palestinian officials say a pregnant mother and her m—month—old baby have been killed in israeli airstrikes in gaza. israel says the military action is a response to over 200 rockets fired into southern israel by palestinian militants. three israelis were wounded by the blast. india and bangladesh have been praised for saving many lives after evacuating a million people who were in the path of cyclone fani. according to aid agencies up to 12 people were killed when it made landfall. british police say a leak of information from the uk national security council about chinese tech giant huawei didn't breach the official secrets act. the leak from a top—secret government meeting cost the country's defence minister hisjob. in thailand, ceremonies are being held in the three day coronation of king vajiralongkorn. the rituals are intended to symbolise the transformation of the king into a divine being. he succeeded his father, who died in 2016.

the former conservative leader iain duncan smith has called on the prime minster to resign following the party's worst result in english local elections since 1995. mr duncan smith said she was "in effect a caretaker prime minister." our political correspondent nick erdley reports. urgently seeking a solution. tories mulling over devastating local election results trying to find a way to solve the party's troubles. these members are in scotland. there weren't any elections here this week, but many agree failing to deliver brexit was behind the election drubbing. and this former leader has had enough. he believes theresa may has lost her authority and has to go now. we have in a sense a kind of caretaker prime minister at the moment, you could argue a caretaker leader of the labour party, but a caretaker prime minister. and i think therefore making fundamental decisions about where we go with this would be a big mistake. the conservatives always knew that voters were likely to give them

a bloody nose this week, but the extent, losing 1,300 councillors, was worse than they feared. and because of that, some are saying their patience has run out. it's not the first time we've heard senior tories calling for mrs may to go. in the past, she's simply ignored their calls. but it is again a reminder that many in the conservative party think mrs mayjust can't deliver. 0thers, though, say there should be compromise with labour to make sure brexit is delivered. i think we do need a mood for compromise, but compromise often involves looking at the positions of different groups and coming up with something 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, too, jeremy corbyn says there is impetus to get a deal done. but opinion in labour is split. some point to losses in brexit—supporting areas

and say failure to deliver it would be a breach of trust. i think we've got to leave because we had a referendum, we asked people whether 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 are arguing the exact opposite, that the party needs to back another referendum and ultimately stay in the eu. they point to huge gains at the local elections for the greens and the big winners, the liberal democrats. i think there were some local factors but there is no doubt that the big nationalfactor was the issue about brexit. the liberal democrats have been against brexit and campaigned against brexit, campaigned for a final say for the british people for the last nearly three years and i think people have heard that now from the liberal democrats, that we are the stop brexit party. these elections have posed big questions for a government struggling to deliver brexit. answering them won't necessarily be easy. nick eardley, bbc news. now on bbc news, it's time to witness history. razia iqbal presents five extraordinary testimonies from the past, including a fashion industry pioneer from the days

of the soviet union. hello, and welcome to witness, with me razia iqbal. i'm here at the british library to guide you through five extraordinary moments in recent history, told to us by the people who were there. we start with an individual who helped create a fashion industry in the soviet union. under communism, clothes and designs were regulated by the state. but slava zaitsev had the urge to break away and create new designs. he became the first soviet designer to start his own haute couture fashion label. translation: what is the point of a fashion designer? it's to give people joy, the joy of connecting with beauty you see.

this has been the most important thing in my life. reporter: for the ordinary russian in the street, such styles are a long way off. fabric runs are altered only once in three years. to get a design from drawing to mass production takes two years. soviet factories produced very basic clothes, poorly cut and badly stitched. soviet fashion houses worked for clothes factories and every design had to be approved or rejected by a commission of representatives from ministries and other organisations. they had nothing to do with the art of fashion, yet they told artists what to do. myjob was boring and uninspiring. so i left the state fashion industry. ideas were pouring out of me. i got together a group of young people and we began to create our own collection. at the time, the problem was getting

