this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at three... former conservative party leader iain duncan smith says the prime minister must say she will go ‘very soon" after the party suffers heavy losses in the english local elections. police say the leak of information from the national security council about chinese tech giant huawei didn't breach the official secrets act, so isn't a criminal offence. cyclone fani causes destruction in india and bangladesh, bringing torrential rain and winds of up to 125mph. thailand's new king is crowned at bangkok's grand palace, marking his official accession to the throne. here, rail passengers face travel disruption this weekend, as bank holiday engineering work gets underway.

and coming up at 3:30pm here on bbc news, click looks at the future of 56 technology and how it might benefit uk farms. good afternoon. the former tory leader iain duncan smith has said the prime minister must say she will resign "very soon" after the party suffered heavy losses in the english local elections. speaking to the radio station lbc, he referred to theresa may as a "caretaker pm". well, his intervention followed earlier calls from senior conservatives for unity after yesterday's disastrous showing at the polls. more than 1,300 conservative councillors lost their seats. labour failed to make

the gains it had hoped for. the health secretary, matt hancock, said his party needed to listen to voters and compromise so that brexit could be delivered. our political correspondent, nick eardley reports. urgently seeking inspiration, tories mulling over devastating local election results, trying to find a way to solve the party's troubles. these members are in scotland, there were not any local elections here this week, but many agree failing to deliver brexit was behind the election drubbing. ruth davidson says it's now time to sort out differences and get a compromise deal done. i say to the negotiating teams of our party and labour, who are currently locked in talks, get brexit sorted, get a deal over the line and let britain move on. some in government are worried about moving too close to the labour position, but the health secretary was urging compromise. we need a mood for compromise,

which often involves looking at the different positions of different groups and coming up with something in between. clearly, i've supported the prime minister's deal, which i think is better, but there are options in between. talks between the government and opposition will resume early next week. sources tell me there are still substantial differences but, after labour had a tough time at the polls, jeremy corbyn says there is impetus to get a deal done. but opinion in labour is split, with some pointing to losses in brexit—supporting areas and saying failure to deliver exit would be a breach of trust. we've got to leave because we had a referendum and asked people if they wanted to leave the eu, and by a small majority they said they did, and we said we would honour the result. but many labour mps argue the opposite, and say the party needs to back another referendum and ultimately stay in the eu. they point to huge gains in the elections for the greens

and the big winners, the liberal democrats. we are clearly the leading remain party and we expect to do well on that basis. these elections have posed big questions for a government struggling to deliver brexit. answering them will not necessarily be easy. nick eardley, bbc news. and a little earlier nick told me more about mr duncan smith's call for the prime minister to stand down. iain duncan smith is someone who has been critical of the prime minister's approach. has been critical of the prime minister's deal. he is going further today saying that the extent of the losses for the conservative party in the local elections mean that the prime minister now needs to announce her departure date and it needs to be imminent. he is not part of the camp that has been clamouring for her to go away the last few weeks, but the local election has pushed him over

the edge in that sense. the word he used when i spoke to him about an hour ago was caretaker pm. he thinks the prime minister is now just holding the role for someone else. and that she either needs to announce she is standing down soon or be forced to do so by her party. we know it will not be easy for the party to do that, they have tried before. how many times have we sat here and talked about potential, imminent coups? for a former conservative leader to come out and say this, it is damaging for the prime minister certainly. not at least after that extremely damaging results of thursday's local election. while many politicians have been talking about compromise and coming together, he is completely against it. yes, he is completely against holding talks with the labour party. there are many within the conservative party who are furious at the idea and warned that even if the prime minister could come up with some sort of compromise in the next few days or weeks,

they would not sign it. if the government is moved too close to labour's position, many will turn their back on it. that is why iain duncan smith says it is absurd, his words, for her to be doing that. and that if she does do a deal with and she will lose many conservatives. another development involving the former defence secretary, gavin williamson. many people this morning waking up to the picture on twitter with a certain milkshake in hand. tell us about this. gavin williamson is spending a lot of time on instagram and after he was sacked, he posted this picture talking about the fact he was supposed to be going out to dinner with the americans, but instead he was enjoying a mcdonald's. but you will remember that he was sacked over the prime minister's belief that he was behind a leak

of official information. about huawei being involved in the 5g network planning. something he completely denies. after he was sacked, there were calls from opposition parties to investigate this. you have to sign in official secrets act to get much of the information, the met has come out today and said it does not believe that the leak amounts to a criminal defence. that they had spoken to the cabinet office about the material discussed, but were satisfied that the details did not contain information that breached the official secrets act. so the met says there is no crime and will not go any further. despite how much he wants to take it further and he has said that he would, it is not going to happen. yes. the reason why he wants to take it further is because he says he is innocent

