this is bbc news. the headlines: the us treasury secretary has faced sharp criticism at a heated meeting of g7 finance ministers in canada. members are angry over america's imposition of new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. ministers have warned washington has just days to avoid a trade war. the us has accused china of expanding its military presence in the south china sea to intimidate its neighbours. beijing says it has the right to to deploy troops and weapons "on its own territory" and called the comments by us defence secretary james mattis "irresponsible." thousands of gazans have turned out for the funeral of a palestinian nurse who was killed by israeli fire during protests. 21—year—old razan al—najar was shot dead as she hurried to the side of a casualty at the border fence. the israeli military says it will investigate her killing. now on bbc news, the travel show. this week we are in the netherlands' capital, amsterdam, battling

the city's monster crowds. the streets are really small, the canals are really narrow and those areas are completely overcrowded. we have lentils, chickpeas, these fried onions... chomping our way around cairo. and listen up — the best tech for your ears to take on holiday. if you say mandarin, it will play in my ear in english. i'm excited. it has long been known as venice of the north.

with its colourful 17th—century houses, network of canals and bridges, and picturesque old city centre, it is not surprising that amsterdam has become a favourite with tourists. it is an explosion of tourists. we have our quiet times in the past, but now we don't have quiet times anymore, tourists are the whole year round. one study claims that numbers have shot up from 11 million in 2005 to around 18 million annual visitors. that is a lot of people in a city ofjust 850,000 residents. so how do locals feel about this constant influx of tourists? we have seen that it has really risen in popularity in the last few years, and the streets are small, the canals are narrow, when there are tourists they tend to be around the same areas, and those areas get overcrowded. people who come here

for the first time want to go to the anne frank huis, they stay around the red light district, they may not realise we have so many other nice areas and things to offer. cities across europe have seen similar rises, sparking a wave of anti—tourist protests. in reaction, the amsterdam authorities have introduced new laws restricting the number of tourist shops in the city centre and enforcing tougher rules on hotels and airbnb lets. measures have also been taken at popular sites like the van gogh museum. this used to be full of tourists. people would queue here for up to three hours to buy tickets.

but, as of recently, tickets are now only available online, meaning far less crowding on the day and a much more pleasant experience for visitors. the tourist board have also been looking for modern ways to keep tourists and locals happy. we think first of all the city is a city of the inhabitants. they own the city. and visitors are welcome, but it should not be an open—air attraction park. within the last year, frans and his team trialled a pilot called rijenradar. it monitors the size of crowds at popular sites. when crowds get too big it tells the user, suggesting less busy sites. it ties into another campaign to encourage tourists to venture outside the old town into the wider metropolitan area. we can influence them to go into the neighbourhoods. we still have to address the challenge in the city centre. and this can help. new regulations and visitor

initiatives can only go so far. so the amsterdam institute for metropolitan solutions have proposed a rather more radical solution, one that seems torn from the pages of a science—fiction novel. robot boats. self—driving vessels moving passengers and goods around amsterdam's canals. you have these canals which is 25% of the surface of amsterdam is water. it is not roads, it is water. so why don't you use that infrastructure that is already there again for moving people and goods in and out of the city. at the same time, we saw a lot of development in autonomous driving on the road, and they came up with the idea that autonomous boats, we call them roboats, could be employed in the city. so far only miniature versions of the roboats have been tested on the canals. but stefan is certain their full—size counterparts will enhance the visitors' experience.

one idea sees passengers hail the boats with an uber—style app. in the city you can get everywhere by boat. for tourists, it is a nice way, not the fastest way but you can get around, you can go to your favourite museum or hotel. stefan says the roboats could be up and running within the next three orfour years. providing tourists with fewer crowds and a new futuristic draw to this historic city. and if you are thinking of taking a trip here, here are our tips on what to know before you go. the rijksmuseum is home to rembrandt‘s night watch and other works from the dutch old masters. you might have fight to see them though, it's one of the netherlands' most popular museums, attracting over 2 million visitors last year. the busiest days are friday

through sunday so get there for opening at 9am, early in the week, to beat the crowds. if you don't want to see great works of art, how about the tiny wonders of micropia? it is the world's first museum dedicated to microbes, which live all around us, and includes a body scanner which will give you an intimate look at the microbes living inside you. look at all those! let's look in the large intestines. there is a lot. nearly 99% of all bacteria in the body live in your intestines. and every august, there is the grachtenfestival, which is a ten—day event staging classical music around the canals. you will have your pick of 250

performances in 90 venues with the highlight being a free concert staged on a pontoon. next this week, our travels take us to north africa, to one city more famous for its hats than anything else. but fez in morocco has another claim to fame which makes places like oxford and cambridge seem like relative newbies. she dedicated all her wealth for building this institution. and during that time, she was devoted and she fasted a long time, at the time of ending the building. it is the oldest university around the world, because it is recorded in the guinness world records, that is the oldest from the past she dedicated all her wealth for building this institution.

