corner very across the north—west corner very windy with daylesford north—west scotla nd windy with daylesford north—west scotland and also longer spells of rain with wintry over the higher grounds, temperatures will fall away. windy start to monday across scotla nd away. windy start to monday across scotland with gales from time, some sunshine, this weather front will provide a damp and soggy day for much of england and wales. to the north and the west bright with blustery showers and heel and thunder, some sunshine in between but it will feel chilly, single—digit values, just about double figures across the south than the east, by tuesday, wednesday it's called for all with a mixture of sunshine and showers. some snow at lower levels across the north. hello. this is bbc news with martine croxall. the headlines: the organisation representing nhs trusts in england has warned that frontline services won't be able to meet performance targets set by the government over the next year. detectives from the homicidal and major crime command have arrested a 33—year—old man on the suspicion of

the murder of a one—year—old boy and the murder of a one—year—old boy and the attempted murder of a girl of the attempted murder of a girl of the same age at a flat near finsbury park in london. the liberal democrat leader tim farron has accused theresa may of following "aggressive, nationalistic" politics like those of donald trump and vladimir putin. he called on tory mps opposed to the prime minister's vision for brexit tojoin his party. some residents in derby have been offered temporary accommodation after their homes were damaged when a water mains burst, sending plumes of water three storeys high. now on bbc news, the travel show. india. a vast country, home to over a billion people, birthplace of illustrious, ancient civilisations. .. and today, a fast emerging global power. and 70 years after independence, india is still a diverse, ever—evolving assortment of cultures, creeds,

religions and languages. heading off the well—worn tourist path, we're on a journey that spans this vast subcontinent from east to west, travelling from one of the driest places on earth... it's quite incredible, the sand. i mean, it'sjust hard crystals, white salt. you can probably taste it. ..to one of the wettest. these are areas really for the adventurous traveller. this isn't india on tap. i'm on a quest to find out how history, religion and politics have shaped india. and i also meet the people who call this intriguing and sometimes overwhelming country home. it's going to be an amazing journey. for thousands of years, india found its riches and influence

through international trade. and at the heart of this enterprise was the sea. and the state of gujarat, with 1,000 miles of coastline, served as a shipping gateway to africa, arabia and beyond. this is as far west as you can get in india, and it's the mingling of all the influences from overseas that have helped make gujarat what it is today. the region is known as kutch, and its beaches, like here in mandvi, are a popular domestic tourist attraction. but this ancient port town's economy is still anchored in a much older maritime tradition. this is genuinely incredible.

i'm in heaven. a huge shipyard with boats and ships at various stages of construction, all made from wood. in an industry dominated by bulky and expensive container ships, these smaller, more agile vessels are still in huge demand. so here we are, really close up to these incredible hulks. this one is in mid—construction. we can actually go inside. i'm going to see how they make these things. apparently, each of these dhows takes two and a half years to make. for many of the workers, shipbuilding is a family tradition. and this ancient craft is now

attracting unexpected new admirers. the region of kutch was home to one of the world's earliest civilisations, and can be traced back to prehistoric times. its old royal capital is the city of bhuj. its glory days are kind of over. it was badly hit by the 2001 earthquake. there's a kind of melancholy about this area, because obviously, this was once the real, opulent centre of a rich empire, trading empire anyway, and the hub was here. but what is still flourishing is bhuj‘s aso—year—old market

just a few minutes away, where the trading tradition continues. what do they sell here? they sell everything. fruit, vegetables, fabric, groceries. here, as you can see, all different communities and ethnic groups come here. but kutch's natural harmony was disrupted 70 years ago, when the british left. the country was divided on religious grounds, with muslims partitioned to the north in pakistan, and hindus to the south in india. we drove out of the city towards the border with pakistan, along the way encountering some kutch herdsmen. they've been living here

for 400 or 500 years. since, they migrated down south into kutch from sindh, which is now part of pakistan. ever since the split, there's been tension between the two governments, but to these herdsmen, national borders and religious differences mean little. for the people of kutch, india and pakistan or hindu/muslim is not that important. people are religious, of course, but they're living in harmony and the relationship between these two different groups is brotherly. when two countries were created from one, indelible scars were left on the psyche of the subcontinent. archive: independence has not yet brought them peace. rejoicing turned quickly into horror and mourning. in dramatic scenes, more than a million people died in religious rioting, and many millions more were displaced. this all used to be one, but now it's divided in two.