and that an inquiry would clear him. but it is not going to happen. meanwhile, counting continues for local elections in northern ireland — where a62 seats are being contested in ii council areas. with all first preference votes counted — the dup are on 2a point i% — a slight increase on the same elections in 2015. sinn fein have seen their vote share drop slightly with 23 point 2%. the smaller parties have made the biggest gains with the cross community alliance party nearly doubling their share of the vote from six point seven to ii.5%. our correspondent, john campbell is in belfast. looking at those numbers so far,

what does it tell us about the current political landscape in northern ireland 7 current political landscape in northern ireland? unsurprisingly the dup and sinn fein art still the dominant parties. dup is a unionist party and sinn fein is the nationalist party. i think the real big thing is the surge in the middle ground. felines party traditionally does really well in what we call middle—class communities pay we are seeing some of the other smaller ci’oss seeing some of the other smaller cross community parties doing well. the green party picking up seats in belfast in a way it has not before he. i think that is the real story of the selection. yes, that does big

blocks still dominate, but we have seen the centre ground open up a little bit more. what about support for militant republicanism? is there something we can read into that? there is very tiny on the we have a councilor on the derry city council. he was elected in the first count in his ward. he was the top of the pole there. that is an area of dairy where a judge was shot dead and the killing was condemned. but if you look across that spectrum of 430 odd councilors, there is really only one that explicitly into... i think he that explicitly into... i think he

that gives you the idea of the electoral support that there is here. 0k, thank you, we will leave it there for now. up to 12 people have been killed by cyclone fonny in the north—eastern indian state of odisha. officials say the loss of life could have been far worse — had they not evacuated more than one million people from their homes. cyclone fonny came ashore near the city of puri, in odisha yesterday. but as the storm continued across india and into bangladesh — its winds have calmed — and its power has reduced significantly. angus crawford reports. the strongest cyclone to hit india in five years. wind and rain tore through the state of odisha. gusts hit more than 120 miles an hour, destroying homes and businesses... ..uprooting trees, cutting roads, destroying communications.

this man says it doesn't matter what preparations we made, houses and shops, everything is destroyed. but more than a million people were evacuated from the storm's path, kept safe in shelters. the numbers of deaths and injuries remain low. now, a time to assess the damage, clear and rebuild. workers start by unblocking the roads. an officer coordinating efforts says his teams are responding to reports wherever they come from. cyclone fani has decreased in strength and moved north. prompt action did save lives, but still it leaves mile after mile of low—lying areas flooded, crops, villages, livelihoods destroyed. angus crawford, bbc news.

a passenger plane ended up in a river after landing in florida during a storm and skidding off the runway. more than 130 people were on board the flight from guantanamo bay in cuba. the us authorities say it's a "miracle" that nobody was seriously injured. thailand's king maha vajiralongkorn has been crowns in a three day coronation ceremony. it comes at a time of political uncertainty for the country. a general election was held in march — the first since the army took control in a coup five years ago — but a new government has yet to be declared. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale reports. this is a sight that few thais have ever seen, a new king purifying himself with consecrated waters as he prepared to ascend to the throne. maha vajiralongkorn, or king rama x, as he's known more formally, became king in 2016 after the death of his father, who'd

reigned for 70 long years. but he's waited until now to be crowned over three days of elaborate buddhist and hindu ceremony. to many thais, the monarch is revered as an almost godlike figure, and some were on the streets, dressed in royal yellow, to see their king make the transition from the human to the almost divine. and, for many, this was a rare glimpse of a sovereign who spends much time abroad and has appeared more remote than his much—loved late father. at 66 years old, he spent his life preparing for this moment, placing a crown weighing more than seven kilograms on his head, issuing his first royal command. translation: i shall reign with righteousness, for the benefit and happiness of the people forever. king vajiralongkorn has had a colourful and at times controversial life. today, his fourth wife, whom he married only this week,

was formally recognised as his new queen. he is protected by severe laws prohibiting any criticism, but some thais hope that a crown prince who was seen by some as unpredictable will become a figure of stability for a country facing political uncertainty. for the king has real political influence. what will matter is his relationship with the army, which took power in a coup in 2014, and what role he might play in the balance between military and civilian rule that emerges from recent elections. for this king will be more than just a spiritual leader. james landale, bbc news. our correspondent, laura bicker, watched the crowning in bangkok. these ceremonies do matter, this is one of the most powerful monarchies in the world, and this enacts his place, cements his place at the head of this thai dynasty. it comes to those ceremonies you just talked about, it began with both

