voice—over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. could this be italy's hidden gem? i'm going off the beaten track, deep into the south. i can feel the music. it's such a good vibe. for generations, it's where italians have been holidaying, but is the secret out? this is in a place that's steeped in tradition and at the same time, it's rapidly modernising. known as the land of two seas, you are never far from the coast. oh, it's so refreshing! for the longest time, many of its ancient stone towns have been rapidly declining but now, the call�*s going out around the world for people to live, buy and invest here. this is unbelievable.

look at these views. this is totally unique — and a rooftop pool, forfree, from the government. come on. but how will it keep that balance between staying authentic and affordable... buongiorno. buongiorno, buongiorno! ..whilst opening up to the world? this week, i'm in puglia. now, i've travelled a lot through italy. i love this place. there's great food, there's great wine. but this is my first trip into the heel of the country. in recent years, the area has become more popular with tourists, but also with the government that's been trying to entice people back to live in the south.

so, i'm in a town called presicce—acquarica and here, they're offering people 30,000 euros to buy a home. sounds like a total bargain. so far, 20 people have applied for the grant but there may be one more. hi, you must bejesse. buongiorno! i brought you an espresso. oh, my gosh. i'm not sure how long our day will be today. thank you. you're a life—saver. so, are you looking to move here, jesse? so, my parents have roots from bari, and they are looking for a lovely summer home. so, i'm here on behalf of them, to kind of virtually give them an idea of some properties that might interest them. well, i've got a surprise for you. gasps. come on, let's go. 0k, great! so, i've arranged a tourfor us. how exciting! so, we have got a local tour guide, so you can get to know the area — and me, too. hi, francesco. we're ready for our tour. perfect!

the town spreads out from the baroque church, interspersed with lovely piazzas, historic homes and, importantly, gelaterias. though its population is rapidly declining, last year, the town saw only 60 births compared to 150 deaths. francesco, what do you think about all these incentives? living in our small town probably could be an opportunity for the youngest people that generally, they don't have a lot of money, so it could be important for this kind of person to live. and you need young people here, right? yeah. well, my parents are young at heart. would they be welcome? absolutely! now, we arrive to the surprise i had for you — the underground oil mills. door groans. 0h!

gosh, it's so much cooler down here. natural air con. in this place was made lamp oil. in all the salento region, we can find a lot of these structures. they are in small numbers in every single town. for exception in presicce, we have these 23 underground mills, because... 23? 23, yes. the olive oil is probably the main product we have here in puglia. now let's see what the homes on sale have to offer. ciao, fabrizio! ciao, ciao. this is my friend, carmen. yes, so nice to meet you. ciao, ciao. so, i'm going to get my parents on the phone real quick

so i can call them, so they can be a part of this. prego. this is my friend, carmen. hi, mom! hi, dad! she's showing us round. i'll tell you more about it later. this is fabrizio. ciao, ciao. it's a bit of a fixer—upper. the church! there's a church?! and this is the toilet. we're modern now! do we have to live in presicce, or — as a permanent resident? or can a foreigner purchase this? i the town hall has already launched other funds, including tax benefits for new businesses and baby bonuses for young families.

that's the view, too. that's what we want to see. this is lovely. so, jessi, what a surprise. what are you thinking now? i've got to be honest — i cannot believe this property and i really can't wait to talk to my parents and see what they think. this is unbelievable. look at these views. this is totally unique. everything that we're going for — going for culture and tradition and beautiful architecture that you wouldn't find in america, this is it. and a rooftop pool, forfree, from the government. come on. i'm so pleasantly surprised! who needs plumbing? we can get there. well, i've left the rosati family to continue with their house—hunting in presicce—acquarica. before i head to the next town further north, i want to take a little diversion.

i can understand why people would want to move here because you're never that far from the sea. think swimming holes, caves, grottoes and places like this. i've lived in asia for the last 11 years and i'm used to wide, sandy beaches. there is nothing like this. check it out. look at the rock formations. it's so dramatic! stunning. 0oh! oh, it's so refreshing. it's such a lovely respite from the heat of the car. bell tolls. here in the rural south, foreign pensioners and retirees are eligible for a 7% flat tax rate.

