ius in : us in the here, but for most of us in the sunshine, feeling quite delightful, made teens is typical, 17 in the london area. enjoy, because rain is on the horizon — that will be pushing in from the west, but even then there will still be some spills of warm sunshine. that is it, back in halfan of warm sunshine. that is it, back in half an hour. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the home secretary has called on social media providers to end the encryption of messaging services. her comments come after it was revealed khalid masood used whatsapp messaging just before launching his attack in westminster last week. scotland yard has confirmed the attack carried out by masood took just 82 seconds. detectives have revealed his motive may never be known. they believe he acted alone, despite one of the 11 people arrested in connection with the attack remaining in custody. the family of pc keith palmer who was killed in the attack have paid tribute to him and thanked those who helped him after he was stabbed.

they said they wanted to "express their gratitude" to the people who were with him in his last moments. more than 30 people have been injured, two seriously, after a suspected gas explosion in merseyside. several buildings collapsed and others were damaged in the incident, and homes nearby have been evacuated. it could be several days before owners can return. the pentagon has admitted us—led coalition aircraft did strike an area in the iraqi city of mosul where dozens of civilians are said to have been killed. the un says there's growing concern about the fate of civilians in the city, where government forces are trying to drive out so—called islamic state. the favoured candidate of an electoral committee dominated by beijing elite has been selected as the new leader of hong kong. she has vowed to heal divisions as pro—democracy groups protested the

election. the majority of the people had no say in electing their leader. now on bbc news, it's time for the travel show. 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. it's just crystals, hard 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 breaks 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. —— a traditional local sport. 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. a 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. which one? the small one. why is it going to the ground like that? 0ut out of the way, everyone! here we go! 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 digit will be the result. 690, five 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 digits, 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 of 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's been pretty bumpy and rough roads, until suddenly we have reached this bit and it is beautifully smooth road, it 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 a bridge grown from the roots of the indian rubber tree. 0r ficus elastica. the roads were constructed during

the year 1840. this bridge was meant for the villagers to cross over the river when they go back 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 routes 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 to pay! 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. an interesting game of cards going on here, i think they are playing whist. ifeel like i should join in. but it may be a private game. high stakes. we arrived at majuli, and it's 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, he 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,

jadav 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 then 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. jadav 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 the water, and civilisation needs water, she brought friends and family here, followed by her 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 gathered to mark in, using fishing methods that have been passed down the generations. then you pull it towards you... pull the stick... and look! you can 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? hi there. if you are out in the countryside this afternoon going for a walk, i hope you won't encounter any snakes! but plenty of fine and sunny weather for the rest of the day, a nice day to be strolling along the beach, but maybe a bit nippy for a dip still.

this is the scene at down with intent. the other end of the uk is equally sunny, —— sandwich in kent. there is a difference in terms of temperatures. the wind of the sea is bracing intent, but tropical almost across the western highlands, 18 degrees is possible across the next hour or so. for most of us, somewhere in between, low to mid teens, should feel very pleasant. a fresh trees across the south. in the evening, take a few layers to the football matches because it will cool down very quickly. it does turn cold once the sun sets, each chilly night. some areas of low cloud and mist coming from the north sea to effect eastern counties of england and maybe the midlands. a cold one, single figures and a touch of frost integral parts, the north—west of the uk in particular. a fresh and sunny start. more than ireland more

cloud. —— northern ireland. areas of fog first thing in the morning. this is 8am, just be aware it could be foggy in raw to places although which of the last two long. plenty of sunshine across the south. through the day, the bulk of us will then enjoy another fine day. fog drifting north, perhaps affecting south—eastern parts of scotland. eventually that will not temperatures on the head. 0ther areas having more cloud. but that wouldn't be difficult. low to mid teens again, 17 degrees, enjoy it because although the week ahead sta rts because although the week ahead starts try it doesn't stay that way. wet weather spreading from the west. in between the showers there will be pleasa nt in between the showers there will be pleasant sunshine. low—pressure winding up and churning out are into the atlantic, sending front in our direction, the first of which will introduce thicker cloud and showery

rain, hitand introduce thicker cloud and showery rain, hit and miss staff, across southern and western areas as we go through the day on tuesday. the progress of that is uncertain. the further east you are, you should stay dry. any further brightness south and west. it should still stay pleasant. i will be back in half an hour. this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 2pm. home secretary amber rudd calls on technology firms such as whatsapp to allow security services access to encrypted messages in terrorism cases. there should be no place for terrorists to hide. we need to make sure that organisations like whatsapp and others do not provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate. the westminster attacker khalid masood acted alone, say the police. his motive may never be known. detectives confirmed the attack lasted just 82 seconds. the family of the police officer who was killed, pc keith palmer, has thanked the people who tried

to save his life. they say they're grateful he did not die alone. more than 30 people have been injured — two seriously — after a suspected gas explosion on merseyside.