million. the evening began with who else, comic relief co——founder sir lenny henry. the comedian and actor referred briefly to this week's tragic events at westminster. we wa nt to tragic events at westminster. we want to send our thoughts and love no those affected by the events in westminster on wednesday. tonight is an opportunity to save lives. to reach out in the spirit of partnership and compassion the money you give will make life better for people at home and abroad. the night's most anticipated moment was richard curtis' love actually sequel. that's great. that's great. can we have rice this time? i'm getting tired of stir—fry. can we have rice this time? i'm getting tired of stir-fry. other highlights included a james cord

getting tired of stir-fry. other highlights included ajames cord den take that karaoke. and a special appearance from mrs brown. i love your blogs. there were musical performances. love can change the world in a moment... as well as appeal films with celebrities visiting some of the places where the money raised can makea the places where the money raised can make a huge difference. and now look at him, he is almost unrecognisable. and that is thanks to you. let's ta ke let's take a look at the weather now. hello, lots more spring sunshine to come through the rest of the day today, with high pressure firmly in charge. that high continuing to bring some gusty

winds, up to 30 mph. that'll knock the edge of the temperatures. inland, a warm one with tempters reaching 19 in west wales. that will make it the warmest day of the year so make it the warmest day of the year so far. 0vernight, high pressure still in charge. the wind keeps the frost at bay in south, but with lighter winds across the heart of the uk, we will see frost developing in the countryside down to —5 in the cold est in the countryside down to —5 in the coldest spots. if you fog patches possible first thing tomorrow, but another glorious day with plenty of sunshine coming through. still cold winds blowing to the south of england, with similar temperatures to today. the clocks go forward by an hour tonight, so for early risers, and our in bed tonight. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump says

he's surprised and disappointed at the collapse of his plans to change the us health—care system — his biggest set—back since taking office. he'll now press ahead with reforming the tax system. all but two of the 11 people arrested after the westminster terror attack have been released. police are still trying to establish whether the attacker khalid masood acted alone. he sent whatsapp messages moments before hitting westminster bridge. a lords committee has called for more to be done to end the scandal of the poorest people in the uk being barred from basic financial services. £1.7 million people don't have a bank account. european leaders are in rome to mark the 60th anniversary of the treaty that founded what became the eu. the 27 leaders signed a new rome declaration. theresa may isn't attending, as the anniversary comes days before she'll trigger article 50. now on bbc news: in the second part of his journey across india,

rajan datar visits meghalaya and assam in the largely undiscovered north east of the country. india, 70 years after independence. this emerging world power of more than a billion people is still changing. i'm on a journey to two extremes of this vast subcontinent. crystal, ha rd crystals. white salt. can probably taste it. i began in gujarat, in the far west. this is genuinely incredible, i'm in heaven. pretty crowded. this week, i've travelled 2000 miles over to the north—east. i'm on the banks of the mighty river brahmaputra, and about to go to a very spiritual place. it's one of india's

lesser—known regions. we're really high up, and just to my right, the border with bangladesh. a part of the country which prides itself on its traditions. he makes it look so easy. it's incredibly difficult. but it's also looking forward and embracing progress. so now, i'm on my way to go and see assam's very own eco—warrior. it is going to be an incredible adventure. india's north—east, a collection of eight states, almost cut off from the rest of this vast country, but for a tiny strip of land. at partition, a large swathe of this region was sectioned off, to become east pakistan, which later became bangladesh, leaving the indian area landlocked. it's geographically

and culturally out on a limb. this is frontier country, little—known to tourists and other indians alike. they call it the land of cloud, that's because of the severe monsoon season. hilly, remote, the area so crisp and fresh, and the view, simply spectacular. it's this cool climate that made the state of meghalaya and its capital, shillong, that made it a popular retreat for the british during the colonial era. they dubbed it the scotland of the east. it's pretty crowded!

what about the city today? there's only one way to find out. i take a bus into the city centre. so it's a modern industrial town these days, shillong. whoa, feel it! i think those brakes may need a bit of work. so tell me, what do you think about shillong? this is your home city. what do you think about this place? the culture here is so different. you see the people here. it's not like the rest of india. here they are their own country. more than half of the population

of meghalaya belong to the khasi tribe, and here at the british—built polo ground, a traditional british sport is thriving, but it sure ain't polo. every afternoon, hundreds of people gather from all around to take part in a really interesting daily ritual. this is called teer, derived from the hindi word for arrow. the target is mounted and 50 archers have just two minutes to hit it as many times as possible. the significance of the sport dates back to the early 1800, when khasi

warriors defended their homeland not with guns and swords but with bows and arrows. i'm aiming forthe target, obviously. the small one. why is it going to the ground like that? spectators get involved by taking bets on the number of arrows that hit the target. crucially, it's only the last two numbers of the total score that matter. they are all added up, and the last two digits will be the result.

