this is bbc news. i'm ben bland. our top stories: cyclone foni heads towards kolkata after battering india's east coast with 200 kilometre an hour winds. one of india's poorest states now has a huge clean—up operation on its hands and that's not going to be easy when many parts of it are cut off from each other. the un says north korea has cut food rations to just 300 grammes a day, following the worst harvest for a decade. caster semenya says she won't take medication to comply with new competition rules after racing to victory in doha. and the ultimate box set — one woman's 30 year archive of american television.

hello and welcome to bbc news. cyclone fani is one of the most powerful storms to hit india in five years (catwalk)it‘s brought torrential rain and winds of upto 200 kilometres per hour to india's eastern coast. more than a million people have been moved from their homes. as the storm now moves north it leaves behind a trail of destruction in the state of 0disha — formerly known as 0rissa — where it first made landfall on friday. rahul tandon is there in the town of puri and sent this report. such was the fury of one of india's most powerful storms in recent times. glass smashes. shouting. 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, the 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're 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. rahultandon, bbc news, bhubaneswar. a short while ago chris fawkes from bbc weather was here to talk to us a bit more about how the cyclone is moving(sot) the cyclone we know made landfall at about 230 gmt on the south coast of 0disha, around puri. that's 8 o'clock local time. from there it's been travelling in a north—eastward direction and it currently is about 20km west of balasore which is still in the state of 0disha but only just. it's about to cross over the state boundary into west bengal and is probably going to get really close to calcutta, actually. it'll probably just travel to the north—west but the winds

are still strong, it's been overland for 16 hours but the winds are still gusting at about 150km/h and i think it's been able to maintain some of its strength. because it's been travelling so close to the coast and it's still been able to feed off the warm waters of the bay of bengal. the winds are just half the story — the other is the torrential rain. let's get some of the day's other news. the world health organization says more than a thousand people have now died from the ebola outbreak in the democratic republic of the congo. violence in the region is making it hard to control the spread of the disease. a number of rebel groups are active in eastern congo and there is deep mistrust of health workers. the bangladesh foreign minister says if the british—born teenager who went to syria join islamic state enters his country, she would be executed. dr abdul momen said there was no question of giving her bangladeshi citizenship.

shamima begum was stripped of her british nationality in february, after the government said she was eligible for a bangladeshi passport. stock markets in the us have surged on strong job growth figures, with the nasdaq closing at an all—time high. markets were boosted by a fall in unemployment in the us to 3.6% which is the lowest level in almost 50 years. the figures have allayed fears that the world's richest economy is heading for a slowdown. results from local elections across england and northern ireland show the main parties, conservative and labour, have suffered significant losses in what seems to be a backlash against the brexit process. smaller parties such the liberal democrats and greens, and independents have made some large gains, though the results are still being counted. north korea has cut public food rations to 300 grams grammes per day, after last year's harvest was the worst in a decade —

according to the un. that's just thirteen 1,300 calories — when the average minimum the world food programme recommends is 1,800. it's estimated that over 10 million north koreans suffer from severe food insecurity, and that some could soon run out of food supplies altogether. the information was gathered by un teams carrying out a new food security assessment in the country. earlier, i spoke to sung—yoon lee, a professor of korean studies at the fletcher school at tufts university, and asked him who he thinks is responsible for this crisis. when one thinks of north korea, north korea is such a weird amalgamation of mediaeval mores and buffoonish bellicosity. 0ne tends to mock, one tends to patronise north korea and one assumes the food situation, the pervasive hunger and malnutrition must be due to incompetence, a combination of bad weather, bad fortune and perhaps even us— and un—led sanctions. simply not true. north korea is an industrialised economy, an urbanised, literate society and for the first time ever in human history, an industrialised, urbanised, literate country which has suffered

famine as north korea did in the mid—90s. it's an entirely manmade famine and over the past 20 years or more, north koreans have been among the top in terms of food insecurity. 10 million people means, 100 million north koreans hungry 10 million people means, 10 million north koreans hungry over 40% of north koreans are undernourished. according to the fao, the un food and agriculture 0rganisation, the latest figures show over 43% of north koreans, 43% of the overall population are suffering from undernourishment. so this is all due to the perverse choices made by the regime. the us and russian presidents had an hour—long phone call earlier to discuss various matters including the venezuelan crisis. the us has backed the opposition leaderjuan guaido — and accused russia of convincing president maduro to stay in power. but after the call, donald trump said that vladimir putin didn't