it may not help with its ageing population but it seems to be bringing in much—needed money back into these communities — like here in carovigno, where i'm catching up with another couple. hi, brandie. hi, greg. i'm in your hood. welcome! well, we're sorry we can't be there with you in person! it would be amazing for you to show me around. what made you want to buy here in the first place? you know, wejust started looking about ten years ago and we started just looking at the country as a whole. puglia's the least — has the least seismic activity of the regions in italy and so, we started looking there. virtual tours. we did everything virtually, their zoom tours, and all of that. and how much work have you had to do to it so far? when we first got there, you're flushing the toilet with a bucket of waterand you're... oh, my gosh! ..cooking on a camp stove with a head lamp at the bottom of the stairs because there's no real workable kitchen.

yeah, there's still plenty to be done. we hope you get to go see the house yourself. yeah, that would be fantastic. please do. i would love to see the house! well, after a little help from the locals, i think i finally found their place. is that the bell? 0h, hello. ah! hi, samantha. hi, carmen! nice to meet you! nice to meet you. welcome! come on in! thank you. samantha helped the stuckys find, buy and renovate their puglian home. oh, it's beautiful and light and airy. i like the blue and white scheme. we help people find and restore old ancient homes anywhere in italy, and puglia, it's a really popular place because you can get a lot for not a lot of money. yeah. so, there's lots of room for improvement. you got to be careful — watch your head there. that's ok, because look what you get.

how good a deal did they get, and how much do you think greg and brandie have had to spend so far? they got a steal. you know, i think this property was something like just over 30,000 euros to buy and then, just maybe 20,000 euros to take it to this point. i can't imagine the bureaucracy. no, i can't even — and i do it every day! italy is a forced inheritance country, which means that if you're italian and when you die, you have to pass your assets onto your family down to six generations removed. so, the older the house, the more hand—me—downs this house has become and therefore, there could be many, many owners on the property, back taxes that haven't been paid. sometimes, these sixth—removed cousins might not realise that they own it. yes, so this is another thing, another piece you have to be very careful of — that somebody doesn't knock on your door ten years down the road and say, you know, "i am an heir "of the old owner. "i get my house back," and it's possible. so, you have to be very careful and do your due diligence.

and the best advice i can give people is that don't fear for losing a property. you have to be patient and do your due diligence in order for it to be safe. incentivising people from abroad to invest may seem confusing but the money being brought in is allowing younger italians to move back with their families as opportunities open up. like marco. he started his business here two years ago. salute. salute, cheers. cheers. what are we drinking? we are drinking rose wine... it's lovely. ..because puglia is a land of rose. so, marco, how has it changed — how has carovigno changed? when i was child, a lot of houses in the historical centre were abandoned. some of them were burned. right now, it's a really nice historical centre, is clean... it's beautiful. it's beautiful, yeah.

because a lot of people invest in rebuild, restyling. so, you also wanted to invest. you saw this and...? yeah, absolutely. i invest in this place even to collaborate with my community, to bring up the name of carovigno. before i open the bar, there was just the one shop. now, there are three different business and probably, they're going to open some new business up in a few months. what do other locals feel about more foreigners coming in? how do they feel about it? they are a little, little scared but basically, i know that this movement is appreciated by the local people because, of course, tourist people bring more finance and everything is better for every single business. to me, it feels like the key here is attracting enough overseas investment to help rejuvenate without pricing younger italians out. let's hope they can

get the mix right. for many, bari is the gateway to puglia with an international airport and a major seaport on the adriatic. it's usually the first stop. and whilst you might be tempted to whiz straight through, it's worth checking out the old town. not far from the harbour, through some narrow lanes, you'll find the famous pasta—making street. buongiorno. buongiorno, buongiorno!

so, on my travels here in puglia, i've been hearing all about this contagious dance fever that dates back centuries, here in the south. it's called "pizzica" or "taranta", or "dance of the tarantula". and legend has it that it was a type of music and movement that was meant to be some sort of emergency cure for spider bite victims. now, i grew up in australia and i know all about these creepy crawlies but i've never heard about a dance about them. i'm starting in the town of manduria. it's within the salento peninsula, basically, the southern end of puglia, where it's still practised, taught and performed. so we're here at the dance studio. i'm going to learn some steps, but we're a bit late, it's already started. bit nervous. i'm going tojump in. euphoric music plays

i'm going to die if she chooses me. chuckles oh, my goodness. she's chosen me! i've no idea what i'm doing! the kids are just choosing their outfits for the performance. so, everyone's got a different coloured, brightly coloured skirt.

