forced into bankruptcy, are keeping up the fight for compensation. and nasa is on a hunt for martians. the space agency wants four volunteers prepared to spend a year living and working inside a base that simulates the surface of the red planet. now on bbc news, the travel show. look at this — simply stunning. and this isjust the beginning. i'm in sri lanka, an island that charms you with its warmth. yeah. ready? yes! a tiny nation of dramatic extremes... keep it going. hold on. yee—hoo! ..and unique wildlife.

we know each and every one of them. it's just like family. but it's been through decades of struggle, from a brutal civil war... this became one of the most heavily mined areas in the world. loud explosion. ooh. ..to one of the greatest natural disasters of our time. and now it's recovering from its worst—ever economic crisis. i first came here in the year 2000, and i was struck by the laidback island mentality. but sri lanka's been through a lot since then, and i want to find out how it's changed. in this first leg of myjourney... the coral is gone. we destroyed the sea and the sea destroyed us. ..i take to the seas, joining

a mission to repair the coastline. you can buy anything here. and i dive into the heart of its capital city. everybody that we would expect to be in sri lanka is right here. look at it. it's packed, it's crowded, it's got a really old—world feel about it. i'm here at a crucial stage for sri lanka as the island aims to bounce back yet again. this is the west coast of sri lanka, under two hours�* drive from the capital city, colombo. i want to start my adventure with a different perspective. a bird's—eye view, in fact. that, i believe... ..is a flying machine. they call it a paramotor, and that is how i'm going to see the coastline right now. ok. here we go.

yeah. looking forward to it. thank you. i can't believe i'm actually going to do this. motor whirs. here we go. whoa! what a feeling. can not beat this. absolutely beautiful. this perspective is unbeatable. i thought, as a child, we'd all be flying like this every day as a matter of course. now my dream's come true. sri lanka has around i,800km of coastline. i can see the coral reef below.

coral reef, which is vital for protecting the coastline from storms and erosion. it's quite a strong wind but it's fantastic. so much fun. whoa! swinging round. and here we go. very nice. bumpy—ish... ..but safe landing. he laughs. fantastic. wow, you live for these moments. absolutely brilliant. and what a view. but the reality is, in many places, this coast has been badly damaged. the reason is coral mining. that's the practice of breaking and harvesting coral in order to produce lime for the construction industry.

well, hello. hi, hi. kushil gunasekera is the founder of a charity that trains young adults to become divers who can restore the sea bed. there were coral miners right across this entire area and that was what they did for generations. so it's their livelihood. when the corals are broken, the very colourful fish, you know, wasn't around. the biodiversity, you know, it gets affected, right. but nobody, no authority could ever, you know, put a stop to it because it's been very established for so long. but then nature, you know, took its course and said, enough is enough. sri lanka was one of the countries worst affected by the tsunami that hit on boxing day in 200a. it's estimated that more than 35,000

people lost their lives nationwide, and the villages around here were hit hard. when the tsunami struck, there was no break point or resistance. and subsequent research showed that wherever there was no coral that the waters swept about a kilometre beyond. so the coral was gone. we destroyed the sea and the sea destroyed us. today, kushil�*s aim is to help restore the reef by regrowing it in what's called a coral nursery. so those two guys have just gone down and they're going to pick up tiny fragments of coral and they're going to plant that into a reef ball on the sea bed. the baby corals have been planted on metal structures that help them survive. now, the ones that have flourished

the most can be collected and moved to their permanent homes. so here we have the little fragments of coral which this diver has collected from the sea bed. the divers use a special cement to attach the coral to reef balls. these form an artificial reef that will help protect the coastline and restore marine life. so far, the team has planted 38 reef balls. and they are thriving. i can really tell the sense of mission that these guys have got about what they're doing. it's going to take time, it's a long, long process, but every single thing they do, every little tiny bit of coral they plant, is going to help restabilize and recover the coastline.

after the tsunami, as aid money came into the country, kushil was able to set up projects across sri lanka. from my younger days, i've been dreaming of trying to bridge this gap that exists between the urban and the rural sectors. i respectfully remember everyone who actually perished and, you know, had to sacrifice their lives. but out of that setback, we were able to turn that into a blessing. anoushka is one of more than 500 young adults who've graduated from the diving training programme. and for her, it's been life—changing.

it does sound like you've made a huge shift mentally and emotionally since what happened to you as a child. how do you feel about the sea now? what's your relationship with the sea? you cannot underestimate the human and ecological trauma caused by the tsunami to the sri lankan people. and what is so brilliant about the work being done by kushil,

anoushka and all the others here is that it's healing in so many different ways. the impact of the tsunami has continued for the past two decades, and since then, the country has faced further turbulence. in 2022, sri lanka was hit by the worst economic crisis in its history, leading to widespread food, medicine and fuel shortages, and months of protests. horn hoots. woman chats with stallholder. ijust want you to sort of taste the cinnamon because it's indigenous to sri lanka — cinnamon. i've come to the capital city, colombo, the birthplace of british sri lankan actor nimmi harasgama, who's relocated here. there you go. you just smell that.