and now the border itself has become a tourist attraction. that way is pakistan? that way is pakistan, about 70 kilometres up north. that is where the india—pakistan border is, which lies along the middle of kutch, which is a geographical valley. at nearly 500 metres above sea level, the highest point, kalo dungar hill, allows us a dramatic view of this geological phenomenon, the rann, or desert of kutch, which continues into pakistan. i wanted to get up closer to this natural wonder. it's quite incredible, the sand. i mean, it'sjust hard crystals, white salt. you can probably taste it. really unusual to see

something like this. the further out i walked, the less lovely it became. it's actually quite incredible. it's more like snow or sludge than white sand or white crystals when it gets wet around here. i'm getting really deep into it. whoa! today, this shimmering wilderness is a healthy source of income for the region, thanks mainly to a three—month long festival throughout the winter. it is amazing. what was a vast, barren landscape has been transformed into this colourful complex, where by night, there's live music and other performances and by day, there's plenty of other activities. and just here is what you might call the glamping quarters. 50,000 people have come here in the last couple of months alone. i guess this is a cross

between a weekend festival and a holiday resort. it's basically a honeypot for the booming middle classes of india in what has been one of the fastest—growing economies in the world. the revival of interest in kutch culture, boosted by the festival, has been a lifeline for one group of locals in particular, folk musicians. music in particular is very rich over here. previously, they used to perform with their cattles, the shepherds. then afterwards, when they came home, they'd get together and their speech and songs are being performed.

it's a day—to—day practice. one person plays two flutes of the same time? yes. now, for example, 500 cattles are there and only one shepherd is there. so he'll sit and start playing this and whatever musical reach this has, the cattles will not go out of that range. wow. and they enjoy the music, so the digestive system, the milk output increases. so this is the beauty of it. so it's almost like meditation. yeah. things are changing, definitely. as you say, tourism, so many music festivals are there, so they are invited in various parts of india and abroad. and of course, they are very well paid. and not only do i get a demonstration, but also the privilege of playing along... as lead tinkler. and yet again, i'm made aware that

kutch culture is all about a sense of community and certainly not about religious segregation. from the bottom of my heart, i am telling you till today, in spiritual and music forms, hindus and muslims sit together and perform till today. for the next part of myjourney, i'm heading to the south—east of gujarat, to the town ofjunagadh. ah, the classic indian railway station. to me, nothing sums up this country better than the indian railway network. more than any political

act, they say that this is what unifies this country. i remember as a small child being on an indian train and being totally overwhelmed by it, but i love it. ah, this feels imminent. who knows when this was made, this train? it looks pretty damn old to me. but wow, look at that. it's a network that ferries millions of passengers daily across tens of thousands of track to nearly 7,000 stations. it's one of the world's biggest employers. if there's one defining legacy of british rule, it's the vast, sprawling, creaking indian railway network. it's still the lifeblood

of the country today. they sing. i'll tell you this. you wouldn't get this on a suburban train on a cold wednesday morning in london, or any other western city. this is unique. do you know everyone on this carriage? yeah. yeah, from the train journey? yeah, trainjourney, train friends. you're the train friends, excellent. you have a community. is it lucky to have a seat on the train? yes. very lucky. she's very lucky. like you.

like me! so here we are, the ancient, fortified city of junagadh, crowded and noisy, as i expected. let's go explore. just a few minutes from the station along a dusty, busy road, stands this jaw—dropping and little—known architectural wonder. built in the late 19th century, the mahabat maqbara is an elaborate mausoleum, blending indian, islamic, gothic and european architecture. the intricate carvings took over a decade to complete, and the whole structure reflects

the opulence and influences of the time. back in the day, under the british raj, there were hundreds of so—called princely states run by maharajahs and nawabs, powerful and wealthy men. there was one such character here, a nawab who made a decision that still has ramifications for relations with india and pakistan even today. these nawabs led lavish lifestyles, in stark contrast to ordinary indians. the nawab ofjunagadh, mahabat khan iii, was no different. archive: this state celebrates the marriage of the eldest son of the nawab with all the pomp and splendour of a princely wedding. harish desai was ten

in 1946, and recalls the splendour of the ceremony. archive: escorted by the royal guard, the bridegroom drives in state through the streets. before him and the procession goes a costly profusion of wedding gifts. all the princes were there, attired in a princely pattern with turbans of a particular type on their head. dance girls used to be brought there, musicians and all that. that lasted for several days. and he recalls getting his first taste of this other world. for the first time, i saw bread, butter, sandwich. that was not known to us here. my father said "you eat this. this is bread and this is butter". and i liked it. there were small pastries. i still remember that made in england, london, there were huntley & palmers biscuits. the important thing is the formal photograph

