this is bbc world news, cyclone fani hits india with 100 to ted and i imaginea hits india with 100 to ted and i imagine a five mile an hour winds, ofa imagine a five mile an hour winds, of a million people to covers in emergency shelters as they battle the worst storm in five years. they 110w the worst storm in five years. they now have a huge clean—up operation on its hands and that is not going to be easy for many parts of it are cut off from each other. theresa may's conservative party loses more than 1000 council seats in local elections dominated by brexit. a warning that christianity could be wiped out in the middle east, this say christians are the most persecuted of all the worlds religions. also coming up in the

programme. semenya says she will not ta ke programme. semenya says she will not take medication to comply with the rules. hello and welcome to world news today. india has been hit with its worst cyclone for five years. cyclone fani made landfall with gusts of up to 125 km winds per hour. more than million people have been moved to temporary shelters, indian prime minister says $141 million will be allocated to the relief effort. a cyclone hit land in the eastern state and now making its way northwards, and they have

this report. such was the fury of one of india's most powerful storms in recent times. cyclone fani hit the eastern state of adisha with torrential rain and devastating winds of more than 125 mph. it made landfall at eight in the morning in the tourist town of puri. anticipating its impact, authorities had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people. in the state capital, bhubaneswar, this crane was brought crashing down. one of india's poorest states now has a huge clean—up operation on its hands. and that's not going to be easy where many parts of it are cut

off from each other. this is why a million people were moved into temporary shelters. most of them are now safe, but the question they are asking is what has happened to their homes, and what impact will this have on their lives? many villages are now submerged, and flooding is a major concern. and it's not over yet. cyclone fani is now moving towards one of india's most densely populated cities — kolkata. chris from bbc weather has more in the path of the cyclone so far. chris from bbc weather has more in the path of the cyclone so fanm made landfall at about half past two. 0n the south coast around the area, and it has been travelling northeastward direction and it currently is around 20 km left, but

it will cross over the state boundary into west bengal, and it's probably going to get close to calcutta, and probably travelled to the northwest but the wind is still strong, it's been over land for 16 hours and get the winds are still about hundred 50 km an hour, and containing some of its strength because it's been travelling close to the coast so it is able to feed off of the warm waters and we are still seeing the strong wind. the torrential rain that we saw, that crane collapsing and why largest cities, that had 250 mm of rain, up to 1200 gmt, but it's still raining and the status have not fully come in but we are looking at 300 mm rain, maybe more than that in some areas, so rain, maybe more than that in some areas, so there is a threat of severe flooding. quite some severe conditions to come. how regular are cyclones in this time of year?

conditions to come. how regular are cyclones in this time of year7m conditions to come. how regular are cyclones in this time of year? it is something that we see at this time of year, before the monsoon arrives, which is injune across the side of india, whereas the monsoon is retreating. there been more common because the season in the bay of bengal in the october, september time they have more time to warm up. what makes the strawman usual said it started off really close to equator and it had a really long run of the bay of bengal, and it is made into a very powerful system as an exit to west bengal and then bangladesh, the north will season very heavy rain and flooding risks as well. the two main political parties in the united kingdom have suffered losses in local elections and assigned it voters are fed up with a deadlock of a brexit. the conservatives have lost more than a thousand council seats and labour have failed to make much progress at a time of the opposition parties usually do well. meanwhile the liberal democrats want another eu referendum and the independence all

did well after a tough night, theresa may needed a bit of love. thank you. she didn't need this. why don't you resign?! "why don't you resign?" we don't want you. "we don't want you" — it only takes one to spoil the mood. "0ut, out" — they meant him, not her. but bad results needed explaining. these were always going to be difficult elections for us, i like to say they i am sorry that they lost the seas through no fault of their own, things are always going to be difficult elections for us. going to be difficult elections for us. and the added dimension of the fa ct us. and the added dimension of the fact that we have not got the brexit deal of the line, but it was not a good night for labour either. they we re good night for labour either. they were predicting they would make gains, they lost over hundred seats andi gains, they lost over hundred seats and i think it is been a very clear message from people that they want