and during that time, she was devoted and she fasted a long time, at the time of ending the building. it is the oldest university around the world, because it is recorded in the guinness world records, that is the oldest from the past to be operating and really working as a university, that is giving the chance for anyone who wants to study to have its curricula in this university. still to come on the travel show — the best tech to make yourself understood wherever you are. hello, how are you today. what is your name? yes, we have translation! and busting the myths about egyptian food. so gooey that i have to put on some gloves to eat it. adi takes a culinary tour of cairo. the proof is in the pudding. you might have noticed more

and more people walking seemingly talking to themselves. that is because there has been a lot of development in these things, hearables. the idea is that earbuds aren'tjust headphones but in—ear computers, that can help with everything from directions to translating foreign languages and even keeping you fit while on your travels. the google pixel buds operate via touch and voice control. 0nce connected to your phone by bluetooth you can listen to music, have your notifications read to you and even translate on—the—fly. like a lot of this kind of tech, they are reliant on the tech behind it which is google assistant, which you trigger by saying 0k google or pressing the right earbud. how do i get to oxford street? head south—west and turn right.

the sound quality is loud and clear but because they sit outside your ear canal you get a lot of outside noise. and as is the case with any hearables, you will need to get over the fact that you will look like you are talking to yourself. next up is the bragi dash pro. they are wireless and can be activated with touch, voice control and gestures. i can tap my cheek or nod and shake by head to play music and take calls. pretty handy if you are nervous about pulling your phone out in a crowded place. and you can translate up to a0 languages by connecting to the itranslate app. and we are going to see how well they work. in theory that should play in my ear, if you say mandarin, it will play in english. speaks mandarin. app: hello, how are you today. what is your name? we have translation!

tap the left bud to trigger that. hello, i am having a wonderful day, loving the sunshine and my name is lucy. app: speaks mandarin. perfect? i understood lucy! i thought that was quite seamless, it was quite nice, i had a translation in my hear, it was on point, it was accurate. the app is expensive, £4.99 a month, that's its downside, but this is a wonderful insight into the future of cross—language communication. to find out just what we can expect from this sort of tech in the future i am meeting with mike who is an expert in wearables. we have got these, they will essentially stream your music like airpods or other hearables, but it has augmented hearing. the idea is that you can be more picky about the audio or sounds that you hear in your environment.

there are different profiles you can have, whether you are in a restaurant, whether you are out on a busy street, even on a plane. you can take more control of what you hear. can i have a listen? yes, sure. it is quite noisy in here. so from here you can kind of control it, if you want more world minus... or you can dial it back. and hopefully you should be able to hear that. a really big difference. it is really loud now! what else have you got for me to look out? something a little bit different. they certainly look different. this is from a company called lifebeam, and it is called lifebeam vi. the difference between these and other sports headphones is that they have an ai coach, who will coach you to stay on top of your fitness,

whatever level you are at. it is great if you are going on holiday and you are normally going to the gym. can i give them a go? absolutely. all right, i will give them a try in the real world. she is telling me to add some music. quite an excitable tone, obviously music is a great compliment when you are running. i will start the clock when you start moving. it is a bit weird having somebody this excitable in your ear, but that is why she is here, to offer motivation. so i'm going to run! and finally this week we go to egypt, a country to which travellers are just starting to return after several bad years. we sent adi to the capital, cairo, to see how foodies there are trying to stir interest in dishes which until now have not been widely celebrated. egypt, a country blessed with a wealth of attractions. if you come here as a tourist there is no shortage of things to see and do. most people come on holiday to egypt

for the ancient history. last time i came here, it was for the beautiful beaches and the lovely weather. you wouldn't normally put food at the top of your list of reasons to be here. but there is a new group of people who are working really hard to make us fall in love with egyptian cuisine. i am in the capital, cairo, where street food is visible everywhere you turn. typical local cuisine is dominated by beans, grains, and lots of rich flavours.

now, up until recently it has not received as much international recognition as other middle eastern styles. we were like, 0k, we are going to do a food tour. local entrepreneur mia is hoping to change that. she and her foodie friend lyna founded what they claimed to be the first tour of its kind in the capital. it all started off with lyna, my business partner. she was in italy, she was hungry, she found this pasta restaurant on the internet. she went there and had the worst lasagne of her life! a waste of tummy space, who wants that? back on home soil the pair spotted a gap in the market. there are no food tour companies here in egypt. that it is very popular in other parts of the world. egyptian cuisine is so underrated. it is always overshadowed by the monuments and by all the historical tours. that is really the reason why a lot of people come here but nobody really comes here for the food. the tours were launched just one year ago and include the area that borders tahrir square, the site of the 201! uprising. prior to the revolution this place was very popular as the area where students from the american university, on the right, used to hang out and have their coffee.

