hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: pope francis is returning to rome after his visit to ireland. earlier, at a mass for 300,000 people in dublin, he vowed to pursue justice for the victims who suffered abuse in the hands of the clergy. police in florida say several people have been killed in a mass shooting during a video game tournament in jacksonville. the sheriff's office says the suspect was shot dead at the scene. senatorjohn mccain, who died yesterday aged 81, will lie in state in arizona's capitol building, an honour only given to a few notable americans, including john f kennedy and ronald reagan. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, who's been imprisoned in iran on spying charges, has been told her temporary three—day release is over, and she is back in prison. the daughter of british couple john and susan cooper, who died during a stay at an egyptian hotel, speaks out about the ordeal and insists something in their room killed them. the celebrated american playwright and screenwriter neil simon has died at the age of 91. he wrote comedy classics such as the odd couple,

the sunshine boys and barefoot in the park. now it's time for the travel show. mauritius, a force of nature in the middle of the indian ocean. mauritius is marking the 50th year of independence from british colonial rule, but the intriguing, rich and sometimes dark story of this island nation goes back way before then. 0n myjourney, i'm going to explore the history of mauritius. see and taste how multiculturalism works here. mmmm, that is nice. go on a day to the races.

0h, did he win? did we win? and visit a unique conservation project saving endangered species. this island is so often labelled as just a luxury beach paradise, but the reality is so much more fascinating than that. mauritius — gorgeous beaches, turquoise waters and lush vegetation, but the human story is just as awe—inspiring. le morne mountain, on the south—west of the island, faces in the direction of madagascar and stands 555 metres high. it's also at a 45—degree incline. no walk in the park. for the likes of me,

this is a challenging climb, i've got to say. in fact, i'd say for anybody it's challenging. whoa. near the top, ijoin a guide who's done this climb up to three times a day every day pretty well for 13 years. you can feel it's all, like, volcanic. this is volcanic rock? yeah, yeah, yeah. it's probably from the first eruption 10 million years ago. ten million years ago? yeah. and actually it's very good for climbing. yeah, there's lots of good grip. le morne marks a dark but symbolic chapter in the island's history, the days of slavery under dutch, french and british rule. this is where many escaped slaves, called the maroons, found refuge. they could have a look towards madagascar and for them...

that's home. that was home, you know, it was the sight and they expected one day maybe to build, like, a craft and go back home and just to escape from this prison. horrible. it's a world away up here from the beach resorts that populate the rest of the island, but actually, this trek is almost a pilgrimage to get to the very heart of mauritian identity. and there's a particularly poignant tale told about the maroons in what should have been their moment of celebration. when slavery was abolished here in 1835, soldiers climbed the mountain to tell the maroons that they were free, but the escaped slaves thought that they were being recaptured and instead chose to jump off the mountain. why do you think this

is so important to the identity of people from mauritius? because i guess it's a unique story. it's part of our story here in mauritius and it's one of the only places we know of that somehow the slaves resisted their masters, and for us, it's almost like a venerated mountain, a sacred mountain, not only for the descendants of a slave but for the mauritians as well. after slavery was abolished, the british brought in hundreds of thousands of so—called indentured labourers from india and china in what was known as the great experiment. today, port louis is the country's capital, with its colonial legacy and contemporary diversity everywhere to be seen. i'm about to get a personalised,

unique tour of what this city and mauritius offers in terms of its diverse food and other wares as well. hi, how do you do? nice to meet you. hi. nice to meet you. so this is a food place here? yes. but you'd never know to look at it, it's pretty low—key. yes, but it's pretty famous as well. he's making some deep—fried cakes. 0k. mauritians are fond of deep—fried cakes, you can deep—fry almost everything. it's just — he has this batter that he made, it's with chickpea flour, some herbs and salt. mauritius may seem isolated

in the middle of the indian ocean, but it was actually nicely placed on the spice route, which linked asia, africa and europe. now he's adding all the herbs you need for the chilly bites. and the chillis. chillis. yeah. are they strong chillis? spring onions. there's a clear inference from gujarati traders whose forefathers came over from india in the 19th century, but there's a distinctive mauritian accent to the food too. coughing itjust hit me! now, this is a multi—ethnic, multicultural, multi—lingual, multi—religion country, so hinduism is the majority religion but you've also got christianity,

