north korea has fired a number of missiles from its eastern coast — its first since the test of an inter —continental weapon in 2017. these projectiles are thought be welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is reged ahmad. short range and flew up to two our top stories: north korea launches several "short—range missiles" into the east sea according to south korea'sjoint chief of staff. cyclone fonee hits india with 200 kilometre an hour winds. hundred kilometres before landing in the sea. the missiles it's heading towards kolkata were launched from wonsan and bangladesh after leaving near the hodo peninsula in the east widespread damage and disruption of north korea. across the east of the country. it comes amid a diplomatic breakdown as deaths from ebola reach between north korea and the us one—thousand aid workers in the democratic republic of congo after they failed to reach say their efforts are being hindered a deal at their summit in hanoi in february. by threats to medical staff. the white house has said it's pomp, prayers and pageantry — monitoring the situation. earlier i spoke to foreign we'll have the latest as thailand witnesses the coronation affairs analyst ankit panda of its new monarch — 00:00:41,318 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 king maha vajiralongkorn. and i asked him if these missile tests differed in any way from previous ones(sot next) we do not know exactly

what the north koreans fired. they have been no images and the event occurred about two hours ago. but the critical difference between the two tactical weapons systems it did in november and once again in april is that it was big enough to be picked up by south korean missiles warning system. it is the first time in 522 days, the last time north korea launched a missile. it appears to be a much smaller missile. still quite calibrated. but that is the chief difference. do you think the international community will be worried about these latest missiles, especially the united states? absolutely. on one hand, they violate north korean commitments and security council resolutions but, of course, we have seen in the us that president trump has attempted the lack of any missile launchers in north korea is one of his major achievements and now, since the summit between him and kim jong—un things have not been going so well and we're starting to see the process entirely collapsing. we will see how the us chooses to react.

what do you think north korea is thinking by launching these missiles? what are they trying to achieve? i do not have to speculate about that because kim jong—un told us when he delivered his first address since the summit. he warned there would be corresponding acts from north korea for the us pushing ahead with military exercises in south korea. he was unsatisfied with the state of diplomacy. this was clearly telegraphed by north korea and now we are simply seeing it happen. i was not surprised with the news emerging. what do they hope will happen now? are they trying to goad the us and the international community, trying to bring them back to the table? kim jong—un has set in place a time.

he has told donald trump that by the end of the year the us needs to change its approach to north korea. something we should also keep in mind is that these type of missile tests are also intended to show stakeholders inside north korea that kim jong—un is a strong leader determined to maintain the security of the country. we have just seen to launchers in the span of two weeks. a previous weapons tests, kim jong—un was deciding how advanced the weapons were. it is about domestic as well as us. we hear about food shortages and in north korea and that cannot be going very well for kim jong—un in terms of the politics of that? that's right. we heard that national defence strength will prevent the recurrence of the famine the country suffered in the 1990s and of course last year ‘s harvest was disappointing and now we are seeing credible reporting that hundreds of thousands of north koreans are under food stress so this does band

of the drums of nationalism and shows that kim jong—un is taken the country's defence seriously but it will not do anything to stem north korean economic problems in the short—term. cyclone fani is bearing down on one of india's biggest cities, kolkata, after hitting the state of odisha on friday. the storm — one of the worst in the region for years — has weakened as it heads towards bangladesh. at least eight people have died. richard forrest reports. is cyclone fani bowed up india's east coast, towns and cities further north were preparing for a ticket. in west bengal, trains were chained to the tracks as the state's rail

network was closed down, causing travel misery for thousands. and at calcutta's airport, everyone hoping to travel was out of luck with every flight to travel was out of luck with every flight cancelled. our flight has been cancelled so we have to stay here with two children. been cancelled so we have to stay here with two childrenlj been cancelled so we have to stay here with two children. i need to go to delhi and start my preparations for my exams but i'm not able to catch flights today and even i'm not able to book flights for tomorrow, day after tomorrow and three or four days ahead. fani, one of the biggest storms to come out of the bay of bengal in the past decade, made la ndfall bengal in the past decade, made landfall in pure before heading north—east to calcutta and then bangladesh. people were evacuated from low—lying coastal areas. and this is why. winds of 200 kilometres an hour have ripped down trees and torn roofs of buildings. electricity poles have been toppled and windows blown out. weather forecasters say

fani is weakening but still poses a major threat as it heads to bangladesh. officials in india say their mass evacuation efforts appear to have been successful and now they will return to assessing the true scale of the damage in rural areas. let's get some of the day's other news. 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 three— point— six percent — the lowest level in almost 50 years. the figures have allayed fears that the world's richest economy