want to do more than provide aid to venezuela. the bbc‘s nick bryant is in caracas with this update. this was supposed to be the week that president maduro was swept from office, and opposition leader juan guaido would take charge but after claiming early on tuesday morning that he had significant military support for a public uprising, thatjust failed to materialise. there weren't the defections amongst the military top brass that were needed and within 48 hours, the mass demonstrations had fizzled. earlier, i caught up with the self—declared interim president who's recognised as legitimate leader of venezuela by the united states and some 50 other countries. i asked him whether this week, he'd blown it. mr guaido, did you miss your

chance this week, sir? did you miss your chance? "venezuela hasn't lost the chance," he replied. "we are closer to freedom." mr guaido is calling for his supporters to gather at military bases on saturday morning. the idea to hand in letters to commanders of the armed forces asking them to change sides. this is basically turned into a battle for the hearts and minds of the military, an incredibly influential group in this country which controls so much of the economy and often tends to make its decisions based on economic self—interest. so far, the generals are backing the president and the high hopes that the opposition had at the beginning of the week have been dashed. in thailand, preparations are being made for the coronation of king maha vajiralongkorn.

he will succeed his father as king rama x. elaborate ceremonies will take place from saturday until monday. on friday the king paid his respects to the sacred emerald buddha and the royal remains. before that, royal objects including a golden plaque, inscribed with his name, title and horoscope, was brought to the grand palace. from bangkok, jonathan head reports. over the next 2—3 days, we will see some extraordinarily elaborate rituals taking place here in the old royal quarter in bangkok as the king is formally consecrated in what they call a coronation but it involves a whole range of highly significant brahminic and hindu rituals blended with buddhism. it involves the buddhist monkhood, the king is the formal protector of buddhism as well as brahminic rituals that go back deep into indian history that has

influenced much of thai culture. these rituals anchor the king as the latest in a long line of kings in a dynasty that dates back to 1782 and that's important for him because he's come to the throne relatively late in his 60s, he follows a king, king bhumibol, who pretty much made modern thailand, or is seen to sort of mould it, and has built up an extraordinary store of respect and reverence which is very hard for any king to match. this king has had a much more controversial lifestyle and is going to have to mould the monarchy in a different way. now, it is remarkable how strong the thai monarchy is when you consider that in this region, monarchies have largely been eliminated or diminished to near insignificance. here, the monarchy is at the very centre of life, it wields enormous power and it has enormous wealth and one thing we have seen with this king is he intends to exercise tight personal control over that wealth and power, to reign in a rather different way from his father, much less hands—off. but he takes over at a difficult time, after a controversial and much criticised election that is supposed to end military rule,

with a really uncertain future for the country over the next few years. thailand's still bitterly divided politically. its conflicts, political conflicts have not been resolved. whereas king bhumibol himself was often a calming, unifying figure, nobody is sure yet given the personality and style of this king, king vajiralongkorn, how effective he can be in restoring some kind of calm again to a very divided country. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come:a prayer for religious tolerance but what does the future hold for the christians of the middle east? i, nelson rolihlahla mandela, do hereby swear to be faithful to the republic of south africa. after six years of construction

and numerous delays, the channel tunnel has been formally opened by the queen and president mitterand. but the tunnel is still not yet ready for passengers and freight services to begin. for centuries, christianity and islam struggled for supremacy. now, the pope's visit symbolises their willingness to coexist. roger bannister became the first man in the world to run a mile in under four minutes. memories of victory as the ve celebrations reach their climax. this night is dedicated to everyone who believes in the future of peace and freedom. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: cyclone fani has hit india, bringing a deluge of rain and winds

gusting at more than 200km/h. the un says north korea has cut food rations to just 300 grams a day, following the worst harvest for a decade. a review commissioned by the british foreign office indicates that christians are the most persecuted religious group around the world. its interim findings suggest that christianity could be wiped out in parts of the middle east. the british foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, said political correctness had prevented proper discussion of the subject. here's david campanale. what happens in china, where freedom to worship is guaranteed in the constitution. churches that refuse to comply with the state can be knocked down flat. according to the review, chinese communist ideology has led to the suppression of the christian church. the report's findings, compiled by a british bishop,

state that unregistered churches come under great pressure to close and experience surveillance, intimidation, fines, and their leaders are regularly detained. the problem, though, is global, with evidence that acts of violence and other intimidation against christians are becoming both more widespread and increasing in severity. in parts of the middle east, the report says christianity faces being wiped out, with the main impact of genocidal acts against christians being exodus. in iraq, where christians have been for millennia, it says they have fallen from 1.5 million barely 15 years ago to less than 120,000 today. a targeting of a religious community, whatever that religion is, is deplorable. and especially, as we have seen recently, most recently in sri lanka, where communities are praying — whether it is sri lanka or christchurch or any other place — praying, worshipping communities