this archive footage shows a woman experiencing tarantism. it was especially prevalent from the 15th to the 17th century but as we can see here, it continued well into the 20th century. she looks like she's in a lot of pain. in a way, she is. it's pretty clear, though, this has nothing to do with the spider bite. what was the real cause, do you think, of tarantism,

and why did it only affect women? the whole peasant society was oppressed and the women were the oppressed part of an oppressed class. but nevertheless, in the salento tradition, the women also had a sort of matriarchal power, that they could express in particular situations. like the dance — including the dance. uh-huh. so it was like a release, like a cathartic release for them — like a form of therapy, maybe? the literal part of tarantism was absolutely a form of therapy. the spider bite wasjust a symbol? yes, just a symbol, because it comes from inside. right. from the inner realm of desire and of frustration. well, in stark contrast, every august, for the past 25

years, thousands of people gather in the small town of melpignano, to celebrate la notte della taranta — night of the tarantula. cheering it's heavily modernised, and special guest performers also take part on a stage built on the grounds of an old convent. and i've managed to catch the cast offstage at their headquarters. now, this is such a big event, that these guys are practising and touring globally all—year—round. it's so impressive. i'm amazed at the range of instruments here. there's even a didgeridoo, can you believe? and the dancers... just beautiful.

i can feel the music. it's such a good vibe and it's so lively. bravo! well, back in manduria, the sun has started to set, which means it's time. and that's my pizzica teacherfrom earlier on. rhythmic music so, there's been a slight change of plan. we're now doing a flash mob in the middle of the piazza... ..and i'm taking part! oh, my goodness. slightly nervous. 0k. rhythmic music

i'm out of breath. what a rush! i think for me, this is certainly a once—in—a—lifetime experience, and i love how the whole community has turned out, and this has become something of a party. and you know what? i really think this tarantula dance, it's a bit like puglia itself, you know, it's a place that steeped in tradition, yet at the same time, rapidly modernising. and they're trying to find that balance between keeping authentic, and also conveying their charm to the people who are now coming to visit, and also people who are coming to live here. and from what i've experienced so far, i really think they're doing a greatjob.

hello there. next week will gradually turn milder, wetter and windier but before then, this weekend, we're still in this very cold and frosty air with quite a few wintry hazards to come this weekend. there'll be some areas of fog which will be slow to lift. we've also got the risk of snow and ice but this time, probably a bit further south across the uk. now, these are the temperatures we're starting with first thing in the morning. a widespread frost — could be as low as —10 celsius in scotland. and following the earlier showers around these coastal areas, some icy patches — so, too, with that wintry weather coming into south—west scotland. this is the area of mist, fog and low cloud. it will gradually shrink, break up. some sunshine comes through in most parts of the country.

could stay grey and murky across parts of east anglia and lincolnshire. we've got more of these showers coming into north west england, into west wales and the far south—west of england. it is going to be a cold day on saturday after that frosty start. typical temperatures in the afternoon, i—3 celsius. and coming into that colder air, this wet weather will push its way eastwards. brings the risk of some sleet and snow inland, mainly north of the ma, up into northern england, but it could turn very icy for a while — even the risk of some quite dangerous freezing rain. bit drier for scotland and also for northern ireland. very frosty once again in scotland — temperatures again could be down to —10 celsius or so. heading into sunday and we've still got some of that wet weather along the easternmost parts of england. a bit of sleet and snow in that. that will move away. and then, across these southern areas, some more rain develops. the risk of some sleet and snow just on the northern edge. a lot of cloud for england and wales. a few showers coming into northern ireland. still dry and quite sunny, i think, in scotland. particularly cold here through the day. temperatures rising a bit in that rain in the south —

could make double figures in the south—west of england. and overnight, we may see some more rain coming in as well but this area of low pressure is deepening, the winds are strengthening and that is moving northwards into that block of colder air. so, not only have we got some wet and windy weather, we've also got the risk of some snow falling in some inland areas. and even further north with those winds off the north sea, quite a few wintry showers coming into eastern parts of scotland and some showers feeding through the irish sea into western areas of wales. those temperatures beginning to rise just a little bit but there is milder weather later on in the week.

live from london,

this is bbc news. nearly 200 people are reported killed in gaza as the ceasefire ends, with both israel and hamas accusing each other of breaching the truce deal. as the cop28 summit continues, world leaders are expected to gather again for the third day in dubai. and the bbc has been speaking to the actors imelda staunton and lesley manville ahead of the release of the last episodes of netflix�*s series the crown later this month. this story going on with three casts, three different ages, three different cast playing it and that has never been done and that has never been done and i don't know if it will be done again. it feels very special to be a part of that. hello, i'm gareth barlow. israel's renewed bombardment of gaza is continuing into its second day,

with reports of heavy smoke hanging over the area, following the collapse