us message from people that they want us to get on and deliver brexit. jeremy corbyn was trying to ignore the grey clouds today. labour did worse than many expected. maybe trying to appeal to brexiteers and remainers failed to please enough on either side. his verdict too — britain needs a brexit deal. didn't mention a referendum, though. i think it means there's a huge impetus on every mp, and they've all got that message, whether they themselves are leave or remain, or the people across the country, that an arrangement has to be made, a deal has to be done, and parliament has to resolve this issue. i think that is very, very clear. how does it feel to be part of a liberal democrat majority?! it felt good for the lib dems, winning the cotswolds and mole valley and bath and north east somerset, all bounds to poll better than four years ago, but reason enough to celebrate, echo their big message on brexit. i think we are winning the argument, including with many brexit voters who are just absolutely fed up with the way the country is stagnating, and whether they are pro—brexit or against it,

i think they buy our argument that we now have to go back to the people. it was the big parties competing to see who'd fare worse than expected. look at these tory faces in chelmsford, where they lost control. your reaction to the results here tonight? well, of course i am in... hard to take on an exhausting, emotional night. no surprise, then, that tory misery provoked more demands for theresa may to go. many of my constituents have said this to me, you know, we need change we need a change of leadership, perhaps the time has now come for that. not all bad for labour — they took tory trafford, won in places including high peak, but labour's lost control and lost seats that they were expected to win. why? because brexit‘s delayed or because voters want another referendum ? labour's split. the feeling is they have been badly let down by national politicians and labour politicians,

and this is the first chance to make this protest, and unfortunately there's a lot of good labour councillors going to lose their seats because of it. whatever deal it is that the conservatives in the end, are able to get through parliament, if they are able to, it should go to a confirmatory ballot so that we can find out from the people, is this really what you want? as for the smaller parties, ukip's taken a battering, but the greens are upbeat. there is an element, undeniably, about disenchantment with the two big parties. people are fed up with the way they've handled brexit, there is a cry for clarity, which i think the greens are offering. so plenty more evidence of the disintegration of traditional loyalties to the two big parties. these were local elections, and many people may simply have shown they are fed up after years of cuts and austerity. but across the country, we have also seen people are as deadlocked as the parties here at westminster on the big issue of brexit. the results may pile pressure

on the parties here to somehow break the brexit deadlock, but they've given no clear indication of how the country want that done. this was an angry election, ballot papers used to let off steam, often that it's taken so long to make so little progress with brexit. and as the ballot boxes are stacked and stowed away, there are only weeks before voters get another chance to make their views known, in the european parliament elections — maybe even louder. some of the other stores making the news. world health organisation says the ebola outbreak and the congo has risen above 1000. efforts to control the spread of the disease is being countered by continuing violence in the region. active in eastern congo, this deep mistrust of the health

workers. the bangladesh foreign minister says the person who ran away to syria enters this country, she will be executed. they said there was no question of allowing her to take bangladesh citizenship and she was stripped of her british nationality in february. the biggest mosque has been operating in istanbul, the mosque is located on the side of the city with 63,000 people. the building open to worshipers and march. north korea has cut public food rations following last year's harvest, the west and a decade according to the un. that is just 1300 calories when the average minimum that they recommend is 1800. it is estimated that over 10 million north koreans suffer from severe

food insecurity and some could soon run out of food supply altogether. the information was gathered by teams carrying out a new security assessment in the country, speaking to the washington post about how serious this food shortage is. to the washington post about how serious this food shortage ism to the washington post about how serious this food shortage is. it is a very serious problem that north korea is facing, we often think of north korea as a political story, a country that has nuclear weapons and hijacking global news and threatening the world but really, we should think of north korea as a humanitarian story, there are millions of people there who are on the brink of starvation and it really deserves a lot more attention thanit really deserves a lot more attention than it is getting. and why is north korea struggling so much? is a particularly because of last year's bat harvest? famines that have been in the modern world happen because of bad governance. north korea has one of the world's least effective governments that we have seen in a

long time. however, we do have to say that the sanctions that the united states puts a north korea is exasperating the problem. in the problem lies with kim jong—il and, by virtue of politics, the us is making things worse. and that comes ina third making things worse. and that comes in a third by those two reasons. there are a lot of people who are not, what needs to happen now, do south korea and north korea's neighbours need to step in? as a down to the international community to help? the easiest way for north koreans to be fed would be for their own government to feed them, however that does not seem likely to happen so more that does not seem likely to happen so more involvement with south korea and the un and a way for the american government to focus less on its talks with the top of the north korean government and more about getting through to the people i think would be a really good first

step. still to come. the cast of star wars pays tribute to the man inside the suit who died at the age of 74.