is heading for a slowdown. -- 3.6%. a series of elaborate rituals which form part of the coronation of king maha vajiralongkorn of thailand are getting under way at the royal palace in bangkok. blending hindu and buddhist theology, the ceremonies are intended to mark the transformation of the king into a divine being, 2.5 years after he ascended the throne. our south east asia correspondent jonathan head joins us from bangkok. thank you so much forjoining us. any tennis that is going to be happening over the next few hours? well, we've just seen the king arrive inside the royal palace to start the most important part of this coronation. there is actually a crowning, the putting of appointed crowning, the putting of appointed crown on his head a little later on but the most important part involves water. this is water that is taken

from five sources around thailand that are meant to emulate the hindu traditions of five sacred rivers originating in the sacred mountain. this is very much something borrowed from hindu ideas which emphasises the power and hierarchy of the monarchy but the buddhist monk could is also involved. in that water purification ceremony, the king will change into white clothing. he is starting at an auspicious time of nine minutes past ten, nine is his father's number in the lineage of the dynasty and ten, his own, are considered important. he will then be ritually bathed in this water within an ointment ceremony that involves other portions of water given to him by eight people from eight directions of the compass and following that, he will be given important items called royal regalia, he will sit under a 9—

tiered umbrella, only accepted and recognised monarchs get to do that. he will put the crown on his head. then issued his first royal command. something about the tone of his monarchy. but he will reign with full righteousness for the benefit of the thai people. all this happens over the next three hours. there are many other rituals which extend into tomorrow when we get a procession all around this old historic part of bangkok, when people for the first time will see him as a fully consecrated king. there is so much symbolism. what does this mean for thai people? it's kind of interesting. there hasn't been a coronation since 1950. quite a few

brahmin rituals as well. thailand does blend these two traditions sea mlessly does blend these two traditions seamlessly and a lot of its practices. a lot of explanation to people because of the media coverage. it's a facet needing historical moment. it also helps cement in their minds. but borrowed traditions going right back hundreds of years. this is a king about whom there are quite mixed feelings. a rather controversial lifestyle does not enjoy the extraordinary affection, your most intimate affection, your most intimate affection his father did. these traditions will remind thais that

its immense royal status as his predecessors and he is another king. important to remind peoplejust predecessors and he is another king. important to remind people just how central the monarchy is to thailand and of course, one must always remember you are not allowed to discuss the status of the monarchy here. it is an official ideology that nobody can challenge stop laws prevent you from criticising the monarchy. there is no doubt the enormous ceremony and the trappings of thai history do make this a very impressive moment that a lot of ties are following very closely. jonathan had giving us all the details there from bangkok. we will of course keep across the coronation of the thai king for you over the next hour.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: why caster semenya says she won't quit athletics, after winning herfirst race since being told to reduce testosterone levels in her body. 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 world news, the latest headlines: north korea has launched several short—range missiles into the east sea according to south korea'sjoint chief of staff. cyclone foni has hit india— bringing a deluge of rain and winds gusting at more than 200 kilometres an hour. the authorities in the democratic republic of congo say the number of people who have died in the latest outbreak of ebola has passed 1,000. efforts to combat the spread of the disease have been hampered by violence. the world health organisation has promised greater security to protect health

workers in dr congo, as andy beatt reports. 1000 dead and new cases rising fast. the drc in the grip of the world's second worst ebola outbreak. for medical staff working to contain the virus in the eastern city of bukavu, it is a race against time. we are anticipating a scenario of continued intense transmission. our regional director has recently returned from the democratic republic of the congo, where he found the situation on the ground to be worse than it has been previously. health workers are also facing another deadly threat — armed groups targeting them and their makeshift hospitals. since january, we have experienced

119 separate attacks. 42 of which have been directly on health facilities, with 85 health personnel either injured or killed in those settings. so we are dealing with a difficult and volatile situation. each time a health centre and its staff are attacked, services are suspended, allowing the epidemic to spread. thought to be responsible — rebel groups competing for resources and power, and locals suspicious of outsiders and their motives. medical teams have demanded and been promised more protection. we are going to see an increase in the security coverage of the operation, very much sensitive to the fact that we don't want to, if you like, obstruct and confront the people

first with the military. this is a public health response. for the first time, a cocktail of experimental drugs is raising hope. a massive immunisation campaign is under way, with early signs suggesting the pioneering treatment could drastically cut rates of transmission. so far, just two provinces in the drc are affected. despite its best efforts, the world health organization says cases are very likely to spread into neighbouring countries. it has pointed to a multimillion dollarfunding gap, and called for far greater resources to back its response. the us backed the opposition leader and accused pressure of convincing

the president to stay in power in venezuela. after the call, donald trump said that fundamental hooton did not want to do more to provide aid to venezuela. this was supposed to be the week that president maduro was swept from office, that the 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, and 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 is 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. back to bangkok, series of salmon is held in thailand to mark the coronation of the king. this is one

