the supreme court to suspend his 12 year—jail sentence for bribery. it comes just hours after he was due to hand himself into police. he has been holed up in the headquarters of a steelworkers union. doctors treating the former russian spy who was attacked with a nerve agent in the uk say he's no longer in a critical condition. sergei skripal and his daughter yulia were found unconscious on a park bench in salisbury, nearly five weeks ago. britain says russia is behind the poisonings — but moscow continues to deny any involvement. the united states imposes sanctions on russian officials and companies accused of profiting from president putin's efforts to undermine the west. the list implicates putin's inner cirlce imposing sanctions on seven of the country's most influential oligarchs. the list includes mr putin's wadi guard and son—in—law. —— bodyguard. now on bbc news, the travel show. this week, where in cairo. as

egypt's capital prepares to open the doors to the biggest archaeological museum in the world. it's feature a king. —— it's fit for a museum in the world. it's feature a king. —— it's fit fora king. and museum in the world. it's feature a king. —— it's fit for a king. and we go behind the scenes as scientist attempt a delicate operation to restore a priceless discovery back to its former glory. this is one of the oldest structures wooden ship in the oldest structures wooden ship in the world. plus we hear about one man's incredible solo journey across an uncharted mountain range. we start this week in egypt's capital cairo, a huge sprawling city and home to more than 20 million people. the traffic here in cairo is

just another level. cars everywhere, and the sounds from the horns beeping, it isjust and the sounds from the horns beeping, it is just nuts. and the sounds from the horns beeping, it isjust nuts. as and the sounds from the horns beeping, it is just nuts. as we reach giza, we get a glimpse of the ah logical wonders that have fascinated visitors for centuries. —— archaeological. wow! is that of m? i've only ever seen them on tv. we are still quite far away from them, but actually it's breathtaking. the ancient egyptians will these pyramids as elaborate tombs for their rulers, or pharaohs, some 400 thousand years ago. they have become the calling card of egyptian tourism. and the oldest,

the great pyramid stands at nearly 150 metres, and is the largest stone monument anywhere on earth. that is awesome, seeing them in real life is so awesome, seeing them in real life is so cool. tourism is one of egypt's biggest moneymakers, and in 2010 it reached an all—time high up with more than 14 million coming here on holiday. but the following year, everything changed. change, change, change! anti-government demonstrations in cairo kicked off a wave of protests across the country. standing on the corner of the square is egypt's national museum. built in 1902, it houses perhaps the world ‘s greatest collection of ancient a rtefa cts . greatest collection of ancient artefacts. including the magnificent treasures of the boy king tutankhamen. during the turmoil,

looters and vandals took advantage of the chaos and broke in. suddenly, thousands of years of the country's history were at risk. what will your emotions, what did you feel?” history were at risk. what will your emotions, what did you feel? i was concerned at first, then i keep watching and felt secure the museum was project had by armed forces, and they formed a shell around the museum to protect the museum. thieves damaged the building and stole more than 50 priceless a rtefa ct. stole more than 50 priceless artefact. following the looting, a number of stolen antiquities and up for sale online or at auction. the egyptian authorities managed to track them down, and now most of the stolen treasures like this limestone stature, have been recovered. —— statue. we are in front of the

statue, one of the objects that was stolen during the revolution here, and we are so lucky to get it back here at the museum, by the help of the security forces in egypt. was it damaged? it is not damaged, and is as we found it, so it is not damaged. cramped, dusty and overflowing, the museum holds a special place in the nation's haase. but the break—in exposed it is outdated and weak security, and highlighted what was already known. the need to better safeguard the nation's unique treasures. here in the shadow of the pyramids, and you ambitious project is entering the final stages of construction. due to open later this year, the grand egyptian museum will be equipped to

ta ke egyptian museum will be equipped to take the country's ancient treasures will weigh into the future. —— weight into the future. when completed it will be the biggest psychological museum in the world. —— archaeological. this place is absolutely enormous. the footprint is 500 million —— 500,000 square metres. there are labourers working here 24/7 and in cost over a billion us dollars to construct. this is the main atrium, the entrance, and when you arrive you will be greeted by this imposing statue of ramses the second, one of the greatest egyptian pharaohs. i think even he would have been impressed by the scale of this place. it is fit for a king. this state—of—the—art monument will be the new home to tutankhamen‘s treasures. and for the first time, over 5000 objects discovered in his

tomb will be on display to the public. but now there will be better protected by modern security, shedding new light on the lives of the ancient egyptians. tell me about this piece here. this is one of my favourite pieces. it is one of the chariots of king tutankhamen. we are pretty much looking at a 3500 —year—old artefact, but in perfect condition, intact, as it was? if we consider the 3500 years, it is in perfect condition. restorers in the specially built labs are using the most advanced technology in the world to protect —— prevent the architect for display. —— artefacts we re architect for display. —— artefacts were display. it is convenient now that we can use modern x—ray, we can determine the composition of the