hold of enough cloth. there was a shortage of fabric. we used fabric from a state warehouse. the fabric belonged to the state and we got state funding. the tickets are as hard to get and just as expensive as the bolshoi ballet. it's the fashion show — moscow's latest entertainment and one that can be assured of a full house as often as russia's top designer can be persuaded to put his models through their paces. working with black only is boring. but we didn't have any other colours, so i kept buying black fabric. for the moment, the fashion world regards zaitsev's work as rather old—fashioned. but then that's hardly surprising for a man who, until a few years ago, had to rely on friends to give him old copies of fashion magazines. in 1989 i went to america and got

hold of new italian fabrics. these were beautiful fabrics and i used them for a high fashion collection. in the past few months he's taken his models to new york and paris and the changes are already beginning to show. see, high fashion is high art. it is the art of creating a costume, a style which reflects its time. high fashion is still well above the heads of most of his audience. high fashion reflects the most striking features of its era. the 1980s was all about shoulder pads, creating the image of a woman who is more refined, more confident, she's in touch with herself, she is free of male influence. but although zaitsev's customers are part of the elite, it's hard to imagine the kremlin wives in some of his numbers. in 1989 when i showed my collection

injapan, i was recognised as one of the top five designers in the world. that was an amazing moment. i am a working man, i push myself hard and fashion is what gives me greatjoy. our next film takes us to scotland in 1983. corporal punishment in schools was still legal across the uk. but grace campbell objected to the possibility of her children being beaten and campaigned to get the law changed. a recent survey of scottish teenagers show that a third of the boys and one in 12 of the girls had been belted in one fortnight period. to people who say that if you don't hit kids you're spoiling them, i say they have to take a long, cold, hard look in the mirror.

when you strip it away, what you're really talking about is hitting another individual. most scottish secondary school teachers possess one of these thick leather straps with a double tongue. the largest teachers union in scotland maintains it's an unpleasant necessity in today's unruly classrooms. corporal punishment in scotland was institutionalised. it was really strange that in a county like britain in the 705 and '805, corporal punishment was still around because actually it wasn't in many european countries. local authorities, local education authorities had set down guidance for teachers on what implements to use, what was known as a belt, was used to hit you on the hand. it's difficult to describe why the belt was such a terrifying thing to look at.

i think it'sjust because from a very early age, you hear it from the older kids at school about the belt. it's a single use thing, it doesn't have any other legitimate use. it's just for hitting people. when you see it, ok, that's something to be wary of. my mother had been subjected to corporal punishment when she was at school and she was clear she didn't want it for her children. she tried to seek assurances from the local school, 'could you make sure my kids will not be belted?‘ she went to the local authority, strathclyde regional council, they were clear that it gets used and she was in touch with the local mp, the councillors, trying to get something done and eventually it was clear that under scots law at the time

there was no point in trying to go through the courts in scotland. my mother had no choice, she had to go to the european court of humans rights in strasbourg. it didn't do me any harm. i think it should be kept. reporter: why? because there will be more vandalism and fighting and bullying. in society at the time, we were definitely perceived to be troublemaking. the majority in society wanted to keep corporal punishment. the court ruled that beating children against their parent's wishes violated the human rights convention. i'm very pleased with the outcome of the case and feel that a speedy implementing of the findings will improve the educational environment for both teachers and pupils. when my mum got the news of the judgment, there was a lot of spontaneous dancing and hugging of my dad, which any west of scotland family

just isn't a normal thing. they were really, really pleased. after the law was changed, it was changed just before the start of the school term, and itjust disappeared overnight. it was like it never existed. andrew campbell remembering his mother, grace. in 1978, a bengali textile worker was murdered in london's east end. the killing of a 25—year—old was racially motivated and mobilised to bengali community to act. we recall what life was like in the east end and the events around the murderer. in 1970, life in east london wasn't very pleasant due to hatred, due to racial abuse.