695 arrows. 95 is the result. meghalaya became one of the few states to legalise gambling in 1982. people here are very superstitious. they'll dream about their dead family. a dog, a cat. and they'll try to make it into numbers. so i have 200 rupees of my hard earned money here. i want to go and gamble, can you show me how to do it? let's go to one of these counters. i want to gamble on a lucky number. two digit, lucky number. i'm going to go for... 39. and i'm going to put 100 rupees on 39. and on my other bet

i'm going to bet on... 77, can you fix it so i win(!) laughter that depends upon your fortune. i had a dream last night, i had a dream... that a strange dog walked past me, and that dog had the number 39 on it, is that the kind of dreams we have? wish me luck! it's a tense moment as the numbers are counted... 310, 320... and my dream turns out to be... a shaggy dog story. 77 was my number, 97 is the result. still, two of my lucky numbers, nine and seven. next, i head out the city to the region's famed

khasi hills and villages. incredible to think that, despite landscapes like this, the north—east is one of the least visited areas of india. but things are slowly changing. we've been travelling out of shillong into the countryside towards the bangladesh border for about two hours, it has been pretty bumpy and rough roads until suddenly, we have reached this bit and it is beautifully smooth road, that would not look out of place in a major town. we are heading towards a village which has a really interesting reputation. the khasi hills are the only place in the world that you will find bridges grown from the roots of the indian rubber tree. 0r ficus elastica.

constructed in 1840. this bridge was meant for the villagers to cross over the river when they tended to their daily life. during that time there was no partition, no bangladesh, no pakistan, so we had that link. during monsoon, the khasi hills are hit by record—breaking downpours, more than 20 feet of rain in a month. these are some of the wettest places on the planet. but people here have found an ingenious way to harness nature in order to prevent the village being cut off by floods. just tell me what they are doing right now. now they are tying the bamboos to cross on both sides of the river, so that the roots of this tree will be woven along here. bamboo acts as a scaffolding, which helps connect

roots from trees growing on opposite river banks. this is skilled and occasionally dangerous work. thanks to continuous repairs, bridges like this have stood firm for generations. and will probably remain for many more to come. so we leave meghalaya and head to assam. passing through some of the 25,000 tea plantations that have made this region world—famous. we're on our way tojorhat, a few hundreds kilometres from india's border with china, and thejumping off point for the next adventure. i'm on the banks of the mighty river brahmaputra, and about to go

to a very spiritual place, the island of majuli, one of the biggest river islands in the world. now there's 150,000 people on that island, and only six ferries a day, each one is really crammed. just looking at the list of prices for all the different categories — passengers, 15 rupees, that's ok, that's reasonable. then you go down, past the vehicles, animals have today, buffalo has to pay a5. bull, cow, 30. and then the poor elephant has to fork out 907 rupees! perhaps fortunately, none of these creatures were travelling with us today. and incredibly, after a few last—minute panics, we are set to go. i climb onto the corrugated aluminium roof tojoin men

who do this trip day in, day out. starting in tibet, the brahmaputra river is nearly 2000 miles long, second only to the amazon, in the volume of water that rushes through it. interesting game of cards going on here, i think they are playing whist. i'd like tojoin in. but it may be a private game. high stakes. we arrived at majuli and it is turmoil again trying to get off the boat. to avoid the queue, there is a sneaky way out, which involves climbing onto another boat and going down that way. you know what, i think i'm

going to take that one. well, here we are, on land, doesn't look quite as spiritual as i imagined, but if you look away into the distance, it's just one big flat land of desert. let's see. the island is home to 22 monasteries, or satras, initially established in the 16th century by the assamese guru, sankardeva. boys are instructed from a very young age in the religion that he preached, vaishnavism, an offshoot of hinduism. the monks are celibate and,

according to their beliefs they worship only one god, follow a vegetarian diet, and reject the caste system. and here, the doctrine includes this special art form. this form of classical dance is now recognised by the authorities as a genre in its own right. many of these monks have performed around the world. that was amazing. thank you very much indeed.

i know you spend a lifetime learning the skills of this, but can i have a go, can i try? arms through here...? very good. thank you so much. one, two, three, four. there are 64 positions in this classical dance and i'm having trouble with the first two. it's very difficult. one, two, three... without the grace, as well. no grace whatsoever. he makes it look so easy. and it's incredibly difficult. i'm going to leave it to the experts.

