an inspection in the former rebel—held town of douma. the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons said its inspectors had gathered samples — which would now be carefully examined. the organiser of anti—government protests in armenia has said he'll hold talks on sunday morning with the country's long—standing leader — prime minister serzh sargsyan. nikol pashinyan has been leading calls for his resignation — saying that is the only matter he is prepared to discuss. the funeral of the former us first lady, barbara bush, has taken place in texas. she died on tuesday at the age of ninety—two. barbara bush was the wife of george hw bush — and the mother of george w bush. former presidents bill clinton and barack obama attended the service. the first minister of wales, carwynjones, has announced that he'll step down from the post in the autumn. speaking at the welsh labour party

conference, he described the past few months as "the darkest of times". mrjones, who's been party leader since 2009, said the recent death of carl sargeant, who was found dead days after being sacked by mrjones from his cabinet office job, had had a big impact on his family life. here's our bbc wales political editor nick servini. i'm glad to say there will be funding announced next week. this was always going to be the toughest conference speech for carwyn jones as first minister of wales. as it turned out, it was his last, as he shocked party members by saying a bruising few months had taken its toll on his family life. i don't think anyone can know what these last few months have been like, no—one that is apart from lisa and the kids. they've carried me through the darkest of times. i've asked too much of them at times, and it's time for me to think about what's fair to them. so, this will be the last welsh labour conference i address as party leader. carwynjones has faced intense pressure since the death of his colleague carl sergeant,

who he sacked from the welsh government cabinet in november. a few days later it's thought mr sergeant took his own life while facing a number of misconduct allegations from different women. there have been questions about whether correct procedures were followed. the crisis for carwyn jones that came to a head, comes after years in which it has been untouchable at the head of welsh politics for the critics have questioned his record on public service delivery, but the more pressing question is whether his legacy will be overshadowed by the death of his former colleague. he has done one for things for wales, he has been an exemplary leader and first minister and been a wonderful ambassador for wales and i'm very proud to have been a member of parliament in carwyn jones‘s welsh labour party. people will think back over his time as first minister as a time of consolidation and success

and taking wales forward and solidarity and of confidence. this now triggers a rare event, a contest to become the next first minister of wales, carwynjones was in the job for nine years, and his predecessor did ten years. change at the top of welsh politics does not happen very often. now on bbc news: the travel show. coming up on this week's show: i'm all at sea on board the world's biggest cruise ship, meeting a man who has to feed up to 9000 people every night. no pressure? absolutely not, no. no pressure at all. and i find out why it it pays to be cool and collected up on the bridge. first we try and keep it as calm as possible, and not so exciting. simon is here with advice

on the best way to backpack through south america... horn blows. ..and we take a trip back in time aboard china's last surviving steam train. we start this week at sea, where holidays afloat are enjoying a boom right now, thanks in part to a fleet of megaships that has been built and designed specifically to attract a new generation of younger and fun—loving cruisers. behind me is the biggest of them all, the symphony of the seas. she makes her maiden voyage this month, and i am going tojump aboard for a sneak preview. the scale of this ship is truly vast. she can carry close to 9000 passengers and crew. she is longer than four football pitches laid end to end, weighs over 220,000 tons, and she has a staggering 18 decks and 23 swimming pools.

constructed at shipyards in france at a cost of over $1.5 billion, symphony of the seas is the biggest passenger cruise ship ever built. but does that make it the best? at this point i have a bit of a confession to make. this is not my first cruise, in fact i'm a bit of a fan. so i am keen to see how this one measures up. i am jumping on board a special 2—night cruise between the spanish ports of malaga and barcelona, along with a big group of travel journalists and industry experts, to explore the ship before she welcomes her first paying passengers. and although there is a party atmosphere on board, the crew know this is an important event if the ship is going to make waves around the world. these corridors go on forever, which is not surprising

because there are almost 3000 rooms on this ship. so finding your own room can be a bit of a challenge. this is mine i think, 592. it is quite spacious actually! and not a bad view. most rooms here in the ship are a pretty standard size, although you will pay extra for a balcony and sea view, and if you really want to push the boat out, there is a whole range of upscale suite with a suitably enormous pricetag to match. but is a seemingly endlessly array of dining options, entertainment and attractions on board which really sets the ship apart. this is the fourth ship in the class, it's called the oasis class, we introduced the first one back in 2010, and they are just huge hits. the demand for these kind of experiences is growing, they are very popular.