a recent report on racial violence in this area described it as an isolated and terrorised community, the victims of an appalling catalogue of violent crime. we had a fire put through our letterbox. urinating in our letterbox. people worse frightened to leave the house —— were. spitting, fishing. it was common. it was very frightening. i was in fear all the time. national front is a group of people who hate other people. most of them are skinheads. all day the message was against immigration. it was thursday the 11th of may, election day after work,

he was walking through this street through here to go home, approximately six and when he got there, he was attacked and knifed in his neck. all of a sudden we heard a siren from every angle, every siren from... (sirens) you can hear silence now, similar siren from every angle. after about half an hour, we heard a bengali man had been stabbed to death. we were very angry and didn't know what to do, everyone was shouting, crying. the community finally united.

the national front is a nazi front! smash the national front! we organised a march to hyde park corner. it was the biggest bengali late march in the uk. and our message was 'no more killing.‘ in brick lane a favourite sunday morning gathering spot for national front supporters, a group of 200 bengalis sat down to... after the big march, the national front continued with their activities, so we had to march every sunday after that and our slogan was "black

and white unite and fight". eventually, the national front lost their grip. because they know our community is no longer frightened. we stood firmly. where i'm sitting now, altab ali park, this has been named after altab ali. he will always be remembered. we have a memorial there at the back. we come and we lay flowers in his memory. he is not forgotten. remember, you can watch witness every month on the bbc news channel or you can catch up on all our films along with more than 1000 video programmes in our online archive, just go to...

at the 2004 athens olympics a young 800 metre runnerfrom the gaza strip became the first woman to lead the palestinian delegation at an opening ceremony. translation: it was my greatest moment. my name went down in history as the first palestinian woman the palestinian flag at the olympics. running was a hobby for me. i started as an amateur in school. at the school we were confined to inside the grounds but ijoined the national team and started running on the streets, our conservative society did not look favourably on a palestinian girl running in public.

but when i persisted people accepted to me and began to encourage and support me. when i run i feel happy, free and relaxed. all of my worries disappear. i prepared for the athens olympics in the stadium in gaza, which had a track. i was then sponsored by a palestinian businessman to go on a training camp for a month on a greek island. a month wasn't enough to take part in the olympics and get good results. my participation was symbolic because the situation in gaza doesn't allow us to prepare

properly for medals. it was such a beautiful scene. as 50011 as everyone saw the palestinian flag, they began clapping. but i also felt overwhelmed to find myself in the starting line—up. i had this feeling inside but as soon as you get going, you forget about everything. whoever comes last still gets cheered, just like the winner. athens was a start for me. in 2009, i took part in the athletics world championships in berlin. i'm still training, but because of the siege i can't go outside of the gaza strip. i cannot compete in

international races. i manage with things, thank god, because of my husband's support, he is now my coach. for the past four years, no athletes from gaza have been able to take part in any event outside. a short while ago, there was an invitation to go tojerusalem for events, but we were all denied travel permits. my advice to other palestinian women is hold onto your dreams, do not give up, do not allow any pressures to defeat you. go for what you love most.

for our final story we head to france in the late 1970s, where a doctor started a childbirth revolution with his new invention — the birthing pool. he tells us how it came about. there is something special about human beings and water. as soon as it's lifted into the air, its lungs start to work normally. this obstetrician runs a maternity unit which are based on natural childbirth. the right place to give birth would be the right place to make love.

the way women were giving both in the 60s was the same as a hospital. legs in stirrups. but gradually everything was reconsidered. we introduced the concept of a home like birthing room, a smaller room with no visible medical equipment to help women to feel more at home in a hospital. they still have the vision of a hospital, a place for you, your sec or to die. 1am and a young couple have driven a 150 miles to have their first baby here in an ordinary state hospital in northern france. by changing the environment, we have attracted more women

to a maternity unit, women come from far away. that's why i became an obstetrician. from 200 births a year to 1000 births a year. a pool to help mothers ease the pain of labour, babies are occasionally born underwater. we have changed the rules. many women couldn't wait, they wanted to enter the birthing pool before it was full. they could not wait. the main objective was to break a vicious circle. by replacing drugs. all medication and drugs have side effects.

