in the catholic church. he apologised for the failure of the church to expose the crimes, saying it had abandoned the abused children. he set out his views in an unprecedented letter addressed to the world's one point two billion roman catholics. venezuela's neighbours say they're struggling to cope with growing numbers of migrants fleeing the country's economic crisis. many say they're hungry and don't have access to medical services in venezuela. brazil has promised to keep its borders open. rescue efforts are being stepped up in the indian state of kerala, which has been hit by the worst monsoon floods in a century. a million people are reported to be living in relief camps. more than 400 people have died and thousands more remain marooned. gatwick airport says a problem with its flight information screens, which led to some passengers missing theirflights, has been fixed.

staff were forced to resort to marker pens and whiteboards to provide departure details. jon hunt reports. this is how the airport was telling passengers which gate they needed to go to the board their flight today. the digital information screens went blank after a data cable was damaged. passengers gathered around a whiteboard as staff updated the status of flights with marker pens. some had problems checking in their bags and printing boarding passes. when we arrived at the paper machine to print the boarding pass, it didn't work. so we wait, we wait, we ask five persons, that we will miss our flights, and they didn't do anything. so we missed ourflights. it seems like a lot of the kiosks were down, and there just wasn't enough people to manage everyone who needed tickets. so i ended up missing my flight, and they told me that i needed to get on the next one, so i'm waiting in line

to make that switch. how do you feel about that? really frustrated. i was looking forward to a relaxing vacation in italy, so it's not off to a good start. the issues began in the early hours of this morning, affecting the first wave of flights from 4:35am. screens at both the north and south terminal were affected. around 200 people missed their flight because of the confusion with departure times. for the departure screens to fail in the early hours of this morning and to jeopardise the first wave of outbound flights is, i'm afraid, another technical embarrassment the gatwick airport. i guess the best thing is that only 200 people missed theirflight, although they must be mightily cheesed off. the display screens started working again this afternoon. gatwick airport has apologised, as has vodafone, which provides the airport's it systems. it is a problem both gatwick and its passengers could have done without, as the airport

sees its busiest summer ever. now on bbc news — the travel show. this is japan's most northerly main island of hokkaido. for decades, travellers have been drawn here by its stark contrast to the rest of the country. it's anotherjapan, one that is wild, challenging and remote... it's an incredible experience! ..with distinctive communities. i've come to meet them, and to find out more about the country's northern frontier. so, if you look out to where i'm

heading, that is japan's most northerly point. but on the other side, just a0 kilometres from the japanese coastline, is the great landmass russia. now, that is important, because it was russia expanding eastwards that led to japan, 150 years ago next year, to annex that island and give it the name hokkaido. the island isn't small. it is around one fifth of japan's total land mass, but nearly a century and a half after the move to fully populate hokkaido, still only around 4% of japan's people live here. hello, hokkaido. but, because of this relatively recent migration,

the island that was developed by those first japanese settlers took on its own distinct characteristics, making it markedly different from the mainland. one of the immediate issues was how to live alongside what many agree to be the island's indigenous inhabitants — the ainu. i had come to meet monbetsu, who had recently returned to his heritage, following in the footsteps of the ainu. for his ancestors, hunting animals was key to survival. today, this means a fusion of modern and traditional hunting techniques, like making use of every part of the hunted animal. when the japanese settled here, the ainu were made to assimilate

into japanese society. their traditional lifestyle was banned, and so today, little of their old way of life remains. konnichiwa. so, we're going hunting? hunting. excellent, let's do it. there are bears in this forest. i'm sticking close to him. so tell me, you go hunting every day? until recently, those who openly showed their ainu status have faced discrimination. but, with the ainu nowjust starting to get recognition injapanese law as indigenous people with their own distinct language and culture, things

are beginning to change. so, this is where the deer trap is, yeah? well, he's clearly disappointed that there isn't a deer in his trap here, so he's adjusting it a bit. between you and me, i'm a bit relieved. look around you and you can see what attracts travellers here — stunning landscapes. but, for young people seeking opportunities, this island doesn't make things easy. over the years, japan has wrestled with economic challenges. hokkaido has been one of the areas hardest hit. in the previously thriving mining city of yubari, 90% of their population have moved away in 50 years. demographically, yubari is the oldest city injapan, probably the oldest city in the world, and quite possibly