we have a metric that measures customer satisfaction, and these ships literally knock it out of the park. tonight's special sailing is due to get under way around 9pm, and before we slip anchor, the party atmosphere is already kicking in. i am at the bionic bar where there is no human bartending staff, but we do have two robots, rockem and shockem, who will make my drink for me. i have found a lovely sounding drink which is the bionic bahama mama, and all i need to do is just press this button and the robots will go to work. so off we go. now i think is going to be the shaking bit... there we go! hey! laughs. a little bit of spillage,

some dripping, he is a bit messy, this robot bartender. and here we go! the finished product. look at this! my drink. thank you shockem! well, we are setting off. soon the lights of malaga there will disappear into the distance. next stop, barcelona. the following morning it's up early to try some of those on—board attractions, aimed at making this ship as family friendly as possible. first stop, the abyss. at 100 feet it is the longest tubular slide at sea, and sends you plummeting a full ten

decks in as many seconds. woohoo! the zipline is 82 feet long and it goes from deck 16 down to deck 15. on a good day we put through hundreds of people, and of course it is available for all ages, but you have to be a minimum of six and you have to be 52 inches. over the past ten years, the cruise industry has undergone something of a revolution, as it tries to move away from its traditional stuffy image and appeal more to younger holidaymakers and families. gone are the days are when some slot machines and fizzy drinks were expected to keep the kids happy. and if all that activity builds up your appetite, then there's 22 restaurants,

cafes and bars on board, some of them open around the clock. all operated under the watchful eye of gary thomas. i guess you have to provide a really wide array of food to people who will have very different tastes? absolutely, of course, and that is where my knowledge comes in, we do have fixed restaurants, we have mexican themed, seafood themed restaurants. but in the public buffet areas is where i have lots of freedom. everything i do is about the guest demographics, and i have all this information prior to the voyages, so i can adjust a lot of what we do based on the guests we carry. you have been a chef on land for a long time, and now you are on sea. what are some of the challenges you face when you are out at sea. if you run out of food at sea, there is no running down the road. you have to get it right all the time. you have to anticipate what is going to happen on board. many, many cruises in advance,

i have to order up my food, so if i miss a particular item, a popular item, i go from the most popular man on the ship to very quickly the most unpopular. it is not hard to see why this formula of all—inclusive fun, food and sun on a gigantic scale is proving increasingly popular. but some people aren't as delighted to see this mammoth style of ship take to the seas. with cruise ships growing bigger and bigger it is not surprising that concerns are being raised about the environmental impact they are having. firstly, there is the issue of pollution. it is said that the maritime grade diesel many ships use causes far more emissions than the fuel used back on dry land. the cruise industry says it is doing what it can to capture and filter these emissions, but campaigners claim they could do more. and there is also the criticism of the huge amount of waste that some of these floating resorts create. waste, landfill on a fleet of ships, is close to zero. and often i am asked a question, well,

these ships are so big and there is a lot of waste and everything, i often liken the ship of this size to a small village or town, and i would challenge any small village or town to put their environmental footprint up against the ship of this size. and what about the social and cultural impact of a ship this large turning up at possibly a quite small port? again, we are a community, we're taking people on vacation, they have happy times, and you have to have dialogue and communication with all destinations. when we are encountering a destination that says hang on, guys, we think the ship is too big, let's talk about it and understand what that is, is there a way of solving it, or should we just avoid that destination? we are looking for win—wins, we want people to be happy, we live in our communities, we don't want to cause people any concerns, and we work very hard to try and achieve that.