this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines. cyclone has produced the delusion of rain and wind of up to 200 km an hour. theresa may's conservative party has lost more than 1000 council seats in the uk and the local elections dominated by brexit. a review commission from the foreign office indicates that christians are the

most persecuted religious group around the world. they suggest that christianity could be wiped out in parts of the middle east. the british foreign secretary said political correctness have prevented proper discussion of the subject. with me now is ryan christopherfrom defending freedom international. thank you for being with us. yours isa thank you for being with us. yours is a christian organisation, what do you make of this report? you are not surprised by its findings? not at all, thank you for having me. we welcome this report as do many others and it is a great first step by the government in recognising that this has been a neglected issue in the press, by government departments, politically, overthe past over the last many years. christian persecution happens to 80% of the one third of the world who suffer religious persecution. why is that? what is happening out there? there are two sources according to the report by the bishop. the first

key source is islamicist militancy, in countries such as syria and iraq, we saw what happened with isis on the ground there and in other countries like nigeria where there is an active campaign to obliterate christianity and all of its forms. so the first source is militancy, the second is a form of extreme statism or nationalism that wants to have an ideological purity. you see that in countries such as china and north korea. you also see in countries such as india where many of my colleagues work on the ground and they see the result of that extreme nationalism, if you'd like, for christians are subject to mob violence and accusations of blasphemy or attempts of conversion. they are often not true, they find themselves put in prison and sometimes beaten inside police

custody and afterwards, the family thatis custody and afterwards, the family that is left outside is subject to more mob violence and of course the social pressure on the police, the justice system to convict these people regardless of the evidence in front of them and so, we have lawyers on the ground in india with 24 hour hotlines and the christians can call them and people of other beliefs, other minorities so they can get legal intervention. a huge problem in many countries. does this report, we have not got the full report, we have not got the full report yet but are there any solutions being offered here? and the reports, there are not solutions. this is stage one of an interim report in the first stage is mapping out the problem. the second stage is to be published injune, to do with the internal response of the foreign office, so remember, this is about global solutions and responses, this is about the uk foreign office and its response and looking at new tactics. the response

will come in june. looking at new tactics. the response will come in june. thank you very much for taking us through that, thank you very much. let's bring you up—to—date on the sport news. thank you forjoining us on the sport today, we start with semenya because she has categorically said that she will not retire following speculation that she might step away from professional running. the soft african winning gold, this coming —— south african. sided with the athletics governing body to keep strict limitations on testosterone levels in women. the easiest race type ever run in my life, it was a great performance. i think it was fantastic. for me, it is nothing. as long as it does not kill me, it

makes me stronger. i am here to perform and show people, the world that anything is possible if you believe. i think it is fantastic knowing that when you go out in the world, people who love you, cheering for you and appreciate you and people who accept you for who you are. if you are a great example and inspire the youth. everything that you do is in the best interest of the youth. you are never out of line, no matter how hard. i think thatis line, no matter how hard. i think that is my task that will keep doing it and that is my task that will keep doing itandi that is my task that will keep doing it and i will never stop. at the end of the day, i have a goal, a goal that i want to fulfil and achieve. so at the moment, i'm going to keep on doing what i do best, which is running. let's take a look at the football fixtures in just one match and the premier league, every ten currently 2—0 up. in italy, they are

enjoying 1—1, and across in spain and they are 2— nelle down. level three all and they came back from three all and they came back from three nelle down. australia liner says there has been no tension between the world cup training camp after steve smith and david warner returned to the group. they met up with their team—mates which staged a one—day international against pakistan, having completed 12—month bands for their parts in the tempering scandal of 2018. smith and warner were scoring for the world cup. it's not tension, honestly, we are so cup. it's not tension, honestly, we are so excited to have the boys back. we're just excited to play cricket, a lot of build up to it and

it's a bit like playing fastball you don't have to worry about it, you worry about me get out there. it's not as bad as you thought it was. it's probably worse than that before, they came back to dubai, it was great, and they're back in the tea m was great, and they're back in the team now, they have been selected which is brilliant and they love playing cricket and they've been playing cricket and they've been playing cricket and they've been playing cricket for australia and is going to be good fun. posting england, our favourites for the tournament, for the month and they we re tournament, for the month and they were given a mighty scared by ireland ina were given a mighty scared by ireland in a one—day international on friday. they took one wicked and the international debut after qualifying to pay to the next play against england in march. seven between them and all out, england we re between them and all out, england were struggling on a 100, but eventually they won by four wickets. favourite to judd eventually they won by four wickets. favourite tojudd trump after the