the oldest city ever. and, at 80 years old, one of its residents has achieved celebrity status around japan. konnichiwa. mascots are big business in this country, and they don't get much bigger, or frankly scarier, then yubari's very own melon bear, a nod to the city's famed and prized fruit. why do you do it? but there is a much more serious side to melon bear —

to entice tourists to yubari. and maybe in one sense it has worked, because travellers are now coming here. ruins left by economic turbulence litter japan's landscapes, and here, it has sprung up a hobby called haikyo, exploring the abandoned buildings. look at this.

this is industrial history, isn't it? just over a decade ago, yubari was declared bankrupt. those who remained were made to move into a small central area of the city, leaving everything else abandoned. at places like the old thermal power plant, sato—san hosts art projects and helps people to explore. walking around, i'm left with mixed feelings, because it so powerfully symbolises the decline of a once—prosperous place, but i can also see why people love exploring here. there is a mysterious beauty to what's left behind. and making the most of disused buildings isn'tjust confined

to the city. in nearby nayoro, i had arranged to stay in a unique guesthouse. tomioka worked on trains most of his life. when he stopped working on the trains, he restored an old disused station house back to its former glory. so, this used to be a railway line here? in contrast to the japanese mainland, much of the urban life in hokkaido first developed around the rail infrastructure. some of the old local train routes closed, with a loss of industry. but for some people, like tomioka,

this is not the end of the line. this is an incredible experience! on an old, disused railway line, very shuddery, but exhilarating. absolutely exhilarating! it's great, really good! it is a world away from this country's high—speed bullet trains, but what a way to experience the nature this island is famous for. i've got my sleeper carriage berth, so let's see where the night train takes me. good night. when the japanese came to colonise hokkaido,

they sent former samurai with a mission to cultivate the island. that is one of the distinct ways it has developed: miles upon miles of beautiful landscapes. one way to get close to nature as a traveller would be to hike. but there is another uniquely japanese way. this is mochi pounding. what might look like hitting rice as hard as you can with a mallet until it turns squidgy is a highly refined process to make a sweet known as mochi. i'm about to have a lesson from a real expert as to how to be a proper pounder. ok, so i have to be honest with you, this is extremely heavy. hokkaido's climate is perfect

for developing the sticky rice needed for mochi. the region has become the biggest producer injapan. every year here, local farmers hold a competition to find the best mochi pounders. how do you become a good mochi pounder like you? here we go. how does hokkaido rate in terms of its mochi? now then, this is where he risks

the use of his hands for the rest of his life. 0ne... all right. 0ne! it takes 100 strikes of the mochi to make itjust right. and this is notjust about speed. i am told how you hit it affects its taste. 0bviously, i'm holding back here out of fear of outshining my hosts... the proof, as they say, is in the pudding, or the tasting, so let's see what the judges say. that was not in the script.

i reckon that was a fix. and after all that exertion, it's time for a well earned rest. i'm heading south, where my trip comes to an end in hokkaido's main city of sapporo. it is a fitting place to finish the trip around hokkaido, because here in sapporo, they are hosting a dance festival, that pays homage to the whole island's connection to the sea. just down there is where the festival takes place. yosakoi soran is one of the biggest international dancing competitions.

teams dance to music inspired by the hokkaido folk song soran. this folk song was about fishermen traditionally. it has come a long way since then. one of the teams here with their own take on this dance is the russians. interesting, considering the history between the two nations. hats off to them. really good. i had arranged to meet someone who had taken part in this festival many times, since she was a child.

finding one dancer among 30,000 others was proving a little trickier than i expected. hi! konnichiwa! you're a veteran of this festival? yeah. you will teach me about all of this? 0k! fantastic. what makes this festival unique injapan? this yosakoi festival in hokkaido has two rules. every team, every dancer has this naruko. and the second line, do you know it? # yaren soran, soran #... so, even though it might sound a bit different, and there is dancing, and everything, there is always the same melody inside. how does it go? # yaren soran, soran #...

