing the possible rise in fuel tax, but the rac says the onus is now on petrol stations and supermarkets to cut their prices and ease the burden on drivers. passengers who bought cabins on a round—the—world cruise have been left stranded in belfast for three months. villa vie residence's ship 0dyssey was due to leave the city at the end of may, for the first leg of a three year cruise. but because of problems with its rudder and gearbox, it still hasn't left the port. 0ur ireland correspondent sara girvin has the story.

for those on board, this is the adventure of a lifetime. a residential cruise taking in cities across the globe, but they spent more time in one city than they bargained for. holly has been in belfast since may, with her cat captain company. he is used to the yachting thing — he lived on a boat in the winter ever since he was a kitten, and he is a trooper. he is wonderful and he is raring to go. what has been the best thing about your time in belfast, and what has been the worst? the worst by far is the weather. i feel so sorry for you all. i have had to buy vitamin d for the first time in my life. in florida we don't need that! the best thing is the people have all been supportive, and the best invention ever are half pints of beer. we don't have those in america. passengers on the cruise were given the option of buying their cabin out right rather than paying a rate like a hotel, meaning they will live on this ship for at least the next three years. according to the company's website, buying a cabin can

cost anywhere between $100,000 and $900,000. at the moment, passengers spend their days on the ship or on different trips but sleep in hotels. there have been frustrations, but the passengers we spoke to have faith the ship will launch soon. sure, we have been frustrated at times but really it's all been part of the adventure, you know? three months in belfast wasn't on the itinerary but we just made the most of it. it's been amazing to learn a new country, a new culture, all the food and drinks, so i've enjoyed getting to know it. all the guinness. all the guinness! what are you looking forward to most now? departure! and it's hoped departure from belfast will take place next week once sea trials are completed. when you are the first at doing something, you're going to run into hiccups. that's not me making excuses, it's just the reality

of how things are. and although we were late, we will launch, and the vision and the dream of our residents will become a reality. it may not have been the start to their dream that they planned, but for the next few days at least, passengers will continue to make belfast their unexpected home. sara girvin, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. yesterday in cambridgeshire, the temperature reached 30 degrees. it's quite a bit cooler and fresher today, but at least there's some sunshine around. these were the earlier showers and increasingly becoming confined to the north west of scotland, keeping it cool here. one or two showers potentially this afternoon across some other western areas, but in the east, in the dry weather and sunshine, temperatures are pleasant, 22 or 23 degrees. now this evening, a lot of that cloud willjust tend to melt away. the showers in scotland becoming confined towards

the far north, and the winds are easing here as well. with clear skies and quite chilly air, it will turn quite cold overnight — temperatures in scotland and northern ireland could be as low as 4 or 5 degrees and quite chilly as well across england and wales, but those clearer skies mean plenty of sunshine to start the day. it will warm up quite quickly. the showers move away from northern scotland and the winds continue to drop. we'll see some sea breezes developing, keeping coastal areas sunny. some cloud develops over land but it should be dry. temperatures still 17—18 in scotland and northern ireland, and around 2a or so in the southeast of england. high pressure to end the week. over the weekend it starts to move away and on saturday it allows this weather front to move up from the south and that is going to bring with it much more cloud northwards across england and wales on saturday. maybe the odd shower, but a lot of places i think will be dry. and we've got the sunnier skies further north. now the winds will be picking up a bit on saturday for much of england and wales. it's an easterly wind.

it'll keep the east coast of england a little cooler and the breeze picks up in scotland and northern ireland. but we do have the sunshine here and so it may well be a warmer day for scotland and northern ireland, with temperatures in glasgow potentially the same as london, where we've got more cloud until later in the day. that cloud does move northwards, though, on saturday night — the high pressure continues to move away. this weather front slides in from the atlantic and ahead of it we start to draw up a bit more heat, a bit more humidity and the potential for some storms. but that cloud is further north as we head into sunday. following that, there will be some sunshine and that will allow the cloud to develop, which could trigger a few thunderstorms, especially later on in the day. and some heat and humidity is coming in from the near continent, so temperatures could peak at 26 or 27 degrees. but with more cloud in scotland and northern ireland, temperatures on sunday will be lower.

live from london, this is bbc news. israel's military action continues in the occupied west bank. palestinian sources say at least 17 people have been killed. the uk government considers banning smoking in pub gardens and outdoor restaurants as part of a drive to phase out tobacco. first berlin, now paris — the uk prime minister, keir starmer, continues his effort to reset relations with the eu. china's president, xijinping, has held a face—to—face meeting

with america's national security advisor in beijing. passengers on a round the world cruise had been stranded in belfast for three months after their voyage was beset by delays. we will speak to one of them live. hello, i'm annita mcveigh. welcome to verified life, three hours sticking out the day's main stories and the facts behind them. palestinian sources say the number of people killed in the occupied west bank since israel launched a large military operation there has risen to 17. among the deaths, eight people injenin, where israeli forces have moved onto the streets. bulldozers have been deployed alongside other armoured vehicles. there are also reports that a man was hit and killed by sniperfire in his home in the nur shams refugee camp. that's located near tulkarem, where the palestinian armed group islamichhad says one of its top commanders

in the area was killed.