tv The Travel Show BBC News May 19, 2018 5:30am-6:01am BST
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prince harry and meghan markle will marry at noon local time at st george's chapel in windsor castle. on the eve of his wedding, prince harry thanked crowds of well—wishers. ms markle spent the night with her mother at a nearby country house hotel. more than 100 people have died in a plane crash near hava na's international airport. three people have survived and are seriously injured. witnesses say the boeing 737 ran into problems shortly after take off, then plunged into agricultural land next to the airport, catching fire on impact. a shooting at a high school in texas has left ten people dead and ten others wounded. the suspect, who is a 17—year—old student at the school in santa fe, has been arrested and charged with murder. he allegedly used a shotgun and a revolver from his father, who legally owned the weapons. up to three quarters of people in parts of the uk who challenged a decision to remove their main disability benefit last year were successful, according to figures obtained by the bbc.
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the charity, scope uk, says ‘fundamental flaws' in assessments aren't being addressed. paul heaney has this exclusive report. last year, steve from newport in south wales applied for a new type of benefit, personal independent payment. or pip. he has cerebral palsy and only realised there was a problem at the bank a few months later. the department for work and pensions says he was sent three letters to attend an assessment but steve struggled to open those letters so he missed the appointments. his benefit stopped and, with zero income, he was left thousands in debt. the dwp later said he had a good reason for not turning up but steve
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had to win at a tribunal to go back on the benefit he was on before. the new type of benefit that steve and millions like him are applying for can be really important in getting people back to work. what we now know is that appeals against incorrect... incorrect decisions are rising every year. 67% of appeals were upheld in 2017. pip appeals were even more successful, 75% of those who appealed in london, south—west and wales had decisions overturned. in scotland and the north—east of england, just over half successful. the dwp couldn't explain the regional differences but said successful appeals were usually because of further evidence at tribunals. this is a wake—up call to the government. at scope uk, we hear from people every day how difficult the assessment is.
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we want to see the assessment work for disabled people. the dwp insists new payments are fairer because they will reassess people more often. steve has now been repaid thousands he was due but he is worried others will have to rely on lengthy appeals to get what they are entitled to. coming up at six o'clock, breakfast, which of course has full coverage of the build—up to today's royal wedding, but first on bbc news, the travel show. it's funny but i'd always reckoned the oil—rich abu dhabi, here in the uae, was never that interested in attracting tourists. unlike its flashy, noisy neighbour dubai, for example. but on this trip, i think i might have to revise that opinion. because abu dhabi seems to be upping its game, especially in the cultural stakes.
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on myjourney, i'm going to experience world—renowned architecture, like the new louvre museum, and finding out how traditional local musical instruments are being revived. but i'll also be exploring both urban and desert landscapes, to get a sense of how this emirate is making the most of its unique environment. abu dhabi is entering a new phase in its breakneck speed development. but is it really going to reach the heights as a must see tourist destination in its own right? it's hard to believe abu dhabi was just a fishing village only
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a few decades ago. in 1971, the united arab emirates became a nation, and its dominant stakeholder has always been abu dhabi, led by the al nahyan family, thanks largely to huge oil revenues. and when it opened in 2007, this impressive white marble edifice became a spiritual landmark. abu dhabi's grand mosque. grand in ambition, grand in scale, and grand in design. and when it was finished a decade ago, it became this emirate‘s calling card to the rest of the world. now, when they made this mosque,
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they were making a statement, weren't they, about abu dhabi? oh, yeah. absolutely. what were they trying to say? i think, you know, when people think about the united arab emirates or the middle east, the first city that comes to your mind is definitely dubai. but i think after we built this mosque and it was the vision of the late his highness zayed bin sultan al nahyan, he knew that this was going to be the icon that will bring people to abu dhabi and will show the true message of the middle east. 10,000 visitors come here every day. inside, up to 40,000 worshippers can be accommodated on key days in the islamic calendar. just look at the details of every single part of the mosque. it's absolutely beautiful. the carpet is from iran. you have the chandeliers up above us.