a bathing and an anointment. the bathing in those waters that came from five thai rivers, and the anointment where he was anointed in jugs of water which came from 107 sources across thailand. one source within the palace itself. a sacred pool within the palace. those were some of the most important ceremonies, and you mentioned the nine—tiered parasol. underneath that he was crowned with this elaborate crown which weighs 7.3 kilograms. quite a hefty crown to put on your head. there have been further ceremonies where he has gone to the temple of the emerald buddha, one of the most sacred temples in thailand, where he has officially appointed as the royal patron of the buddhist faith. 95% of thais are buddhist, so it is important for him to be seen to be doing this. all of these ceremonies

over these three days will be viewed by thais very carefully because his father was much loved and much revered. i have heard from thais who have said that they spoke of him like an uncle. he was seen as someone that they could love. this king has been slightly more remote, a slightly different personality. he has spent a lot of time in munich with his 13—year—old son. he is also very close to the military, a military which has overthrown two thai governments in 13 years. he has also run his palace differently, the bureaucracy and the finances. big differences between him and his father. however, they will watch these ceremonies over the next few days and realise that he comes from a long line of a thai dynasty. that was laura bicker. former conservative party leader

iain duncan smith leads calls for the prime minister to step down after the party suffered heavy losses in the english local elections. uk police say the leak from the meeting of the national security council about chinese tech giant huawei "did not amount to a criminal offence". up to 12 people have been killed by cyclone fani in the north—eastern india. the storm hit with winds of up to 125 miles per hour, but officials say the loss of life could have been far worse. in sports this afternoon, celtics has one and a consecutive title. i season in which their manager left. totte n ha m season in which their manager left. tottenham missed a chance to seal qualification. chelsea will move above them into the third with a victory tomorrow. and manchester city's women take on the west ham

ladies. later. they are hoping to win the cup for a second time. kick—off is at 5:30pm. i will be back with more on all those stories a little bit later. palestinian militants in gaza have launched dozens of rockets into neighbouring southern israel. the israeli military say more than 150 missiles have been fired, and that it has been hitting back — targeting positions of the hamas organisation in gaza. five palestinians are reported to have been killed by the latest israeli air strikes. the exchanges follow a heightening of tension in the area after fighting broke out along the border on friday. our middle east correspondent, tom bateman, is injerusalem. these have been weekly protests that have taken place at the gaza perimeterfence, largely on fridays, ever since last summer, which have seen the death of 200 palestinians with israeli troops guarding that

perimeter fence, that they say is necessary to guard and prevent a violent reaction by what they see as militants on the other side who could harm israeli civilians. hamas say they want an easing of this. they want an easing of the blockade thatis they want an easing of the blockade that is also supported by egypt. israel says it has no say for security reasons. that has been the context, at what we had on friday afternoon was a palestinian gunman who shot at two israeli soldiers, they were wounded, and in esponse to that the israelis struck at a hamas observation post, and two militants were killed. palestinians were killed afterwards. a heightening of the tensions because of those casualties on both sides, and as the funerals took place in the gaza strip of two of those militants this morning, there was a barrage of rocket fire from the gaza strip into israel, triggering alarms

across towns and cities in southern israel. the israeli military says the majority of those, dozens were shot down, but certainly at least one house was hit and damaged, but no reports of injuries. in response, the israeli military has carried out strikes in the gaza strip, killing at least one man, and others injured. at least one home, pictures of a home very badly damaged as well in that. we have seen a ratcheting up once again of these tensions despite an effort to broker a longer—term truce between the two. that was tom bateman. rail passengers are being warned to expect disruption to theirjourneys this weekend, as bank holiday engineering work gets under way. one of the uk's busiest routes, the west coast mainline, will be closed between london euston and milton keynes. there's also a reduced service for east midlands trains services

into london st pancras. passengers are being asked to check theirjourneys before setting off and use alternative routes. our correspondent, leigh milner, has been at euston station, which is shut all weekend. over the weekend, some stations including euston will be closed because hundreds of engineering works are taking place. they are happening because fewer passengers apparently travel during the bank holiday weekend. let me just remind you of some of the lines which will be affected. the west coast mainline, where some stations including euston will be closed. some stations between london and glasgow, elsewhere engineering works well affect south western railway, trains from london waterloo to clapham junction and barnes. there is also disruption on the thameslink services to and from london st pancras international. if you are travelling from essex, which i am, buses will be replacing some of the trains between shinfield and southend victoria.

