asia correspondence taking us through those ceremonies in bangkok. you are seeing the seen live in bangkok, we have already had the royal purification ceremony and we are going to move onto royal anointment ceremony, where the seven—tiered umbrella will be seen. we will keep your trust that on bbc news. a review commissioned by the british foreign office says christians are the most persecuted group around the world. its interim findings say that christianity could be wiped out in parts of the middle east. british foreign secretary jeremy hunt said political correctness had prevented proper discussion of the subject. 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, while 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 adds more than that number of christians are killed for their faith every month, on average, around the world. david campanale, bbc news. in the uk, results in the local elections across england and northern ireland showed that the main parties, conservative labour, have suffered major losses in an apparent backlash against the brexiter process. smaller parties, such as the liberal democrats,

greens and independents, have made some large gains, although the results are still being counted. some large gains, although the results are still being countedm is incredibly bad news for the two main parties, the governing my conservative party in the main opposition labor party. i think it is hard not to see this is the continuing crisis in uk politics, a truly profound crisis caused by brexit. the anecdotal evidence suggests people are usually underwhelmed by the leadership of theresa may for the conservatives and jeremy corbyn for labour. they think both parties have been incompetent in their handling of brexit. the real problem is this very divided country we have in the uk, and that really, neither party is sorts of brexity and for people who want to leave, and not remainy enough to people who load brexit, which is why we have such a crisis. north korea has cut public food rations to 300 g a day after last yea r‘s harvest was rations to 300 g a day after last year's harvest was the rations to 300 g a day after last yea r‘s harvest was the worst rations to 300 g a day after last year's harvest was the worst in a decade. but is according to the united nations. that isjust

i300 calories. the average minimum the world cup make food my programme recommends is 1800. it is recommended tens of thousands of north koreans suffer from severe food and security of some could soon run out of food supplies altogether. we spoke to a professor of korean studies and he told us who he thought was responsible for the crisis. when one thinks of north korea, north korea is such a weird amalgamation of mediaeval mores, buffoonish bellicosity, one tends to mock, one tends to patronise north korea and one assumes that 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, north korea is an urbanised, literate society and, for the first time ever in human history, an industrialised, urbanised, literate country underwent, suffered a 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 10 million north koreans hungry, means over 40% of north koreans are undernourished.

according to the un fao, food and agriculture organisation, 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 united states —— the us and russian presidents have had an hour—long phone call to discuss various matters, including the venezuelan crisis. the us has backed opposition leaderjuan guaido and accused russia of convincing president maduro to stay in power. after the call, donald trump said vladimir putin didn't want to do

more than provide aid to venezuela. the bbc‘s nick bryant is encouraging us the bbc‘s nick bryant is encouraging us with this update. —— in caracas. 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. u nless unless urgent action is taken, the rare and varied wildlife of madagascar could soon be lost forever. that is the warning from an international team of scientists. they are concerned that the continued loss of natural habitats in the region. science correspondent victoria gill has been to see what

is already being done to help save the animal population. a tropical sanctuary home to wildlife that lives nowhere else on earth. but all this biodiversity, the light that thrives in the forests of madagascar, is under threat. thrives in the forests of madagascar, is underthreat. lena's depend on primary old—growth forest like this. —— lemurs. but across madagascar 80% of this habitat has been cut down. a big driver of that is agriculture, slash and burn, burning forests to produce a plot of fertile soil. but here in manga bay, there is a funding revolution going on. teenagers here are learning to grow food in a new and sustainable way. these lessons of weeding, pruning and maintaining the soil, using compost and crop rotation to keep the same plot productive. translation: it is really difficult with their traditional

farming techniques, because you move from one field to another and cut and burn trees, but with the new methods you stay in one place. it is much easier. if the forest continues to be destroyed, there will be less water to drink be destroyed, there will be less waterto drink and be destroyed, there will be less water to drink and they will be a loss of habitat for the wildlife. lemurs will disappear, they will die out. today, the community is celebrating the newest group of recruits who will sign up to learn these new skills, and the training scheme will soon be brought to other villages in the region. because as well as protecting forest, this way of funding is producing higher yields, critical in a community that relies entirely on what people can grow. —— this way of farming. let's just take you back to the live seen in thailand, bangkok, where one of the main ceremonies of the coronation of king rama x is under way. this is a ceremony we have been waiting forfor way. this is a ceremony we have been waiting for for about half—an—hour 110w. waiting for for about half—an—hour now. this is the royal anointment ceremony. he