materials that were used, the original colours, the nature of the gilding, all of these new, valuable information, is being disclosed to us information, is being disclosed to us in information, is being disclosed to usina information, is being disclosed to us in a nondestructive way. more than two thirds of the objects from tutankhamen‘s team have been hidden away in boxes since the discovery by howard carter almost 100 years ago. they are unrestored and have never been seen by the public. tell me what we can see here? what does it tell us about the king, what's the story? tourism here has really suffered

over recent yea rs. tourism here has really suffered over recent years. notjust because of political unrest, but also through acts of terrorism. with assurances of increased security, it is hoped that this new centre dedicated to egypt's elite —— unique history will finally help encourage tourist to come back. is magnificent, how with every piece you discover, you add a new piece to the puzzle of ancient egypt. and the fascination doesn't stop. if you are thinking of coming here

any time soon, he is the travel show‘s tips for what to know before you go. in terms of weather, egypt is pretty much a year—round destination, a temperatures can be uncomfortably hot here betweenjune and august. though it's best to travel between and april when the heat is a lot more bearable. before you book, make sure you check your government's travel advice, because although the vast majority of the country is safe to explore, some areas are still subject to travel advisories. 0ne areas are still subject to travel advisories. one of those areas, if you are a beach or dive fan, check out other resorts. you will find plenty to keep you occupied. and

finally, never be afraid to barter while you are here. how are you doing, you are ok? while most traders have suffered because of the downturn in tourism, haggling is still very much part of the art of buying and selling in egypt. so hold your nerve and meet any price you are given with a much lower offer, and eventually you will agree to meet somewhere in the middle. how about 85? no problem. still to come on the travel show, we discover how a passion for hiking led to one man's incredible journey into the unknown. and i will bejoining a tea m unknown. and i will bejoining a team of experts as they battle to retrieve the 5000 —year—old piece of history from underground. so stay

with us for that. next up on the travel show, a new series where we hear about some of the incredible journey is series where we hear about some of the incrediblejourney is happening around the world. in armenia and georgia, the building of a new hiking trail set one man on a path that took him well off the beaten track and tested his lifelong passion for hiking. ijust i just really, really love ijust really, really love the act of walking itself. and what comes with it. the best feeling, when you're out on the trail and those moments when you com plete the trail and those moments when you

complete something that is really difficult, or there is a danger to it, and you go through it safely. there is that feeling of complete ecstasy, that moment of immersion, is to me the reason i go hiking. last summer i spent two months hiking 1500 kilometres on my own to become the first person to hike the transcaucasian become the first person to hike the tra nscaucasian trailed between armenia and georgia. at the time i could not point on the map where george or armenia was. the transcaucasian george or armenia was. the tra nscaucasian trailed is george or armenia was. the transcaucasian trailed is a young project, to build 3000 kilometres of network of new purpose—built hiking

trail in the caucasus, which is on the border of europe and asia. half of the volunteers are typically internationals, you have to be local armenians —— half would be local armenians —— half would be local armenians and georgians. it will go into the future, the next ten years, to finish. in the caucasus, there is a massive range of ecosystems, up north you have these massive alpine mountains, 5000 metres, but down to the middle and the south, is that he much everything else you can imagine. you can walk for days and not see people, not see buildings, be completely alone. the last time the caucus was mapped

was in the 19705 by the soviet union. and so i had a chance to really contribute to the design of the trail by finding different potential routes to connect the known sections of trail with the unknown sections of trail. i was hiking by myself for eight weeks and there are no hostile5 along the way, there are no places you meet other travellers. —— hostels. so that sometimes makes it really difficult to just carry on. and at that point, when i was struggling the most, shepherds would be living up in the mountains, they don't have very much but they would see me walking in the mountains by myself and, you know, from a distance, a kilometre or two

kilometres away, they would scream at me and encourage me to come in. they would offer me food and a bed to sleep in for the night. what i would leave, they would give me a ca re would leave, they would give me a care package of food and one of the mo5t care package of food and one of the most common things in it was jars of jam, believe it or not. amazing fuel for the mountains. 0ne jam, believe it or not. amazing fuel for the mountains. one of the best things is that the infrastructure is coming into those countries, we are building a trail, the first maps and the 19705 for armenia was used this summer, and is now on sale in armenia, so locals are using it. and i think that is a massive benefit to the country itself, being able to contribute in that way was really cool and finally, i am back in each of‘s

capital, cairo, on the banks of the river nile. —— egyot‘s capital. —— egypt's. today 95% of egyptians live along the nile river. it has always been essential to life here. the ancient pharaohs built elaborate vessels to travel along the river and these boats became some of their most prized possessions. in the scorching desert heat, an extraordinary operation is under way. i am going to a unique laboratory specially construct of next to the great pyramid of pharaoh khufu. inside, archaeologists and scientists face a daunting task. they are trying to excavate an ancient wooden boat which was buried nearly 5000 years ago. what can we

