britain's prime minister, theresa may, has said it was likely that moscow was responsible for last week's nerve gas attack in britain on a former russian spy. the us secretary of state — rex tillerson — has expressed outrage. russia has denied the claim — saying the british were making up fa i ryta les. a leaked un report says two companies from singapore have violated sanctions imposed on north korea. the draft document — which is expected to be published later this week — accuses the two firms of selling luxury goods including wines and spirits to north korea until as recently as july last year. at least 49 people have died after a bangladeshi plane crashed on landing at nepal's international airport in kathmandu. seventy—one passengers and crew were on board which veered off the runway as it came in to land. now on bbc news, the travel show. mauritius, a force of nature

in the middle of the indian ocean. mauritius is marking the 50th year of independence from british colonial rule, but the intriguing, rich and sometimes dark story of this island nation goes back way before then. on myjourney, i'm going to explore the history of mauritius. see and taste how multiculturalism works here. mmmm, that is nice. go on a day to the races. 0h, did we win? did we win? and visit a unique conservation

project saving endangered species. this island is so often labelled as just a luxury beach paradise, but the reality is so much more fascinating than that. mauritius, gorgeous beaches, turquoise waters and lush vegetation, but the human story is just as awe—inspiring. le morne mountain on the south—west of the island faces in the direction of madagascar and stands 555 metres high. it's also at a 45—degree incline. no walk in the park. for the likes of me, this is a challenging climb, i've got to say.

in fact, i think for anybody it's challenging. near the top ijoin a guy who's done this climb up to three times a day every day pretty well for 13 years. you can feel it's all, like, volcanic. this is volcanic rock? it's probably from the first eruption 10 million years ago. and actually it's very good for climbing. yeah, there's lots of good grip. le morne marks a dark but symbolic chapter in the island's history, the days of slavery under dutch, french and british rule. this is where many escaped slaves, called the maroons, found refuge. they could have a look towards madagascar and for them... that's home. that was home, that was the sight and they expected one day may be to build, like, a craft and go back

home and just to escape from this prison. horrible. it's a world away up here from the beach resorts that populate the rest of the island, but actually this trek is almost a pilgrimage to get to the very heart of mauritian identity. there's a particularly poignant tale told about the maroons in what should have been their moment of celebration. when slavery was abolished here in 1835, soldiers climbed the mountain to tell the maroons they were free, but the escaped slaves thought they were being recaptured and instead chose to jump off the mountain. why do you think this is so important to the identity of people from mauritius?

because i guess it's a unique story. it's part of our story here in mauritius and it's one of the only places we know of that somehow the slaves resisted their masters and for us, it's almost like a venerated mountain, a sacred mountain, not only for the descendants after slavery was abolished, the british brought in hundreds of thousands of so—called indentured labourers from india and china in what was known as the great experiment. today port louis is the country's capital with its colonial legacy and contemporary diversity everywhere to be seen. i'm about to get a personalised unique tour of what this city

and mauritius offers in terms of its diverse food and other wares as well. hi, how do you do, nice to meet you. nice to meet you. so this is a food place here? yes. but you'd never know to look at it, it's pretty low—key. yes, but it's pretty famous as well. he's making some deep—fried cakes, mauritians are fond of deep—fried cakes, you can deep—fry almost everything. he has this batter that he made, it's with chickpea flour, some herbs and salt. mauritius may seem isolated in the middle of the indian ocean, but it was actually nicely placed on the spice route which linked asia, africa and europe.

now he's adding all the herbs you need for the chilly bites. chillis. are they strong chillis? spring onions. there's a clear inference from gujarati traders whose forefathers came over from india in the 19th century, but there's a distinctive mauritian accent to the food too. itjust hit me! now, this is a multi—ethnic, multi—cultural, multi—lingual, multi—religion country, so hinduism is the majority religion but you've also got christianity, islam, chinese religions, buddhism, it's all here. where are we?

we're in a small market that is made up of street vendors. all these people used to be selling everything from clothes, to food to electronic gadgets on the street, but that was illegal so the state gave them some spaces. ca va? so this is arthur, he used to be on a street corner in chinatown selling dumplings with his father. so now he's here. chinese—mauritian? yeah. this is the long fish? yes, the long fish. that is nice, that is really good. how many will years have you working? for myself, after schooling, nearly 50 years. 50 yea rs!