late last year, local protesters in venice turned up in force to say they had had enough of visiting cruise ships. they tried to block the city's port with a floating blockade to draw attention to the strain mass tourism is putting on venice's already fragile architecture and infrastructure. these cruise ships are six time taller than the tallest house in venice. please, jump in a gondola, jump in a venetian boat, that are small, that are respectful of the scale of the city, come in a small boat, and don't come with these monsters that really are destroying our city. and although venice is not currently on this cruise ship's itinerary, some protesters on the spanish island of majorca are not happy that she will be regularly visiting their capital palma. there is no doubt that for some people cruising is a great way to see the world. travelling in comfort as you tick

off multiple destinations over the course of a week or two. by 2020 it is estimated that almost 27 million of us per year will decide to holiday this way. so expect to see more of these super ships take to the seas over the coming years. but let's hope that through dialogue and maybe more regulation, everyone stays happy, notjust the holidaymakers. still to come on the travel show: coming up, i head to the bridge to meet the man who captains this colossal cruise ship. we try to keep it as calm as possible, and not so exciting. and we travel to china, to chug back in time on board their last remaining scheduled steam train. so see you after the break. well, i am on the bridge

of the world's largest cruise ship, and here i have captain rob, who is in charge of this whole ship. hopefully you can show me through the bells and whistles here on the bridge. sure, sure, with pleasure. i would think the bridge of a ship as big as this would be bustling with activity, but it seems very calm and not too many people up here. what are these guys doing? well, first we try to keep it as calm as possible, and not so exciting. first 0fficer anton is driving the ship right now. assisting him is second 0fficer dario. together they are navigating the ship at the moment. here we have displayed in front of us many different systems. from propulsion systems to navigation systems, including the radar, electronic charts, and all of them monitoring various aspects.

you will see our three pods, and right now we are turning 75 rpm on all three of them. they are pointed forward because they pull, they pull the ship along, even though they are at the stern where traditional rudders would be. at 75 rpm we are making 15 knots. that is actually 14.9 through the water, which is quite good. we have the wind with us. and you can see whitecaps out there. but if you look to the next screen you will see we only have about seven knots of wind across the deck. we can be pointed this way but actually going this way, because of the current and wind that is always moving the ship around. we are not connected rigidly to the earth, we are sliding along through the sea. same with the speed overwater and speed overg round, they are generally different as well, for the same reasons.

everything around them and above them serves a purpose. some more than others. some are just light dimmers. some are communication, searchlight control. ship's whistle. all of the above, all there. it might all look similar but it's quite different. welcome to the slice of the show that tackles your questions about getting the best out of travel. coming up, seeing america in two weeks? first, though, cruise passengers may be delighted to learn that india's e—visa scheme is now allowed for arrival by sea as well as air. you can sail into the ports of mumbai, goa, cochin, mangalore or chennai.

next, geraldine hardy in kuala lumpur has this question. divide your trip into three segments. first, the east coast heritage trail. divide your trip into three segments. first, the east coast heritage trail. start in boston, the birthplace of independence, and end up in washington, dc, calling at new york city and philadelphia. all of those places are connected by fast trains. then, take a four—hour flight across the midwest and the prairies to the mile—high city of denver, with a wonderful view of the rockies. step aboard the californian zephyr train, ending up in san francisco as the sun sets on the golden gate. then go by train, plane or automobile south along the pacific coast to los angeles, a wonderful sprawl with highlights that include venice beach, santa monica and of course hollywood. finally, nina in london has

a friend backpacking through south america. check the latest foreign office advice for any particular hazards and devour guidebooks. my personal highlights include lake titicaca, divided by bolivia and peru, the ancient inca capital cuzco, the amazon, and if you can possibly manage it, a river trip from iquitos in peru, downstream to leticia in colombia. by an open—jaw ticket into la paz and out of cartagena, and get plenty of american currency. the us dollar is king in latin america. whether you are going budget backpacking or wanting to live the high life, the bbc‘s travel show is here to help. so email: from me, simon calder,