is actually sitting underneath a seven—tiered umbrella, a very important part of this stage of the rituals that have been happening in the coronation of the king. we have our southeast asia correspondence jonathan head on king. we have our southeast asia correspondencejonathan head on the line for us. what will we see in this ceremony, and what is its significance? well, we are expecting to see now, you will see the king is in very different clothing now from the white togo he was wearing for the white togo he was wearing for the earlier purification ceremony, you can see the king sitting on a kind of stall, and he has eight of the most important public figures in the most important public figures in the country standing around him ready to anoint his hands with water that has been taken from 107 sources around the country, and from the royal palace. now, the choice of these eight figures will be watched

closely by thais. his father, at his own coronation, chose members of parliament. the late king was ascended —— educated in switzerland, mostly outside of the country, before he ascended to the throne. this king has chosen the current prime minister, a former military coup leader and army commander, and two other army commanders among the eight, and i think that tells us a lot about the importance of the relationship between the military and the monarchy. arguably, that is what has allowed the monarchy to thrive and has underpinned the political stability thailand has had for the last several decades. there is also the head of the supreme court and the head of the current national assembly, the speaker. but thatis national assembly, the speaker. but that is a militarily appointed

national assembly. so there is a great deal less democratic symbolism than the eight people chosen for this anointment than were chosen by his father, king bhumibol, back in 1950. once that is over, the king then gets presented with the royal regalia. these are items considered essential to any coronation, including the pointed crown which we expect he will place on his own head, a sort of victory, fly risk and fan, and pointed slippers and a sceptre. at that point he will be able to sit beneath a nine—tiered umbrella, only accorded is a privilege to reigning monarchs, and at that point, anybody who says that in thailand will know that he is officially recognised in every way as the next king of thailand. he is sitting underneath a seven—tiered umbrella at the moment, jonathan. we're just seeing the live seen at the moment in bangkok, of the coronation of king maha vajiralongkorn. there is a lot of symbolism and ritual in this

process. what does it mean for the thai people? well, they care a lot about ritual and symbolism two. if you look at the lives of many thai people, they come from all origins. if you think about bangkok as a city, most of the people here are of the middle class population, anyway, in this —— the middle class population, anyway, in this -- in the middle class population, anyway, in this —— in the centre of bangkok, other descendants of a lot chinese immigrants, who brought lots of chinese customs and superstitions with them. but they have also absorbed the buddhist and brahmanic conditions. it is rare to see any thai who will not instinctively classed by hands and bow when they pass any kind of shrine, be it buddhist or brahmanic. so many ties will be watching these scenes closely, seeing these very high ranking brahmans and top ranking officials, pouring the sacred water overtaking. it will bring home to dandy and on the enormous status of

this king and the fact that he enjoys the same kind of semi— divine blessings all his descendants did. that is important when you consider this is a king who has taken the throne late in life and he led a life as crown prince but was often controversial, it couldn't be talked about openly because of the laws against any negative comments on the monarchy, but it was known about. there are people who often wondered whether he was even suitable as monarch. seeing these ceremonies, how elaborate they are and how much they follow the traditions here that people are aware of, it will remind them that whatever has passed, this is now a fully recognised king who ta kes is now a fully recognised king who takes his role seriously and has all of fear, you might say, divine blessings and divine backing and religious backing that any other king has had. and i think that matters to him and it will make a big difference to how many thai people see him. we should let viewers know that

people are subject to laws which restrict what they can say about the monarchy. we are seeing the ceremony continue live. what do you think people can expect from the new king? that is a very interesting question. he isa that is a very interesting question. he is a very different... he cuts a very different personality from his father. his name to be quick—tempered and even intolerant of people who do not meet his standards. we have seen quite striking innovations brought under his reign, many cosmetics, for example a new salute which police and soldiers have to follow. they have to puff their chests and turn their heads, they have to wear incredibly short haircuts. he is

known to be very hard on people who fail him in any way at all. it is a tough again, more hands—on. he has taken personal control of tough again, more hands—on. he has ta ken personal control of massive royal assets which make him by far the wealthiest person in the country. he hasn't shown a real interest and has had some influence over the structure of the military. we have seen key military units moved out of the capital which makes it harder to have a coup. he is a soldier king. he was in the army and ta kes soldier king. he was in the army and takes great pride in his personal regimen. how he actually acts beyond this is difficult to say. all we can say for sure at this stage is that he is unpredictable and certainly not like his father. we are continuing to see the anointment ceremonial under way here in bangkok. i wonder, ceremonial under way here in