the sheer diversity of food is one benefit of the cultural hotpot in mauritius. another is language, french, english and creole is all spoken here. and then there's music. sega is a rhythm and genre indigenous to this island. and this lady is known as the voice of the indian ocean. the distinctive drum is called the ravanne, a home—grown instrument. 0n the tiny island of ile aux aigrettes, mauritius is playing host to a unique conservation project which takes us back to a time five centuries ago before mankind ever set foot here. the ecosystem of an island like mauritius is extremely fragile, and ever since mankind arrived

in the 17th century, that ecosystem has been severely disrupted and that has led to the extinction of some very important species like, for example, the dodo. the dodo lost the ability to fly through evolution, because until man brought in predators, they didn't really need to. today the one remaining native mammal to mauritius, the fruit bat, can fly with elegant ease, but it's not a great favourite for some, like fruit growers. so this is the mauritius fruit bat. it is a bat that is unique to mauritius. it can travel for 15 kilometres, 20 kilometres, a0 kilometres in one night. it's like man that's got hands, but these hands here have been modified amazingly to become a wing. it's an animal that can see very,

very well, despite what a lot of people think. they need to rest during the day to save their energy because it gets hot in the tropics, but at night, as it's getting dark, they leave their daytime roosts, as they're called, and they go out and they look for food. they will first of all eat fruits to keep themselves alive, but also they will be dispersing fruits and they maintain their own survival by maintaining the forests. the larger project here is hugely ambitious and earning international acclaim. we actually are recreating the whole ecosystems. it's one of the few places on earth were we're notjust trying to save a few odd plants

and a few odd animals, we're actually piecing together as best as we can, it will never be perfect, but as best as we can the whole ecosystem as it existed prior to the arrival of man. should we be frightened of this animal, should i be frightened being this close to this animal now? well, i'm not frightened of the animal, i don't know why anyone should be. there are some countries where bats are disperses and carriers of diseases but in mauritius that's not the case. of course where they are carriers of diseases there are some precautions to be taken, of course, but that's not the case here. would you like to hold the bat? are you serious? yes, it will probably nibble you a little bit if that's ok? nibble me? its claws are going to be quite sharp. wow. i can't believe it.

this is weird is all i can say. this is a magic moment. i never thought i'd actually find a bat or an animal like this vaguely even cute, but you know what, it is kind of cute. and luckily not disease ridden as it bites my finger. no! do you want to fly off, shall we get you to fly off? come on then. animals are central to mauritian identity in more ways than one. take this weekly ritual that has become tightly wrapped up with mauritian social life and culture, going to the races. the islands‘ independence from british rule was declared

on this very racecourse, the champ de mars, in 1968. built more than two centuries ago, it's the oldest racecourse in the southern hemisphere. and from the start, it's very aim was to bring disparate communities together. oh, and to satisfy the locals' love of gambling, of course. and today, there's one family who now dominate horseracing in mauritius. actually, it was my grandfather who introduced our family to horse racing. he was the first indian to be a member of the national assembly of parliament. and in 190a, he was a businessman. at the beginning, he was a milk

seller, but then he started doing business, buying land and buying and selling land and property. he also realised that buying a racehorse would allow him to mingle with the big cheeses, especially french businessmen, who ran the economy then and loved racing. today is a very special day. it's the final classic race of the season, the duke cup, and a chance for this elite family to great history in the country's national sport. what has happened is that we have been able, with a bit of luck, to win the first three classics, and if we win the fourth one today, we will be creating history. and we got a peek into the paddock to meet soun‘s cousin. this gentleman,

i know him very well. i often see you on the bbc all over the world! this is very much a family affair. that's the cup that we are looking for. this one here? can i touch it? anyone can touch it before, but i want to touch it after. afterwards, yes... this is fantastic. i'm getting a real insight behind—the—scenes with one of the most important men in racing. inside the jockeys‘ room, preparations are underway. down by the track, i can feel the sense of occasion here. here is where everybody gathers, rich, poor — everyone. whatever language or culture they're from, whichever ethnic group, this is the day, and this is the first race of the day. i wanted to get a feel

for the passion for racing and gambling here, and so i approached a local punter. i'm from england, do you recommend any horce in any race? i think this one. number three, rogue runner, in this race. i'm gonna bet. number three. but i'm not sure. there is my horse, number three, rogue runner, and if i put 100 rupees on it, it says i'll get 600 rupees back. hey, can i have 100 on number three, rogue runner? a lot of money going on rogue runner. you like rogue runner? is it a good one? and this is my horse, number three, rogue runner. go for it... i like his colours.