sometimes you have to give up and let them carry on. an exquisite performance. but there's one problem, one very big problem, and that is, that this island may simply not exist in just a few decades time. hard to believe at the moment but there is a genuine worry that majuli will be submerged and destroyed within 20 years. in the last 70 years it has shrunk in size by two thirds. and a majority of the original 65 monasteries have gone. every monsoon, the brahmaputra

river swells, eroding the terrain around it. bit by bit, land is disappearing. but there is hope. so now, i'm on my way, in a tractor, to go and see a man whose life ‘s mission has been to tackle the flooding that has afflicted this island. he is jadav payeng, basically assam's very own eco—warrior. sadly, these areas that get completely deluged, when the monsoon hits, there is some water there, we have to cross... for the last 36 years, he has taken

on an extraordinary challenge, to save this land from vanishing. and so, his lifelong calling began. jadav is known today as the forest man of india. he began planting trees so the roots would bind the soil, soak up excess water, and prevent the land from being eroded by flooding.

from a barren landscape, he has created a forest the size of new york's central park. and he feels this will be more effective in saving nearby majuli than following government flood prevention schemes. so we are now going to do the ritual that every guest that comes here is asked to do, which is to plant a tree. what kind of tree is this? i'm going to put this in here... it's good. he has spoken at environmental

summits all around the world, and his roll call of guests is equally international. i do know that everyone who plants a tree, when it grows, they put a plaque down with their name on it, and i'm going to have that privilege, fantastic, thank you. and so to my final day in assam, and a different kind of ritualistic celebration of nature. if there's one repairing theme throughout my trip in the north—east, it's the sense of community, everywhere, really, and there's nothing better

to illustrate that than this... a local village going down to the river, to celebrate harvest. this community was started in 1939 by a young woman who came from the mountains in search of food. i believe she found that this place was better for her because it is close to water, and civilisation needs water, she brought friends and family here, followed by a brother. the entire family of her own clan... all from that one woman? really, fascinating, wow. this is a much—loved annual celebration and people of all ages gather to muck in, using fishing methods that have been passed down the generations. dig it in, then you pull it towards you...

pull the stick... and look! you can't see this! it's full of fish, it full of fish. this is today's catch... wow! that is pretty good. and this, you will cook, now? excellent. so my trek across india from border to border is almost over, and it's been a realjourney of discovery for me off the beaten track. this isn't india "on tap", instant gratification, which some people are accustomed to, but the rewards, if you make the effort, are immense. asnake?!

can they bite? yeah, it does. it bites. is it poisonous? no, not much. not much?! laughter can i get out now? high pressure is firmly in charge this weekend, so fine and dry for most of us with plenty of sunshine to look forward to. our weather watchers have been out this morning, snapping the sunshine. it was a cold start to the day with temperatures down to —5 last night in the coldest spots in northern ireland and northern england as well, but in that spring sunshine, temperatures are rising quickly, and by the afternoon, highs of 19 celsius for

the western side of wales. that is likely to be the warm spot today. if we do reach 19, that will be the warmest day of the year so far. high pressure in charge, sunny skies for most of us, but not all. for the northern isles in scotland, the cloud thickenerfor some northern isles in scotland, the cloud thickener for some light drizzle with gusty winds. that is the exception. for the rest of scotla nd the exception. for the rest of scotland and northern ireland, plenty of sunshine, with temperatures up to 17. 18 celsius and around manchester, perhaps 19 for western wales. 18 celsius for the warmest spot in south—west england. dusty winds around the south coast, making it feel a bit cooler will stop especially around east anglia and kent. the wind keeps the frost at bay over southern england tonight. again temperatures will take a tumble tonight, with lows of “i! or —5 in the countryside.

they could be some fog patches first thing in the morning. essentially, another gorgeous day with lots of spring sunshine. cool, easterly winds continuing to make their presence felt in the south, but otherwise a similar day with temperatures a degree down across england, but still warm for the time of year. next week, a decent start to the week ahead, but it will turn cloudy across western areas from midweek onwards, with the threat of rain and brisk winds in the west. a reminder, clocks go forward tonight by one hour. donald trump remains defiant after failing to overhaul

barack 0bama's health reforms. the president was forced to abandon his healthcare bill because of lack of support within his own party. two men remain in custody as investigations continue into the westminster terror attack. it's emerged the attacker, khalid masood, sent whatsapp messages moments before hitting the bridge. thousands of civilians attempt to escape mosul amid reports that hundreds have been killed in air strikes in the past few days. i've spoken to witnesses who say that whole families have died in the rubble of their houses, and that nobody was even able to dig them out. also in the next hour... celebrating 60 years since the beginning of the european union.