cannot become a target, just to become a political pawn. the report's findings come after 250 people were killed and more than 500 wounded in attacks at churches and hotels in sri lanka on easter sunday. but the report warns that number of christians are killed for their faith every month, on average, around the world. three men suspected of running one of the world's biggest dark web marketplaces for illegal drugs and stolen data have been arrested in germany. the website, named wall street market has since been taken down. german police say investigators found more than 63,000 sale offers, more than one million customer accounts and nearly 5,500 sellers. turkey's biggest mosque has been officially inaugurated in istanbul in a ceremony attended by president recep tayip

erdogan. the camlica mosque with its six minarets is located on a hill top on the asian side of the city and can host 63,000 people. the building opened to worshippers in march. the south african world and olympic champion caster semenya says "no human can stop me running", after winning herfirst race since she was told to reduce her testosterone levels. semenya told the bbc at the diamond league meeting in doha that she has no plans to retire. that's after a landmark ruling saying she must take medication, to limit testosterone in her body. ade adedoyin reports from doha. caster semenya has had a lot on her mind this week, not that she showed it. storming to victory here in doha. my word. is there any end to her talent? she is just running away. dominant, determined and defiant. that was the easiest race i've ever run in my life. for me, negativity is nothing.

so, as long as it doesn't kill me, it makes me stronger, like i said. so i'm here to perform, i'm here to show people of the world that anything is possible if you believe. caster semenya continues to demonstrate qualities that made her a champion. a real show of strength and courage to come here to doha and perform like this after everything that has happened this week. and with the eyes of the world watching. when semenya is at her best, there's only one winner. but defeating her legal battle against the iaaf this week, means that if she is to defend her world title in doha in september, she will have to start taking medication to lower her testosterone levels next week, which may affect her performance. people were wondering, have been asking me, is caster going to retire? is caster going to keep going? how am i going to retire when i'm 28? i'm still a young soul, man, i'm still young, i still feel young, i still feel the energy. i still have ten years or more in athletics, so it doesn't matter how i'm going to do it, what matters is,

i will still be here. i will see you here in doha? of course. i will see you in the 800? of course! former european champion lindsay sharp has in the past questioned whether semenya has an unfair advantage, and she says she's paid a heavy price for that. no—one benefits from the situation, of course she doesn't benefit but it's not me versus her, it's not us versus them, i've had death threats, i've had threats against my family and that's not a position that i want to be in. a week that started in defeats end in victory, semenya showing strength when others would crumble, a moment to save her when she still has a very big decision to make. tributes have been payed to peter mayhew — the actor who played chewbacca in star wars — who's died at the age of 7a. he appeared as the wookie in the original trilogy and more recent films. lizo mzimba has more. chewie, ready for light speed? chewbacca moans.

it was the way that peter mayhew played the wookiee, with no dialogue, but a real range of human emotions that endeared him to millions of fans. he portrayed everything from frustration... to despair. chewbacca groans. to even a hint of menace. chewbacca roars. in a way that audiences effortlessly knew how he was feeling. when director george lucas was casting the original star wars in 1976, he thought former hospital porter mayhew was perfect for the role of chewbacca. for his part, mayhew threw himself into the part, rehearsing enthusiastically... then we'll bounce into a supermarket, and then we'll... that old man is mad! even learning the script so he could speak what chewbacca was trying to portray. today, his star wars co—stars paid tribute to him.

what was so remarkable about him was his spirit and his kindness and his gentleness, it was so close to what type wookiee is. they are fierce animals, but they are like your family dog. there is no one more loving, and the unconditional love, than the family pet. he returned to the role in the first of the latest trilogy, the force awakens, and he'll be fondly remembered for the warm relationship he shared with the other cast, particularly harrison ford's han solo. laugh it up, fuzzball. and to millions, he simply played one of cinema's greatest heroes. many of us like to record our favorite shows but for marion stokes — archiving american television became a 30 year obsession.

up until her death in 2012 the philadelphia recluse was busy capturing broadcasts 2a hours a day. now her story has been turned into a documentary called recorder, as tom brook reports. in matt wolf's new documentary, the camera captures the tens of thousands of video cassette recordings made by marion stokes. her mission began in earnest in 1979, with the advent of the iranian hostage crisis. she continued recording until the sandy hook school shooting in 2012. the recordings included coverage of major world events, topical news features, and human interest stories. newsreel: the odds of twins living a century are said to be one in 700 million. this is the greatest thing this town has ever had. japan's newest export, sumo wrestling. gunshots. this now is a tape of yesterday afternoon's shooting... marion stokes' son michael, who is featured in the film, remembers just how obsessed his