it's nice. isn't that lovely? it's calm now, but nimmi was here when the unrest was at its height. as someone who was there, i can verify that there were peaceful protests from people because they couldn't take it any more. it has been happening for decades. and so it escalated and itjust, it erupted like a volcano here. horn hoots. nimmi has brought me to the old part of the city — pettah market. that's one thing that's really special about pettah, is it's very multiethnic and there's muslims, there's sinhalese, there's tamils, moors. so it's... everybody that we would expect to be in sri lanka is right here in pettah. why i love this place is, look at it. it's packed, it's crowded, it's got a really old—world feel about it. and colour, by the way. i'm looking straight ahead there. well, this is where i come. pettah is where i come to buy my material. and that's one thing i love about sri lanka is,

growing up, my mum used to make me clothes and so that's what i know. so now with my son, i come here and i get him to choose materials and we go to a seamstress. i can't sew. and we get his clothes made and ijust love that. and i would never be able to do that in england. just a quick look. yeah, absolutely. most of the stuff in this shop is cotton, but you get suiting material, you get silks, raw silks, satins. i mean, it's a dream world for me. what else do we have here? those are buttermilk chillies, if you want to try one. they're not spicy. ok. i'm going to be the guinea pig. what did it taste like? oh, it's nice. mm - oh! aftertaste. yea h! whoa. it's quite... whoa! it's salty and quite spicy in your mouth. gets right to the back of your throat. the consequences of the economic crisis hit markets like this one badly. what about the creative community here? how much have they reacted to the political situation? throughout the decades of conflict within our communities,

the theatre community, the film community, have always reacted. it's not a big flash industry like hollywood or bollywood. we do it here from pure passion and drive. so what the person on the street is feeling, you're feeling, too. i feel that there should be a change, there should be a difference that's made by people in power. the protests led to the president resigning. and although the road to recovery is going to be long, i can sense the determination of people like nimmi to overcome the trials of the recent past. i always think of this country as my home. and sri lanka, i feel, with all its good and bad and ugly, is still where i'm from. peacock cries.

one thing that's clear when you travel through sri lanka is just how green it is. there are 26 national parks covering nearly a tenth of the country. this is yala, sri lanka's premier national park, in the southeast of the island. it's a fantastic showcase for this country's incredible biodiversity. jackals are just some of the animals that live here. but i've come to catch a glimpse, if possible, of sri lanka's most famous resident. the elephant is a really integral and central part of sri lankan culture. dr fernando is an elephant expert. people in sri lanka love elephants. they are very close to their hearts.

but the sad fact is more elephants are killed here than anywhere else in the world. and that is due to conflict with humans. so someone has told us thatjust around here, they've spotted an elephant or two. and there it is, straight ahead of us. look. it's an amazing, amazing sight. but it's beautiful to see. so what can you tell about this elephant? so he's the elephant that we see coming into the park for a couple of months a year. the rest of the time, he's normal home range. he's probably somewhere outside the park or in a far away area of the park. elephants are such unique animals.

i don't think today there's any culture anywhere in this world where a little kid doesn't know what an elephant is. this is a gift that just keeps giving. everywhere we go now, suddenly there are elephants. here we have a mother and calf. dr fernando has studied this herd for almost 15 years. we know each and every one of them, we know their life histories. and so it's just like family. so romi was born in 200a. so now she's 19 years old. and this is her first calf. and he's now six years old. most sri lankan elephants don't have tusks, so they're not targeted by poachers. even so, elephants

here are in trouble. we have basically dedicated our lives to conservation of elephants. i think we have made some progress. still, there's a lot, a lot to be done. dr fernando's goal is simple — to help people and elephants live peacefully together. elephants are greatly attracted to crops. so if you cultivate in an area with elephants, they're going to come in, raid the crops. and of course, the farmers don't want that. so that's where all the conflict arises. just outside of the national park, dr fernando shows me the destruction that elephants are capable of. this farm has been very badly damaged by elephants. by elephants, yeah. yeah. hello.

can you explain to us what's happened here? dr fernando translates. this is their entire crop, essentially. yeah. really? that's really terrible. that's really sad. they broke the wall here. he says there's one big male who just comes and breaks the house. how did you feel when you were sitting up there? he was just sitting up there because it is in the night, he can't really see anything. he can see the noise of the elephants.