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in fact, this is the largest handknotted carpet in the world, and this gold chandelier is one of the biggest in the world. islam is regarded here as a living, breathing faith, with verses from the koran the inspiration for all the design and architecture here. but i wanted to know from 0mar if the grand vision in abu dhabi really includes everyone who lives here, like the expat community and the migrants who work in relatively low paid jobs. after all, the emiratis are in the minority here. just look around you. you'll find a lot of people from all over the world and all different backgrounds, who come here and have made this place home. the us always used to sell the american dream. there is the emirati dream, believe it or not. the emirati dream is definitely living a great quality standard
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of life and, of course, living with — living amongst people from all over the world. this is definitely the emirati dream. in the wake of this jewel in the crown have come other signature, large—scale construction projects. 0n saadiyat island, a cluster of magnificent museums and galleries include quite possibly the most prestigious art brand in the world, which has just recently opened its doors. for a decade now, the grand mosque has been abu dhabi's most popular tourist location — until this astonishing the louvre abu dhabi houses artefacts on loan from paris, and others, bought and permanent. from ancient pieces to african
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sculptures, facing european masterpieces from every era. while contemporary arabic art shares space with chinese sculpture. it's a universal museum, it's a museum that takes you through time and through different geographies. you'll be able to see different cultures and different civilisations in contact with one another. in a way, to me, walking through the galleries is walking through time and seeing what's happening in different parts of the world at the same moment. there is a medina, or arabic village, feel to the layout and as for the architecture here, well, it's all about geometry and light. it's a dome symbolising islamic architecture,
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but as you can see, there is eight layers up there that allows the light to filter through and come down as you can see it, with what the architect calls the rain of light. so this whole display of the museum is in a way representing who we are as emiratis because we've always been in the middle of this region. the gulf has always been a connection of trade and different civilisations, so... going through this narrative allows you to capture the essence of who we are, the essence of who the uae is today. and the museum has yet to reveal its most publicised exhibit — a 500—year—old painting of christ, which recently achieved the highest auction price for any work of art, by the very same artist who created this — leonardo da vinci. so basically, the chances are that the world's most expensive
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painting is going to be in this room, possibly in this very spot. auctioneer: at 400 million... exactly who bought the salvator mundi for nearly half $1 billion has been shrouded in some mystery. reports claimed it was a saudi billionaire prince, the louvre people tell me it was the abu dhabi government. either way, it'll be on display very soon. watch this space — literally. playing the cultural card here is notjust about splashing cash on famous international brands and collections. there are indigenous art forms that are being revived, like traditional arabic instruments. in this academy, 60 students of all ages are learning how to play this instrument — the oud. it's related to the european lute and has origins as far back
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as the time of the pharaohs. what's really great about this place is that you don'tjust learn how to play the oud, you can actually watch one being made. starting with the wood itself, and this is where the whole process begins. the craftsman here says by working eight hours a day for a month, he can make two of these instruments. this is artisanship of the highest order. thank you so much. it's been a privilege to watch you at work, thank you. so, fresh from the workshop. now, let's see if we can make any music out of it. and i'm not going to find out more about the oud from just anybody, but actually, quite possibly
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the most famous female oud player in the world. what's unique about it? the uniqueness, it has a bowl at the back, not like the guitar, it's not a flat... so, this bowl gives like deepness in the sound and also, we don't have frets... right. so that gives richness. yeah. particularly in abu dhabi, i think the oud is very important for older people because you can find — in every home, you can find an oud. maybe they are playing itjust for fun, not very professionally, but they like oud here. 0k, time for me to get a lesson from the expert. these double strings are a bit
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tricky for a starter. very good. ok, that's relatively easy. that's very good — for the first time. can you play chords with this, or? chords, yes, sure. this is c, e, g, c. c... third finger. let's hope this works. yeah, it does. yes. wow. and sometimes, we are using the guitar technique, like... plays the oud like a guitar. i just jammed with. ..