mother was when it came to making sure that programmes were recorded. the operation took over her spacious philadelphia apartment. there were probably between five to six, sometimes up to eight video cassette recorders in different rooms. and she or her assistant would scurry between the rooms changing the video cassettes. they would be set to different channels. each one would have a pile of video cassettes next to it. marion stokes was an unusual woman. she had been a radical communist. she became very wealthy. she had a keen intellect, as was evident from the local philadelphia current affairs show on which she appeared. she would offer up her views on a wide variety of subjects, often with stridency. how can you expect black people to have faith in the democratic process! if you want us to have faith in the democratic process, make it work. whatever drove marion stokes, filmmaker matt wolf believes her work is particularly relevant now. she was doing this tape project almost as a form of activism to protect the truth. and the truth is harder and more complex than it has ever been,

particularly with regards to the media. marion recognised the possibility of that and part of the purpose of her archive was to create definitive records so people could check the truth, so they could assess how the news was being shaped by the predilections of those producing it. comparing and contrasting coverage of certain stories across different networks, looking at the evolution of a story of a multiple days. different groups rallied over the weekend in pickens county, alabama... at the tribeca film festival, this new documentary on marion stokes contains just a few brief minutes of material from her vast archive. the full video collection is now in the possession of the internet archive in san francisco, where it is being digitised and made freely available to the public. the american networks have disposed of many of their tv archives, increasing the value of marion stokes' collection. the vastness of what she accomplished truly staggers. archivists say it is monumental. during her life she managed to amass what is probably the biggest personal archive

of television news in history. german police have seized more than a hundred sports cars that were taking part in a suspected illegal road race across europe. cars including porsches, lamborghinis and audis were stopped on a motorway east of wismar, in north—east germany, on a stretch of the road without speed restrictions. concerned drivers had notified the police after some of the cars were seen travelling at estimated speeds of up to 250 kmh. most of the cars had norwegian number plates and stickers with the name of the event, eurorally, a four—stage event from 0slo to prague. the eurorally website terms and conditions state that eurorally is "not a competition" but merely a "holiday planner for car enthusiasts". you can reach me on twitter — i'm @benmbland.

hello there. it feels like our weather has gone a bit weird, what with the 21 celsius we had in february, and now snow in may. yeah, that's what we've seen over the last 2a hours. some wintry showers in scotland, snow settling on some of the northern hills. you see those wintry showers feeding in behind this line of rain, which is a cold front heading south across england and wales. don't be surprised over the next few hours if we see some of that rain get a bit heavier and perhaps turn to snow over the hills of wales, even. wintry showers continue to feed in further north in scotland, with further snow to be spotted here. it is the brisk winds which will prevent a frost from falling for most of us, but where those winds fall off in the countryside, the odd patch of frost is possible. and for the weekend, big, dramatic skies like these.

sunshine and cumulonimbus clouds. when the clouds come across the sky, combined with the cold and windy air, that will make the weather feel really quite chilly. out of the winds, in the may sunshine, where the winds are lighter, perhaps more to the south—west, feeling fresh more than anything else. not too bad. mixed fortunes, really. saturday, the lion's share of the showers coming across northern and eastern scotland, driven by the strong and cold northerly winds. those winds putting the showers onto the north sea coasts as well. we will get a number of heavy downpours, a bit of thunder mixed in with some of these. inland, fewer showers. lighter winds and may sunshine, perhaps not feeling too bad, really, with temperatures up to 1a degrees and those strong winds around the north sea coast, you'll be doing well to see temperatures reach double figures. disappointing for may. heading through saturday night and into sunday, still showers around, especially across northern areas, and another chilly night. we could see a few patches of frost.

five degrees in london, three in cardiff and two in edinburgh. sunday's forecast, the wind coming from more of a north—north—westerly direction, more from iceland, really. that will change who sees the showers. for example, showers continue for northern scotland. at the same time we could have an odd shower sneaking in through the north channel to affect north wales and perhaps north—west england as well. after a sunny start it tends to cloud over and it will be a coolish day, 10—13. bank holiday monday, a greater chance of seeing showers across inland areas as a trough makes its way south, bringing those showers inland. if anything, the temperatures will be dipping down again. highs of eight degrees in aberdeen. that's your weather.

this is bbc news, the headlines: cyclone fani has struck india's east coast, with heavy rain and 200km/h winds. officials say the storm is expected to cause widepsread disruption as it makes its way north towards bangladesh. the un says north korea has cut public food rations to just 300 grams a day, following the worst harvest in 10 years. it estimates that more than ten million people won't have enough to eat. the south african athlete, caster semenya, insists she won't take medication to meet new rules on hormone levels, she was speaking after winning an 800 metre race in doha — her last before the rules take effect. peter mayhew, the actor who played the wookie, chewbacca in five star wars films, has died aged 7a. tributes have been paid by his co—stars. mark hamill who played luke skywalker said he was "gentle and kind".