after being in the womb in warm fluid for nine months, the baby emerges happily into the warm water with its life support system from the mother is still intact. i remember the visit we had with this british obstetrician. what do you think of the pool? i don't think we'd have room for it in our hospital and i find dr odent's views on it as a wonderful mixture of mysticism and science. i don't think the word mysticism is appropriate! i tried to consider in a scientific language some emotional state. translation: it felt like a family atmosphere, very reassuring. it gives you confidence in yourself and that's what i needed. i am pleased when i heard women

talking any positive way that the birth of their baby. we have to learn from positive experiences about the way forward. dr michel odent on the water birth revolution. that's all from witness this month from the british library. we'll be back next month with more first—hand accounts of extraordinary moments in history. now from me and the rest of the witness team, goodbye. good morning. pleasant enough where you got the sunshine on saturday. but certainly cold out of it. and particularly in the showers

and strong winds which were across the eastern half of the uk. now there is good news today, in that the high pressure in the west is pushing a little bit further across the uk. and in doing so puts a cap on the atmosphere, stops some of the showers forming. and it also diverts the strongest and coldest of the winds off into the near continent. that said, the day does begin with an added chill. there'll be frost in the countryside. temperatures below freezing. these are the towns and city centre values. so wherever you are, a cold but sunny start to the day for the vast majority. a bit more cloud across northern scotland, though, to begin with. one or two isolated light showers. more showers, though, in orkney and shetland to begin with and they will work their way southwards during the day. you'll also notice more cloud, though, developing across the country into the day. pushes the way southwards and eastwards. still some sunny spells for many. isolated lighter showers for england and wales. most will be dry. and across eastern districts, not only will it be dry, but with lighter winds, too, it perhaps won't feel quite so chilly. even though temperatures still down on levels they should be for this time of year, 9—11; celsius at very, very best. now, to take us into sunday night,

the showers across northern scotland will start to work their way southwards. this is a cold front. to the south of it, a bit more cloud than we'll have seen the night we're with at the moment. and so maybe temperatures not dropping as much. but still a chance of frost. the greatest chance of frost into the start of bank holiday monday will be the northern half of scotland, where skies are clearest. so into bank holiday monday, this is going to be the zone to watch out for for the thickest cloud. this weather front here. showers on it rather than any persistent rain. it's going to be across southern scotland to begin with, sliding into northern ireland, northern england during the day. some of the showers across northern england, pennines and peak district in particular, could be a little bit on the heavy side, and they'll work their way into lincolnshire, maybe east anglia, later today. to the south of that for bank holiday, lots of cloud, some sunshine, only isolated showers. moat will be dry. to the north of it, the better chance of some sunshine. a few showers, though, and a lighter breeze. but, for all, a fairly cool day. now, with light winds around to finish monday, what you finish monday you'll start with on tuesday. but through tuesday the cloud will bubble up.

greater chance of showers developing here and there. some of you will stay completely dry. but by the end of the day, towards cornwall, things are set to turn that bit wetter and windier. temperatures are still a disappointing 7—13 degrees. the wet and windy weather, strongest crossed france in the channel islands. it will spread significant rain across england and wales. they were today for england and wales. gardeners across eastern areas could rejoice. that quickly through into thursday. sunshine and showers until then. staying a little on the cool side. bye for now.

welcome to bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: palestinian officials say four people have been killed in gaza as israel retaliates to rockets fired by militants. as cyclone fani leaves devastation and floods — india and bangladesh are praised for saving many lives after evacuating millions of people in its path. british police say a leak of information from the uk national security council about chinese tech giant huawei didn't breach the official secrets act. thailand's king is crowned at bangkok's grand palace marking his official accession to the throne. more ceremonies are set to take place. dust off your leg—warmers as the kids from 'fame'