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that's very good for a first time. wow, that was very good. ijustjammed with a world famous... it was very good. no, but i was lucky. i was just playing one, the one chord. that's amazing. thank you very much. of course, culture isn't only about fine art and classical music. now, abu dhabi is staking its claim as the capital of sport in the golf, and notjust by owning the elite football brand manchester city or by hosting formula 1 races. because women like amal are breaking new cultural ground by turning iconic urban landmarks, like the corniche, into concrete gyms. amal is the first emirati woman to coach and compete in parkour. it's a full body workout. people underestimate
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just how much... there are so many things that you're actually doing that you could do at a gym, but you are just doing outdoors in a different way. you find a space and you start trying to put things on that space that you have. when was the epiphany, when you suddenly thought actually, i can do this? since i was a child, i was always the rebel in the neighbourhood, like i was, you know, the one running around and it was... the way that we were brought up was literally, you know, barefoot on concrete. girls play with boys, and we used to beat the boys, like the girls were the stronger ones, you know? i feel like we have created these barriers for ourselves.
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especially when i first started parkour, for example, i thought that society wouldn't accept me and i was so afraid, but i felt like that was actually...stuck with me as a child, like i felt i was afraid of it. but when i started doing the sport i had so much support and it surprised me because it's actually contradictory to what people might have thought about a society, especially in the middle east, and it being an arabic country, you know? amal has created such a stir that nike picked her up for sponsorship and commercials. of course i'm not everyone‘s cup of tea, not everyone is going to like what i'm doing, but i feel that if you are genuine, like for me sport has shaped me since childhood, that's super important and the message i want to give. from the restricted subways of an urbanjungle, myjourney takes me to the wondrous allure of a seemingly limitless desert, abu dhabi's defining feature. little wonder it was one of the locations for the most recent
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star wars movie. 3.5 hours south—west of the big city is the vast expanse of desert called liwa. it's the uae‘s driest region. it's remote, but beautiful. it's a world apart from the big city. at this annual sports festival, there are camel and horse races. but basically this is party time for petrol heads, attracting tens of thousands from all over the gulf region. when you just enter this area,
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it's like the feeling of excitement. the adrenaline? yeah. and truth be told it's very much a male domain. boy racers and supposedly respectable grown—ups too bring their four—wheel drives and buggies for a romp on the dudes and you don't get much bigger than the tal moreeb. 300 metres high at an incline of 50 degrees. it's crazy here! it's madness! anarchy, almost. all these boy racers and man racers getting it out of their system! but i'm going to meet a guy now who's a bit of a seasoned campaigner here. mohamed, hi. how are you? good, good.
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can i pop in and you show me a bit of skills? by day, mohamed is the director of his own business, while also studying for a phd. but this is his real passion. i think i was born with this thing in my blood. so i remember when they used to wake me up for school, and, you know, when we are kids, like, i want to sleep a little more, and they would say, mohamed, here are the keys. go and start your brother's car. and i would justjump out of bed, just for that moment of excitement. so tell me, how long have you been coming to this festival for? i recall i came the first time here in 2006. it has been growing so fast. initially, i recall we used to come and find only a few tents. right now it's like a complete festival. can you show me a few of the other things that you do? ican.