they are breaking things, eating. so he was helpless just sitting there. was he scared for his own life? if he'd come down, would he have been killed? yes. he would have been killed if he'd come down. very likely. the elephants would think that he's threatening them. yeah. so, i mean, it's an elephant. i mean, you don't get that close to an elephant. sadly, both human and elephant deaths are on the rise. according to the latest figures, 145 people and 433 elephants lost their lives injust 12 months. it is a bad time, but it keeps getting worse. the elephants get used to conflict and then they tolerate higher levels of conflict. one solution that sri lanka has trialled is building almost 5,000 kilometres of fencing to keep elephants within specific areas such as national parks. problem is, these animals don't stay

where humans want them to. you can see that the fence is broken. elephant habitat, and elephant habitat. so this fence is in the wrong place. we are trying to change how human—elephant conflict mitigation is done. up the road, there's a temporary fence that the farmers have assembled with dr fernando's guidance. this is a by the field fence, so it's put up only for the period that is three and a half months that they are cultivating the paddy. which is rice, by the way. rice, yes. these are the more effective of the fencing that's used? so as you see, the fence goes just on the perimeter of the paddock. on the perimeter of the paddy. so it basically protects what needs protection. which is why the policy of protecting people and their crops is more effective than keeping elephants in one small space. the farmers are protecting themselves, and that works.

there are no winners in the human—elephant conflict, but there are ways to make co—existing easier. as we're driving back to base, i'm reminded of the sheer grandeur of these animals. oh, my goodness. there it is. yeah. so these actually are female. and there's a young one behind her. i feel quite humbled in the sense to be in the company of, or quite near one. these are animals whose natural habitat has been restricted and restricted over time, and they're just doing what they have to do, which is to look for food for their young, for themselves, to survive. and survival is getting harderfor them. man greets them. there's supposed to be another one further up. it's great. you've got scouts on the motorbikes. whispers: there's actually a herd

of seven just here as well. it's... it's amazing. i've never been as close to an elephant in the wild before. actually, we are very privileged to have such a lot of elephants in this country with such a high density of people. and i think that's something very special in sri lanka. something to be proud of. something to be proud of and something that we have to work hard for it to remain so. but i think that can be done. you ready to go? yee—woo—hoo! i get out of my comfort zone in the river version of a washing machine. whoa! the adrenaline, it is going, let me tell you. idid it. and ifind out how sri lanka is hoping to be free of land mines by 2028. loud explosion

hello, there. good evening. some very mild air across the uk at the moment. some pretty spring—like scenes too, such as here in perth and kinross, lots of snowdrops. but for many it's been a grey, damp and drizzly day today. the ground already saturated too in places, especially out towards the west. and there's a band of heavy rain sweeping eastwards overnight tonight. could potentially lead to some more surface water flooding. of course, very large puddles out there, as this heavy rain just pushes southwards and eastwards through the night, moving into shetland and lingering across east anglia and the far south east of england. but some clear spells developing behind, although temperatures won't drop very far, staying in double figures for most. a few isolated showers out towards the north and the west

as we head into tomorrow morning. but a rather soggy start to the day across the south east of england, down towards the south coast as well, east anglia and across shetland. the rain will eventually clear, but it could linger on for some as we head even into the first part of the afternoon, but it will turn gradually more showery. cloud behind it, the cloud breaking up to leave us with some bright and some sunny spells. but for many, i think it will stay largely dry through the day on sunday. some isolated showers again out towards the west of scotland, perhaps western wales and northern ireland, but mostly dry. temperatures again well above the seasonal average, peaking between 10—14, maybe even 15 degrees celsius. next week, though, temperatures will be dipping back down to the seasonal average. so it will be feeling colder, particularly by night. and it's still going to be rather unsettled. various areas of low pressure moving in from the atlantic, including another one on sunday night and into monday. and that's going to bring us some showery outbreaks of rain. it's all pushing its way further southwards and eastwards, gradually fizzling out.

lots of brighter skies behind it, along with a northwesterly wind. and again, a few isolated showers in the north and the west, but a definite dip in temperature there, feeling a little fresher by a couple of degrees. and it will be feeling cooler, too, on monday night, with many of our temperatures widely dropping back into mid—single figures. there's another weather front coming through on tuesday. strong, gusty winds as we head through wednesday, with more heavy, persistent rain for the south of england. so here's the temperature outlook for our capital cities as we head through next week. it will be feeling cooler and it will stay unsettled. wet, very windy at times. bye— bye.

live from london. this is bbc news. the whereabouts of the body of the late russian opposition figure alexei navalny remain unknown after the russian authorities refused to release it to his family. the us vice president warns republicans in washington not to play political games over support for ukraine after a front—line town was lost to invading russians. israel's prime minister insists he won't bow to international pressure over israel's offensive in gaza. and if you can speak english, are moderately healthy and a fan of mars then nasa wants to hear

from you — we'll explain hello, i'm tanya beckett. the death of alexei navalny, one of president putin's most prominent critics has been confirmed by his family. they say they've had no access to his body — and they believe it's being deliberately withheld to allow the authorities to cover their tracks. russian officials say it's because an investigation is ongoing. vigils mourning mr navalny and expressing outrage at his death have continued around the world — this was the scene outside the russian embassy in london today. in san francisco, people gathered outside city hall, some holding banners accusing president putin of murder. in russia itself, more than 350 people have been detained for attending memorials. here's our russia editor, steve rosenberg. in moscow, they continue to bring flowers and pay