of his highness, mahabat khan iii. the nawab‘s own most legendary indulgence was his love of animals. his main hobby was for dogs. he was mad after dogs. i think almost all varieties and breeds of dogs from all over the world were here. he used to arrange marriages for dogs, and celebrated with parties and honeymoon. honeymoon! he used to do it. but with the advent of independence, the power and influence of india's royal rulers was coming to an end. come partition, the muslim nawab wanted to make junagadh part of the newly created islamic pakistan... even though the town is more

than 80% hindu and hundreds of kilometres from the border. infuriated, the new indian government rallied its troops. the news started coming that the army is coming with huge tanks and trucks and jeeps and artillery and guns and everything are there. junagadh state was besieged on three sides also. an economic blockade was ordered, cutting off supplies of food and resources into the region. eventually, junagadh acceded to india and the nawab fled to pakistan. yet to this day, 70 years on, his great—grandson still lays claim to junagadh. and the episode lingers as a reminder of the last days of the raj in india. and 65 kilometres down the road

in the gir sanctuary, the nawab‘s legacy as an animal lover extraordinaire continues with the most regal of creatures. now, lions may have iconic status here. they're a royal symbol and they're in hindu mythology, but at the beginning of the last century, they were threatened with extinction. i'm going somewhere now which is the only natural abode of the asiatic lion. the nawab preserved vast tracts of this forest to provide lions with a stable habitat, and banned hunting. the asiatic lions are smaller and paler than their african relatives. and these are their modern—day protectors, india's first

female forest rangers, the so—called lion queens of gir. now they're part of a team that performs more animal rescues than any other wildlife park in the world. on average, the unarmed rangers cover 25 kilometres a day and have to tackle venomous snakes, leopards and poachers as well as lions. if they did get agitated, how would you be able to tell from the animal? how would you know if you're safe or not, being this close to the animal? and it did get dangerous for her early on in her career here.

applications from women for these posts have rocketed, and the rangers are role models and trailblazers in the region today. 0oh, look at that mouth. the good news is that from once being in danger of extinction, numbers have climbed to over 500. the next, much more welcome, problem is if the sanctuary is big enough for their growing population. so, the first part of my travels across india comes to a close. but next week, i head to the north—east of the country. i'm on the banks of the mighty river brahmaputra, and about to go to a very spiritual place. and with the amount of people crammed on here as well, it's going to be an experience. a region that prides itself on tradition and creativity, and a passionate desire to protect this unique part of the world

forfuture generations. good evening. we have been watching a week weather front slowly slipping its way southwards, and it extends quite a long way out into the atlantic. it will come back through to the south—west overnight, increasingly wet for the south of wales and up towards east anglia as well, another area of wind and rain coming through. but generally speaking, not that cold overnight. many places will hold on to double

figures, but it will turn that bit colder through the day on monday, quite windy and unsettled, particularly through the morning. gusts of wind across the west of scotla nd gusts of wind across the west of scotland could get close to 50 mph, so scotland could get close to 50 mph, so blustery conditions. northern ireland into sunny spells and showers from early on, but quite a bit of rain from northern england and through wales and towards the south—west, and blustery winds. along the south coast, it will be grey and windy, but the south—eastern corner should start on a reasonable note in terms of rainfall. but that rain is on the move, moving from west to east, so we will see wet and windy weather for a timeless things brighten up further west. but with the showers turning quite wintry over higher ground in scotland. still relatively mild and the south—east, but notice

in the north and west, temperatures dipping away back to single figures, and that is the trend as we go through the rest of this week. monday evening, as the colder air moves in, we see the wintry showers getting going across parts of scotla nd getting going across parts of scotland and northern ireland. the colder air will slowly creep its way through all parts as we get into tuesday, so a big drop in the temperatures, feeling much colder, and a good crop of showers. tuesday will start cold with a widespread frost and the risk of icy patches in the north and west with wintry showers which will be a big feature of the day. some sunshine but also wintry showers. not just of the day. some sunshine but also wintry showers. notjust over higher ground, keeping down to lower levels at times. a cold start to wednesday, further wintry showers dotted around, and cold again to start the day on thursday. hello. i'm geeta guru—murthy with bbc world news. our top stories: "no evidence of collusion" between the trump election campaign and russia.

that's according to the head of the panel investigating the claims. he also rejected the president's accusation that trump tower was wiretapped on barack 0bama's orders. was there a physical wiretap? no, but that never was. iraqi forces push on in the battle to retake mosul — now the mosque where islamic state declared its caliphate is in their sights. could this man be the next chancellor of germany? martin schulz officially becomes the number one challenger to angela merkel for the top job in berlin. ami ifi'spgrtifggf six were in action — we'll reveal who had the best day in the chase to close the gap on leaders chelsea.