the global guru, bye for now, and see you next time. to finish this week we've got the first in a series of films from china — a country that has undergone massive change over recent decades as it moves to modernise. but if you know where to look, some glimpses of the past remain, and we've headed to the sichuan province to take a step back in time. well, that's all we've got time for for on this week's show. but do join us next week, when henry heads to australia to meet the people behind the world—famous royal flying doctor well, that's all we've got time for for on this week's show. but do join us next week, when henry heads to australia to meet the people behind the world—famous royal flying doctor service as they celebrate

an important anniversary. what a remarkable bit of kit you've got here. and we head back to china to discover a novel way of skiing which is claimed to be an 8,000 years old. that's next week. but in the meantime, don't forget you can catch up with us when we're out on the road at sea in real—time by signing up to a social media feeds, where you can also share your travel stories with the world. but now, from me and the rest of the travel show team here, somewhere in the mediterranean, it's goodbye. good morning.

well, after the heat of saturday, some spectacular storms through the night across parts of england and wales. they ease out the way though to start sunday. and sunday, still a few showers through the day, particularly in the west, but fresher weather is behind this weather front, tracking from west to east throughout the day. introducing atlantic air, sweeping away the warmth we have had and dropping temperatures as that fresher air pushes its way in. some warmer air across parts of eastern england for the start of the day. once the overnight showers clear, temperatures rising quickly. in the west we already have that weather front to begin the day across parts of western scotland and northern ireland, bringing outbreaks of rain, and some thunder off just off the east coast of scotland. thicker cloud bringing some showers just to the western fringes of england and wales. but the sun is out in the south—east, east anglia and estern england,

and across estern england, so once the early showers have cleared, it is looking fine for the london marathon, for spectators at least. probably a bit too warm for the runners, 2i—22 celsius possible. maybe a refreshing shower later. that's all tied in with our weather front, working its way eastwards. working its way to scotland and northern ireland eventually. some sunshine. brightening more quickly across parts of england and wales. but we could see the warmth in the south—east spark off some heavy showers later on, there could be a rumble of thunder across east anglia too. so 23 or 2a in london and norwich, 13 in belfast. we finish the day here with sunshine and showers. showers continue through the night in the northern half of the country. clear skies developing further south. a much fresher night than we've had over the past few days, all parts of the uk temperatures dropping back down into single figures to start your monday morning. that's a sign for next week, it's back to normal. we're back to factory set for the weather, because it's spring and it will feel like it once again. a cool start to your monday. not a good deeal of sunshine around in central and eastern areas.

it will be fine day for many, the cloud will increase. in the west, the cloud will be thicker. spreads into western scotland. it will turn damp, grey and drizzly towards the south—western coasts. temperatures where they should be for this time of year. 17 possible in the south—east corner. the south holds onto cloud and patchy rain and drizzle at times. some brighter skies, particular during the middle part of the day. further north, a lot more sunshine around. but more of a breeze and here, a scattering of showers. note the cooler temperatures across the north as well. they will be with us all as we go through the rest of next week. always brighter the further south you are. across the north, frequent showers expected. and as we saw last night, some rumbles of thunder too. this is bbc news. i'm nkem ifejika. our top stories: international inspectors have finally been able to collect samples

from douma in syria where it's alleged chemical weapons were used two weeks ago. after nine days of demonstrations in armenia the protest leader says he's ready for talks with the prime minister. the funeralfor the former first lady of the united states barbara bush has been held in houston, texas. her sonjeb described how he had asked her if she was ready to die. without missing a beat she said, "jeb, i believe injesus and he is my saviour, i don't want to leave your dad, but i know i will be in a beautiful place." queen elizabeth celebrates her birthday with a concert featuring music from each decade of her reign.