of the very important, potentially most important ceremonies that is due to take place, the royal purification ceremony involving a lot of water. there will be a number of very symbolic moments in the ceremony and we willjust keep across all these moments here on bbc news. as the coronation of the king continues. 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. 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 of 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. a series of elaborate rituals forming part of the coronation of the king have been getting under

way. our southeast asia correspondentjonathan way. our southeast asia correspondent jonathan head way. our southeast asia correspondentjonathan head is there. a lot of symbolism in the upcoming rituals. addressing probably the most important one is a ritual which is known as the water purification ceremony, we've just seen purification ceremony, we've just seen the king coming out dressed in a sort of white one shouldered toga which is the tradition. being that out with press ahead of him, ready to sit down on the wooden bench and he will be underneath what is a kind of shower that will shower him with water on five sacred sources around thailand. that represents the five traditional, five sacred rivers in hindu mythology that are supposed to originate in mount mary. as he undergoes a ceremony, he's been connected ritually to the power of the great hindu gods. it's very

interesting to see how much hinduism is involved in the ritual after all, it isa is involved in the ritual after all, it is a buddhist country was not the supreme it is a buddhist country was not the supreme page rank of the buddhists in thailand, will be pouring water on his hands so they blend both of those together. once that particular ritual is over, the king will change into much more ornate coronation clothing and then undergo an anointment by eight key people in the power structures of thailand today. they will include the prime minister, the man who led the coup five years ago, he is supervising is coronation. the old head of the privy council, one of the older statesman in thailand, very close to his father. the head of the supreme court and other royals as well. these are people very high in the firmament of the royal establishment and they will pour water over him,

over his hands, 19 in this water, in a different directions symbolising the eight corners of thailand. all this happens in the next two hours and traditionally, that is the most important ritual in this whole coronation ceremony. the actual coronation ceremony. the actual coronation involving a crown was elevated by one of the previous kings, more or less in emulation of european kings and made more important but traditionally, this is the one that carries the most symbolism, the most spiritual power for the new king and connects him to the traditional deities with which kinship is associated. as you say, we have been seeing the king on these live pictures dressed in that white toga style outfit. there is a lot of symbolism in these ceremonies, what is it mean to the thai people? that was a symbolic

canon. it tells us the want of purification ceremony has started and they are celebrating it with this gunfire. for thai people, and they are celebrating it with this gunfire. forthai people, it and they are celebrating it with this gunfire. for thai people, it is a new kind of phenomena because most of them won't have either seen or remember the last coronation in 1950. it will bring back to them the richness of the traditions and it will embed as king, anchored this king in traditions, elevating his status. he is a kinky got a lot to prove and has a controversial personality. it doesn't enjoy the affection of his fathers be taken over at a much later stage of his life. there's been an awful lot of information given to thai people so they can involve themselves in this ata they can involve themselves in this at a distance. a lot of people take pride in this. there are not many monarchies this powerful, this influential, left in this region or anywhere. it will remember distractible mind thai people how important the monarchy is in the structures. there will be some thai people that don't take such interest

but those fees are not allowed to be heard. we can hear this canon sounds behind you, can you tell us more about the role of the monarchy in thai society? is considered to be absolutely essential. if you listen the current military government will just pledged off to defend the monarchy, they have made it illegal even to question the system of government that puts the king at the head. officially, thailand is a constitutional monarch. his first have so many powers, merely to affirm what is decided by elected other government. in this case, the military. in practice, this aura that kings get with the coronation and that his father acquired doing 70 years of wall, it means immense influence. this king in particular has shown a real interest in taking greater control of oil institutions

and of expressing his views meetings it matters. making decisive decisions over the recent election where he bowed his sisterfrom running as accounted. he has expressed fears about the constitution, kings have enormous influence, they're not supposed wield political power but it is almost impossible to say no to a king who expresses a desire for something that was not in that sense, the official view of time monarchy doesn't really express how central role that plays and how important it is to anchor the hierarchy of this is an unequal society, society where businesses but distract become very rich and is a society which accepts dominant role for the military. the monarchy has sat at the apex of that and been used to justify the system. there are thai people that want to question it but the rules basically make that impossible. this is a visual ideology, would call it a state religion, monarchy said to be right at the heart of thai identity.

we have been seeing pictures of the water purification and pictures of the canons coming off that we can continually here. i wonder about the significance for the international community. our leaders of other countries watching the ceremonies and watching what happens?” countries watching the ceremonies and watching what happens? i think the succession thailand after a king who more or less made them on country or moulded it, took over, he became king in 19116 when the monarchy had declined to appoint, people wondered whether it would survive. look at the neighbours in cambodia. the monarchy has been reduced to a purely ceremonious business. all countries in