laughter do you like number three? number three? here they come. 0h! did he win? it was very close, who won? number three. number three won! at the last minute! at the last moment... yes!

and now it is time for the climax to the season — the big one, the dukes cup, and a time for the gujadhurfamily to make history. they haven't left much to chance, they have three out of the 12 horses running, including the favourite, enaad, ridden by the most successful champion jockey in the race. 0ur man's in his lucky spot to watch the race next to his family. the favourite and their big hope ennad is struggling. it doesn't look good. ennad, get on, don't let him coax you back! until from the outside another horse from the gujadhur stable suddenly starts making ground. ready to attack is, well, ready to attack. come on ready to attack!

cheering well done! idid it! well done! well done, sir! well done! the family have done it and made history. cheering now this is over, what do you feel? a sense of relief, almost? frankly, i don't get worked up before a race.

i watched you during the race, you do a bit... i do a bit, but you know, the people around, and the well—wishers, the supporters, everywhere you go around the island, you know, theyjust wish you well. i wanted to win that race for them. and in this 50th anniversary year of independence, it seems the people of this island have plenty to celebrate. during my time here, i've seen a strong sense of nationhood amongst mauritians, and also realisation that precious wildlife must be protected. this is a relatively prosperous country, breaking free from its complicated and sometimes shameful colonial past. and what's exciting is that right now, its unique cultural identity

is still evolving and making it so much more thanjust a high—end holiday hotspot. good morning. well, i don't know about you, but i wasn't best pleased with the start of the working week's weather. particularly across england and wales it was rather cloudy and with some rain at times. look at this weather watchers picture sent in from wembley. leaden—looking skies. the rain was a real nuisance. that low has moved away. it's allowed this ridge of high pressure to build over the last few hours, and that is just going to give us a chilly start to tuesday, but perhaps tuesday likely to see the best of the drier weather throughout the week. despite temperatures in low single figures in scotland, there will be early morning sunshine, particularly in northern ireland, western scotland, wales and south—west england. eventually the cloud will start to thin and break up in eastern areas with the exception perhaps of the north sea coasts. here a little more cloudy during the day. but not bad, predominantly dry, particularly in comparison with monday with highs of 7—11 degrees. now, as we move out of tuesday, we will be under the influence of low pressure and this low

pressure out in the atlantic is actually going to stay with us for the rest of the working week. now, the good news is it is spilling up south—westerly winds, so milder air starts to dominate across the uk. it will be windy at times and it will see some wet weather spiralling around that low pressure, almost like a catherine wheel, driving up some rain at times. chiefly affecting the south—west, eventually moving into northern ireland and into wales. but for much of the eastern areas, we'll see dry, bright weather. temperatures responding with the sunshine and the southerly wind, highs of up to 1a degrees. a similar kind of story actually on thursday. another front brings rain into northern ireland, wales, the midlands and eventually into the south—east, but much of eastern england, along with scotland, will see some dry, sunny weather, and with that wind direction, it's still going to feel reasonably warm, highs of 7—14 degrees. so if you get the sunshine with those temperatures responding, it could — dare i say it — feel almost springlike at times. but don't get used to it because it looks as though by the weekend we'll

see quite a dramatic contrast in the weather, as the wind direction changes it's going to get cold again. that is because we start to see another area of high pressure dominating across scandinavia. the winds clockwise around that high, a cold easterly set to return. it looks as if it will turn much colder as we move into the weekend, and any moisture coming in off the north sea could again fall as snow. so it's certainly something that we're going to have to keep a close eye on. i wouldn't be surprised into the weekend as we start to see a return to snow on the roads. take care. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: pointing the finger of blame — britain's prime minister says moscow was probably behind the attack

on a former russian spy. it is now clear that mr skripal and his daughter were poisoned. president putin brushes off questions about the attack as moscow accuses the british of telling fairytales. the bbc gains access to a draft un report, which claims some asian companies are violating sanctions against north korea. and a ‘master of elegance‘ — hubert de givenchy, the man