see here? this is khufu's second boat, built—in bc, before christian, 2700 years ago. —— 2700 bc. this is one of the oldest wooden ships in the world. these scientists are being led by a team from a japanese university who have developed pioneering techniques to salvage the boat. it is a delicate and painstaking process. it can take a week to recover a single plane. what is happening now? they are now trying to lift up a very long, big wooden piece. unfortunately, this boat, the condition of the boat is

not so good, very weak. it is thousands of years old. yeah. if the condition is good it is easy to lift up condition is good it is easy to lift upa condition is good it is easy to lift up a manpower. but in this case we did tentative reinforcement, and we left it up very carefully. —— lift it up. it is the second of a pair of votes which would varied in pits next to the pharaoh's final resting place. —— boats. the other ship, now housed in a museum in giza, was excavated in 1954. the boats had been carefully dismantled and 2/1000 pieces before being buried, along with hieroglyphic instructions on how to reassemble them. —— dismantled into thousands of pieces. that is because the ancient egyptians believed that in the afterlife the boats would needed to

tra nsfer afterlife the boats would needed to transfer the rulers' resurrected spirits up to the heavens. so what is happening in here? this is a lab for the conservation of khufu's second vote. after, as you saw, lifting the pieces from the boat, we bring the pieces here. the planks are incredibly fragile and removing them can cause even more damage. so this temperature controlled lab was erected to examine the pieces on site. we take the weight, and we must keep the humidity at 55%... site. we take the weight, and we must keep the humidity at 5596. .. to must keep the humidity at 55%. .. to help preserve the wood? yes, yes. the team are cleaning and restoring the wood piece by piece. they are literally rebuilding history. this

is the dream for any conservationist, not only an egyptologist, but all over the world, people would love to work on this project. we are most proud of this project. we are most proud of this work. this is one of the most famous of boats. back in the excavation area, the team is still struggling to save a large part of the hull. it has been buried for five millennia and the slightest knock could be catastrophic. it looks like it is about 20 metres long. it feels like an incredible moment here. applause . how exciting. it is a little bit

of history. it will take several yea rs before of history. it will take several years before this remarkable boat is fully restored. but when it is finished, it will go on display with its sister ship in the new grand egyptian museum. so, there you go. that's it from us for now. join us next week when... henry heads to alice springs in australia, to find out how mountain bike centre help in to revive this iconic outback town which has slowly been slipping off the tourist map. —— mountain bikes are helping to revive. and don't forget, you can keep up with us on all our travels in real—time by following us on social media. but for now, from me

and from all the travel show team, here ina and from all the travel show team, here in a foggy e.g. it, it is by by, or as they say here, salaam. —— it is bye—bye. hello. thoughts on the weekend in just a second but first of all i think we should mark the fact that on friday here in the heart of london the temperatures reached in excess of 17 degrees celsius, the warmest day of the year so far. not far behind in the sunshine stakes, this was south wales. somebody had to have all the cloud and rain and initially

it was there in northern ireland and then moved on to scotland and it was captured beautifully by graham in the heart of sterling. the weekend, cloudy, damp and mild. there will be dry weather. this is how friday shaped up. the reason why we had the brightness down towards the south—east and the warmth was because the frontal system never actually made it down into the south—east and into the first part of saturday, the rain still drifting its way slowly towards the northern half of scotland and then it arcs back from the north sea down to a new area of cloud and rain towards the south—west. cloud means that the weekend will not start on a particularly cold note. that frontal system that i have drawn there as a straight line will wave all over, particularly in the central and eastern parts of the british isles for a good part of the weekend. to the east there is some

relatively mild air to be had. as i say, we already had the temperature up to 17 and we will not be far off that mark — if we get a little bit of brightness, perhaps, across east anglia and the south—east. further west, close to weather front, perhaps, the rain can be quite heavy for a time and as you see it drifts very slowly further north. it could eventually end up in northern ireland could reach the scottish borders and eventually clear from the south. a bit of brightness here and that is where it could hit 16 or 17 so some nice dry weather across the north of scotland. and from saturday and into sunday, same weather front. a little wave on it there. a zone of cloud rather than a thin band of cloud. and, again, at its thickest it could produce rain. at this distance my money is on the fact that there could be cloud and rain across east anglia and the south—east. elsewhere, this one is for the optimists, lots of dry weather around and there may be sunshine that could even as far north as edinburgh, be boosting the temperatures to around 13 degrees. just a sneak peek at the start of next week when you thought it was this atlantic

front coming in to dominate the weather, in fact it is a low pressure over france which eventually churns cloud and rain in from the east and south—east across a good part of england and wales. the best of the dry weather further north. hello and welcome to bbc news. the former president of brazil, luis inacio lula da silva, has defied the deadline set by a court for him to surrender to police. his lawyers are in negotiations with the authorities and have filed a motion to the supreme court to suspend a prison order. lula was sentenced to 12 years for corruption — although he says the charges against him are politically motivated. lebo diseko has the latest. his supporters had demanded no to jailfor lula,