snooker world championship. there i did 4— all but at a break of 65 help them to go to 6—5 in front. four frames ina them to go to 6—5 in front. four frames in a row with 73 hundred 23 and 75. wilson 77 kept in touch. 0 nto and 75. wilson 77 kept in touch. 0nto the other semifinal that is between david gilbert and former champion john higgins, live between david gilbert and former championjohn higgins, live pictures from the sheffield game, higgins has struggled but he has fought back to get to 12, there is still gilbert thatis get to 12, there is still gilbert that is leading but currently it is 12-9 with that is leading but currently it is 12—9 with higgins, you can keep up—to—date with that by the bbc. that is all this but for now, will have more later. the actor who played chewbacca has died at the age of 74. he appeared in the original

trilogy and the more recent films. it was the weight that he played with no dialogue but a real range of human emotions that endeared him to millions of fans. he portrayed everything from he portrayed frustration. despair. 0ccasionally even a hint of menace. ina way in a way that audiences effortlessly knew how he was feeling. it was back in 1976 when, thanks to his seven foot height, the former hospital porter was cast in the first movie. he was word perfect on the script so that he could simultaneously physically portray the character's thoughts. whatever the circumstances.

even learning the script so he could speak what chewbacca was trying to portray. his star wars coasters pay tribute to him. his kindness, is ge ntle ness tribute to him. his kindness, is gentleness was so close to what that is. there are fierce animals but they are like your family dog. there is no one more loving and unconditional love then the family pet. he returned for 2015's the force awakens. and shall be fondly remembered for the relationship he shared with the other cast. particularly harrison ford. laugh it up, fuzzball! and to millions who played cinemas greatest heroes.

definitely my favourite star wars character. that is it for me, thank you for watching. good evening. it is been quite a lot of cloud today and some showery outbreaks of rain, when weather front has been seeking across england and wales, brighter skies in a rush of showers and some of the showers falling with the wintry flavour across high ground of scotland, all because of this cold arctic air that is now flooding across the uk, will take its time in doing so to still ahead of that court front in the modern era. that friend will continue to seek its way steadily southwards overnight, a blanket of clouds nestling across southern england but as it does so, clear skies to the north, we still keep a few showers to the far northeast of scotland and elsewhere. we could see a light frost first

thing on saturday morning as list temperatures hover around the freezing mark. so chilly start to saturday, perhaps an early morning sunshine it will not be long before the shower cloud starts to develop in that brisk northerly wind really is quite a feature. dappled drive—ins and showers along that east coast, with gusts of winds of 45 and 50 miles an hour, that is just going to exacerbate that court feel and try some of those showers further inland as a go through the afternoon. the further west you go, perhaps lighter winds here as your showers and a little bit more brightness you might see temperatures at 14 degrees but certainly with a corridor on that east coast, particularly at any significant exposure. high pressure will start to push its way steadily eastwards overnight, saturday and sunday, so a few showers on sunday, perhaps the best of the two days through the weekend. but there will beafairamount through the weekend. but there will be a fair amount of cloud around so rather grey skies, but it should

stay dry with lighter winds and the exception of far north of scotland he is still a risk of a few showers and heist at ten to 13 celsius. almost the case at bank holiday weekend, potential for a almost the case at bank holiday weekend, potentialfor a risk of almost the case at bank holiday weekend, potential for a risk of a few showers in the northern england in lincolnshire and east anglia, will need to keep a close eye on that and temperatures around eight to 13 degrees, that is down to where they should be ready for this time of year. there is a change as we move into the majority of it, but wet and windy weather still feeling cool at times.

bbc world news, the headlines. cyclone hit india aeschylus with heavy rains and 200 km an hour winds, officials say the storm is expected to cause widespread disruption as it makes its way north towards bangladesh. trees and they conservative party lost more than 1000 council seats at local elections dominated by brexit, the opposition labour party also get bad with smaller parties who remain in the eu gaining seats. bmn says north korea cut public food rations to only 300 grams a day following the worst harvest in ten years. it estimates more than 10 million will not have enough to eat. she says she will take medication to satisfy new

rules on hormone levels after