the aim is to offer small groups a genuine and perhaps grittier cairo experience through walking, history, culture and food. first on my tour is a family—owned business which specialises in the country's most ubiquitous dish. so, this is koshary. it is the national dish of egypt. you can get a very gourmet one, you can get a deconstructed one. you have lentils, chickpeas, fried onions, rice, macaroni. all in this one dish! yes. it is typical of middle eastern food.

a melting pot of influences from former rulers such as the ottomans, to mediterranean countries and beyond. ok, i am going to give it a go. it is very rich. you can get the kick as well, from the spice and the peppers and the garlic as well. i like it a lot. egyptians love social media almost as much as their grub. and that has led to increased awareness of the latest culinary trends and fusions. since 2011, some 6000 new restaurants have opened in cairo. young people in the country, lots of them want to be their own bosses, they want to be entrepreneurs and give back to the community somehow. what better way to do that than with food? restaurants are coming up with more and more unique

concepts to fuel demand. but it has also meant that places serving traditional dishes with a twist are now on trend. this unassuming eatery specialises in a local favourite called hawawshi. can you tell me what these guys are doing now? for thousands of years, bread has held a special place in egyptian diets. their word for bread actually means life.

ancient workers were even paid in the stable. it is a food you will find with every meal. hawawshi is a bit like an egyptian version of a hamburger. but here it has been upgraded. when would you eat this? that is what i like! every time. i love this. so gooey i have to put on gloves to eat it. serious. as we say in the uk, the proof is in the pudding. that's good! it is really tasty, very rich. tell him not to give away too many

secrets, otherwise people will steal your recipe. there is no doubt that this tour has shown me a completely new experience. i would never have tried these dishes if i had been eating in my hotel. this trip has definitely given me a genuine taste of cairo. that is it from this week's show. coming up next week... i will be here to guide you through some of our best bits from the last few months on the road. 0h, hi! we have had some pretty special times. from an encounter with some of the scariest beasts in mauritius... i can't believe it! to michael's breakneck trip around manila on one of its iconic vehicles. the traffic here is crazy. dojoin us then. in the meantime, from me and everybody here in amsterdam, it is goodbye. hello.

the weather contrast continued on saturday. thundery downpours once more, a few for scotland and northern ireland and northern and eastern parts of england. there will be fewer to come for the first half of the week. some sunny spells, too, on saturday. pretty warm and there will be more of those on offer in the day ahead. it will feel a bit warmer, too. starting the day warm, 10—14 degrees. the area of cloud and rain still with us the further north you are in england and southern scotland. it is not moving much

in the day ahead. the rain will ease but for some of us, it will still be there into the afternoon. north of the central belt we'll get sunshine in scotland but a few thunderstorms developing. northern ireland, the rest of england and wales, warm, sunny spells. low to mid—20s, maybe an isolated shower, most of us will stay dry. it's late afternoon i want to focus on, the thunderstorms in scotland. slow—moving, frequent lightning and hail. not everyone will see them but if you do, you will know about it. then the cloudy, wet zone in parts of southern scotland and northern england. for northern ireland, the rest of england and wales, you can see the lack of cloud, plenty of sunshine around and the chance of picking up an isolated shower. most of us will avoid them and stay dry. these thunderstorms in scotland fade away on sunday evening and the rain eventually gives up in northern england and southern scotland but you will notice the increase in cloud from the east as we go through the night and into monday morning. similar temperatures on monday morning but then again, there will be a different look to the weather with all of that cloud around.

the reason why, low pressure to the south us responsible for delivering thunderstorm in the past week and less of a player of the first half of the week ahead. high pressure still with us. to the north, it is around that. north—easterly flow coming into the uk and we will see on monday, plenty of the cloud and lower temperatures as a result. some of the cloud will thin and break at times. particularly, the north sea coast will be cloudy and misty and murky. west is best, sunny spells on monday although there will be an isolated shower developing. most of us will avoid them and stay dry. as we go through the week, the temperatures will gradually recover as some of the cloud begins to clear away, particularly by the time we get to wednesday. while the emphasis is on plenty of dry weather, later in the week, the risk again of some showers and maybe thunderstorms across southern parts of the uk.

welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: finance ministers from the g7 warn america that its steel and aluminium tariffs could spark a trade war within days. china rejects allegations by the us that it's trying to intimidate neighbours in disputed areas of the south china sea. thousands of palestinians attend the funeral of a nurse killed by israeli gunfire. her mother says she was trying to help injured protestors in gaza. translation: this is what she was resisting with. on what basis did the soldier kill her? she has been targeted since the first day of the protests.