bangkok. iwonder, you mentioned his father, king bhumibol adulyadej, who died a few years ago. there has been a long period of mourning before this coronation? the official period of mourning was one year after the death of king bhumibol adulyadej, after they held an extremely elaborate funeral. that had a different atmosphere to the coronation and understandably. inside thailand king bhumibol adulyadej was not subject to any critical assessment but nobody doubted he was a well—intentioned monarch who cared deeply about his country, cared about his role and lived a very devoted life, he was devoted to development projects, he took a great deal of interest on things that he thought benefited people. that devotion to

duty, that an ostentatious person, the fact that thailand went through such wrenching economic changes — for about 30 years this was one of the fastest growing economy in the world. it has literally transformed. so much change in people's live. they saw bhumibol adulyadej as a turning point, as a man of buddhist values, even when their politics let them down. bhumibol adulyadej‘s reputation is almost untouchable and, in many ways, whatever his qualities, it is tough for king maha vajiralongkorn. he understands that he simply cannot be like his father and we're waiting to see in what ways he cuts a different monarchy. we are beginning to see the love scenes in bangkok at the grand palance as the

royal anointment ceremonial continues. we have seen the water being passed to the king. jonathan, this royal family the water being passed to the king. jonathan, this royalfamily has such a long history. it is quite remarkable. can you tell us more about that? these rituals were revived by the great great grandfather of king maha vajiralongkorn, the first in line of the dynasty. he was a general who deposed a previous king who helped the time monarchy —— thais monarchy recover in 1767. this idea of lineage is important. thais although the history. at some .1 monarch usurped another and with a country with so many coups, it is perhaps an

easy concept to grasp. he sees a power when king paxson was deposed. —— thatkins. it became a centre of power when he revealed the kingdom. his successors had to deal with the advance of european influence, french and british colonialism advancing through indochina, burma, malaya. but they held off colonial power and thailand takes great pride in never having been colonised and they attributed this to the success and skills of those kings, those direct descendants of king maha vajiralongkorn. he is the descendant of people who moulded this country. we are still seeing the sender live in bangkok. that ceremony has continued. king maha

vajiralongkorn has walked away from where he was setting. he received some water. there is now a multitiered umbrella. what is the role of the monarchy in thailand and in society? officially it isa thailand and in society? officially it is a constitutional monarchy and if you hear that term people imagine it isa if you hear that term people imagine it is a monarchy like those in europe where monarchs have an essentially ceremonial role. the monarchy is held to be above politics. in practice, the enormous moral authority and real power that the king has — remember this money thatis the king has — remember this money that is at the kings disposal, the late bhumibol adulyadej did not do much with it — but it has $40 billion, owning much of the land at

its disposal. the kings which is really cannot be denied. it is a far more powerful monarchy than any others outside the golf or small states of brunei. it is also an untouchable monarchy. you cannot talk about it. people respond privately about the monarchy. some disagree about with some aspects of it but cannot say so openly. it does not really get across the enormous influence of the monarch can have. some say that bhumibol adulyadej was very careful and using his power, he exercised that are rarely, in moments of crisis. others say his influence was far stronger. this king has made it clear he is willing to intervene far more than his father. in 2.5 years we have seen some striking initiatives, particularly demanding changes to the constitution but we have yet to see just how far he is willing to

exercise that immense power that can reside in the position of the monarch. we are seeing the same live in the palace. i believe we saw the king receiving the nine—tiered umbrella. he has moved to a separate frame now. what kind of ceremonies in the coming hours and days? we are seeing one of the chief roman priest reading out to him. i assume this is prior to him breathing present at the royal regalia, the items that have been important at coronations going back to rama i. it includes the great crown of victory. the king, if he follows his father, will

place on his own head. a royal sort of victory, a royalfan place on his own head. a royal sort of victory, a royal fan and fly whisk, royal sculptor and royal slippers. —— royal sceptre. we are waiting to hear his first royal command. his father said he would rein with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of all the people of thailand. that phrase was remembered as epitomising his sense of duty so everyone will be listening very carefully to the words chosen by this new king in that very first an important royal command. jonathan had taking us through all of that and what we are seeing live in bangkok

of the elaborate rituals forming part of the coronation of king maha vajiralongkorn. stay with us for all the coverage on bbc news. 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 24 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 14 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.

good morning — welcome to breakfast with naga munchetty and jon kay. brexit backlash — the conservatives suffer their worst local election performance for nearly 25 years, senior cabinet ministers plead for unity. cyclone fani bears down on north—east india — more than1 million people are evacuated from their homes. ceremonies are taking place in thailand as part of three days of events marking the coronation of the new king. and i am live at euston station

where hundreds of passengers will