even though it takes a lot of practice, i am told that in my case an hour should do it. i have to wear it? yes. very happy. 0k. a very public training session for newbies like me will be followed by a chance to take part in the main festival parade around the streets of the city. tell me about the first time you entered the festival, and how it felt, and what you did. attitude is what you need for this.

from the top. it is dance move upon dance move upon dance move. many of these moves are based on the tasks that old fishermen had to perform, like dragging nets, and pulling ropes and lifting luggage over their shoulders. can't you tell? that is only the practice. we have not even started the real thing yet. so i havejust had a rigorous workout and lesson. i supposedly know the whole thing.

and now we will do the dance in the square in front of the crowd. thanks to your wonderful teaching, i feel quite confident. ok, let's go! the nerves have all gone. who cares how good you are? this is about community, festival. i'm getting it now. yes, it is exciting. as the festival comes to a dramatic close, my time in hokkaido finishes in what feels like a world away from where it started. i found a place that has, in a short time, adopted so much

of japanese culture, but within that has found its own way of expressing itself. who knows what the next 150 years might bring to this unique japanese island ? check that out. i mean, that is an act. well, tuesday's not looking too bad across the uk. might start a little cloudy, murky, drizzly, that sort of thing. but eventually, later in the morning and into the afternoon, that grey layer of cloud will break up and we will see some sunshine. now, on the satellite image, the real rain—bearing cloud is away to the north—west of us — in fact, between the uk and iceland.

we're to the south, and within this area here, this a gap, we've got muggy, humid air from the southern climes, from the azores, so that's why it feels so warm outside. in fact, very early on tuesday morning, temperatures in the south will be around about 17 degrees celsius, 16, 15—16 throughout yorkshire, even in newcastle there around 11! celsius, so a relatively warm start to the day. and this is that humid air. if you squint you can see those arrows there, all the way from the south—west here, streaming towards the uk. but when we see this weather pattern, we often get a lot of cloud that shrouds the coastlines. we get a bit of mist and murk, and even drizzle in places, as well. the real weather front‘s away to the north of us here, the north—west, but we're in that sort of murky area. however, later on in the morning the clouds all break up a little bit, and we'll get some sunshine. so it's into the second half of the day on tuesday, that's when we are going to get the best of the weather. really very warm indeed, hot even in the south—east, 26.

2a expected in merseyside, and into the 20s as far north as scotland. there is a change on the way. those weather fronts will reach us, and we're expecting rain to fall in northern ireland and scotland by the time we get to wednesday. so here's wednesday's weather forecast. you can see it's raining in belfast, in glasgow, edinburgh, it's approaching the lake district, just about merseyside there, northern wales too. but to the south of that, we're still in that very warm air, very humid as well, so temperatures could shoot up to the high 20s. it will feel very warm in east anglia and the south—east, temperatures 26 or 27 degrees, and then in scotland and northern ireland we've got that fresher air coming from the atlantic, around i7 celsius, so a bit of a io—degree difference. and the reason for that is because cold fronts will be sweeping across the uk, and multiple cold fronts, that means spells of rain on the way too. and behind it you can see that fresher air coming all the way from iceland, there's iceland there, that cooler air invading the uk by the time we get to thursday,

and right across the country by friday. and you can see the temperatures dropping. in london, 26 on tuesday, by friday it's 19 in london, and by friday it's only 11! degrees in belfast. bye— bye. welcome to bbc news. broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: pope francis condemns sex abuse atrocities and cover—ups by the church, in an unprecedented letter to the world's catholics. venezuala's neighbours say they're struggling to cope, as more and more migrants flee hardship and hyperinflation. the aid operation accelerates in the indian state of kerala. floods have forced a million people into relief camps. tears ofjoy as relatives from north and south korea meet for the first time in more than 60 years. action! and a directorial debut for actor idris elba. just don't mentionjames bond.