network rail says other operators, including virgin trains and london northwest railway, will also be affected in preparation for the hs2. lots going on. the obvious advice i have been given, check before you travel. she was speaking to us earlier. in just over two hours' time manchester city will face west ham united in the women's fa cup final. the final is being held at wembley for the fifth consecutive year, just over a month before the world cup begins in france on 7june. our sports reporterjo currie is at wembley. we are expecting a record crowd to fill the seats behind you. absolutely. i am pleased to say the sunshine has returned. in the last hour we have had rain and hail, but

over 50,000 fans expected here today. that is going to be an incredible crowd. 0h, today. that is going to be an incredible crowd. oh, it is wonderful to hear those numbers. london 2012, representing britain. it was unreal. the girls will be lucky to have that feeling today. manchester city against west ham. they won this in 2017, they are going for the double. sure they they are going to be the favourites? yes. no doubt they are going to be the strong favourites, they have gone the season unbeaten. they're going against a team that was only formed this year. they have done phenomenally well to have gotten to a cup final. that they will not go down without fighting, they are the underdogs. a year ago they were playing in the third tier of women's football. how well have they done in

the last 12 months to get here? football. how well have they done in the last 12 months to get here7m isa the last 12 months to get here7m is a wonderful story. to make a professional team from scratch is no mean feat. the manager of the team have experience from managing abroad in america. he formally manage liverpool and he has used all of this experience and network to recruit players from all over the world. his latest player who he brought in from south korea, has really added a lot of strength to this west ham team. kick-off here is at 5:30pm. you can follow all the match on bbc one. thank you very much. unless urgent action is taken, the rare and varied wildlife of madagascar — could soon be lost forever. that's the warning from an international team of scientists. they're concerned at the ongoing loss of natural habitats in the region. our science correspondent, victoria gill, has been to see what's being done now, to help save the animal population.

a tropical sanctuary. home to wildlife that lives nowhere else on earth. but all this biodiversity, the life that thrives in this forest of madagascar is under threat. lemurs depend on primary old—growth forest like this. but across madagascar, 80% of the habitat has been cut down. the driver of that is agriculture. slash and burn. burning forests to produce a plot of fertile soil. but here there is a farming revolution going on. with the help of a malagasy charity, teenagers here are learning to grow food in a new and sustainable way. these lessons in weeding, pruning and maintaining the soil using compost and crop rotation to keep the same plot. translation: it is difficult with the traditional farming techniques because you move from one field to another and cut and burn trees.

with the new method you stay in one place and it is much easier. translation: if the forest continues to be destroyed there will be less water to drink and there will be a loss of habitat for the wildlife. lemurs will disappear or die out. today, the community is celebrating the newest group of recruits who will sign up to learn these new skills. and a training scheme will soon be brought to other villages in the region because as well as protecting the forest, this way of farming is producing higher yields. critical in a community that relies entirely on what people can grow. let's catch up at the weather. it has felt chilly. we have had quite a few showers. some of them have been heavy with some of them have been heavy hailand

hail and thunder. some of them have been wintry. we have had a bit of snow over higher ground. this evening we will continue a process of the showers continuing to fade. by of the showers continuing to fade. by tonight, we will be mostly dry. with the cold air in place, a touch of frost. temperatures are very close to freezing. not as cold as in northern scotland last night. the cloud welcomed towards the south tomorrow. a bit of rain in the far north later on. for northern england and, ita north later on. for northern england and, it a mix of patchy clouds. temperatures will be between ten and 13 degrees. it will feel very cool again. particularly in the north, at many places dry. some rain sinking towards the south.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: senior conservatives have called for the party to pull together after it suffered its worst results in english local elections for almost 25 years. the party lost over a thousand councillors. labour also suffered key losses.

police say the leak of information from the national security council about chinese tech giant huawei "did not contain information that would breach the official secrets act" and "did not amount to a criminal offence". india has hailed as a success its evacuation of more than a million people to safety to avoid cyclone fani. between eight and twelve people were killed by the storm, but officials said the loss of life could have been far worse. thailand's new king has been crowned in an elaborate ceremony. today is the first of three days of coronation rites for the king who inherited the throne in 2016 when his father died. one of the uk's busiest routes, the west coast mainline, is closed between london euston and milton keynes. rail passengers are being warned to expect disruption to theirjourneys this weekend, as bank holiday engineering