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wow! fantastic! this car is like as it came from the factory. so, from the factory it has around 250 horsepower. it will not be enough to take us to the top. yeah. whoa! but i refuse to give up. you know what? i've been looking at one of the world's highest and steepest sand dunes for a while now. i really want to reach the top and, luckily, i've got myself a lift. meanwhile, it turns out, my man mohamed, who took me for a spin earlier, isn'tjust an average punter here. he's a serious competitor in the nightly races between teams. this is one of the world famous car races. around 30—110 cars per event, per day. so imagine in two days you have around 50 cars competing. and he is back after a lengthy gap,
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when a mechanicalfailure put him in serious peril. i had a smooth race, to be honest, until the top and all of a sudden the car stopped. 0n the way back, i lost the brakes. seriously. actually, they didn't work. 0h, they didn't work?! mohamed wasn't injured, but it's been three years since that incident. maybe before that time i was almost easy on safety measures and now... now you are different guy, a different man? yeah, yeah. the engines alone in some of these cars cost up to $80,000 each and royal families and famous name
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sponsors invest in the teams. mohamed's team have been working for six months on this machine alone. the intake manifold is custom—made by hogans and obviously all of the gears and materials that we have to prepare a car for 1000 plus horsepower. it may be a different kind of horsepower, but there's something timeless about the prerace rituals. gladiators coming out to test their nerves and pit their vehicles, spluttering like boxes of firecrackers, against each other. what the hell?! 0h... it's like a crazy box of fireworks, storming up the hill, where you feel like the driver doesn't care if the whole car blows
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up, as long as they get to the top. now it's mohamed's big moment. the car didn't make the distance and engine problems mean it's now a write—off and not able to do its second trial. but mohamed didn't seem too downhearted. i'm super excited. when you launch, seriously, under that dune, you just see, like, the end of it and you aim for it and that's it. you forget about your fears, those butterflies in your stomach, nothing, seriously. fantastic. well done. well done for doing it. take care. a glorious fireworks display to match the fizzing and popping of the suped up cars. 20 years ago this extravaganza would have been unimaginable here. but this emirates still has quite a climb to sell itself as a tourist destination on a par
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with its louder, more glamorous neighbour, dubai. using the heritage card, though, is a clever ploy, attractive to people who want something unique and off the beaten path and that's as true of the desert festival as it is of the new louvre. the hope is that by taking this route abu dhabi becomes a must see destination in the middle east. well, it was another gorgeous sunny day for most places on friday, all thanks to that at —— area of high pressure. there were some glorious sunsets to be captured, like this one here in devon. the weekend is looking good. for most of us, more strong sunshine on the cards and it will feel a touch warmer. we start saturday morning off on each chilly note again, particularly across eastern parts of the country, in rural temperatures falling down to freezing. i wouldn't be surprised to see a touch of frost in one or two
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places, and a bit of mist. there is the high pressure keeping those weather fronts at bay for now. they will make inroads across north—western parts on sunday. gorgeous weather conditions expected for the royal wedding at winds are. temperatures reaching 2021 degrees in the afternoon. some fine and settled conditions for the scottish cup final settled conditions for the scottish cupfinaland fa settled conditions for the scottish cup final and fa cup final, with lots of dry weather and temperatures around 1920dc. he is the picture on saturday. lots of sunshine through the morning. high cloud might build up the morning. high cloud might build up here in there and allow that sunshine to come in some places, but most sunshine to come in some places, but m ost pla ces sunshine to come in some places, but most places will stay dry. morkel cloud across this north—western corner of the uk. that is a sign of things to come as we head into sunday, as that area of high pressure migrates further east towards scandinavia, allowing these weather fronts to push the ian to northern ireland and into scotland. that will arrive with fairly brisk south—westerly winds. the rain will be heaviest across the outer hebrides. for the north—east of
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scotland, though, aid is of shelter, said in the sunshine it may feel warm. so for parts of scotland and most of england and wales, a gorgeous day, any cloud earning back to the south—east coast, temperatures reaching 22 or 23. monday, we switched the winds to a more east south—easterly direction. that will push this weather front west to affect the far north and west to affect the far north and west of scotland and maybe parts of northern ireland. a big improvement for much of the scottish mainland and northern ireland. elsewhere, a sunny and dry day for most of us, temperatures reaching 24. that could set off a shower or thunderstorm across southern areas. and that is the pattern as we head into the rest of the week. high pressure continues to dominate foremost. spells of warmth and sunshine but always the threat of heavy showers in the south. hello. welcome to a special edition of breakfast, live from windsor. there are just six hours until meghan markle marries prince harry. the bridegroom is greeted with shouts of good luck
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from well—wishers gathering at windsor castle. meghan markle says she's feeling wonderful ahead of her big day as she arrives at her hotel with her mother. the couple has released details of the service and stand by me will ring out alongside more traditional hyms. we'll have all the latest in the final countdown to the wedding.
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