islam, chinese religions, buddhism, it's all here. where are we now? we are in a small market which is made up of street vendors. all these people, they used to be selling everything from clothes, to food to electronic gadgets on the street, but that was illegal so the state gave them some spaces. bonjour. ca va? so this is arthur, he used to be on a street corner in chinatown selling dumplings with his father. so now he's here. chinese—mauritian? yeah, yeah. this is the long fish? yes, the long fish. that is nice, that's really good. how many years have you worked here? for myself, after schooling,

it's near to 50 years. 50 yea rs! the sheer diversity of food is one benefit of the cultural hotpot in mauritius. another is language, french, english and creole are all spoken here. and then, there's music. sega is a rhythm and genre indigenous to this island. and this lady is known as the voice of the indian ocean. the distinctive drum is called the ravanne,

a home—grown instrument. 0n the tiny islet of ile aux aigrettes, mauritius is playing host to a unique conservation project, which takes us back to a time five centuries ago, before mankind ever set foot here. the ecosystem of an island like mauritius is extremely fragile, and ever since mankind arrived in the 17th century, that ecosystem has been severely disrupted, and that has led to the extinction of some very important species like,

for example, the dodo. the dodo lost the ability to fly through evolution because until man brought in predators, they didn't really need to. today the one remaining native mammal to mauritius, the fruit bat, can fly with elegant ease, but it's not a great favourite for some, like fruit growers. so this is the mauritius fruit bat. it is a bat which is unique to mauritius. it can travel for 15 kilometres, 20 kilometres, a0 kilometres in one night. it's like man has got hands, but these hands here have been modified, amazingly, to become a wing. it's an animal that can see very, very well, despite what a lot of people think.

they need to rest during the day to save their energy because it gets hot in the tropics, but at night, as it's getting dark, they leave their daytime roosts, as they are called, and they go out and they look for food. they will first of all eat fruits to keep themselves alive, but also they'll be dispersing fruits and they maintain their own survival by maintaining the forests. the larger project here is hugely ambitious and earning international acclaim. we're actually recreating the whole ecosystems. it's one of the few places on earth were we're notjust trying to save a few odd plants and a few odd animals, we're actually piecing together, as best as we can, it will never be perfect, but as best as we can, the whole ecosystem as it existed

prior to the arrival of man. should we be frightened of this animal, should i be frightened being this close to this animal now? well, i'm not frightened of the animal, i don't know why anybody should be. there are some countries where bats are dispersing — are carriers of diseases but in mauritius, that's not the case. of course where they are carriers of diseases, there are some precautions to be taken, of course, but that's not the case here. would you like to hold the bat? are you serious? really? oh my god. yes, it will probably nibble you a little bit if that's ok? nibble me? its claws are going to be quite sharp. you must take this. wow. i can't believe it. this is weird, is all i can say. this is a magic moment.

i never thought i'd actually find a bat, oran animal like this, vaguely even cute, but you know what? it is kind of cute. and luckily, not disease ridden... no. as it bites my finger. no! do you want to fly off, shall we get you to fly off? come on then. animals are central to mauritian identity in more ways than one. take this weekly ritual which has become tightly wrapped up with mauritian social life and culture — going to the races. the islands' independence from british rule was declared

on this very racecourse, the champ de mars, in 1968. built more than two centuries ago, it's the oldest racecourse in the southern hemisphere. and from the start, it's very aim was to bring disparate communities together. oh, and to satisfy the locals' love of gambling, of course. and today, there's one family who now dominate horseracing in mauritius. actually, it was my grandfather who introduced our family to horse racing. he was the first indian to be a member of the national assembly of parliament. and in 190a, he was a businessman. at the beginning, he was a milk seller, but then he started doing

business, buying land and buying and selling land and property. he also realised that buying a racehorse would allow him to mingle with the big cheeses, especially french businessmen, who ran the economy then and loved racing. today is a very special day. it's the final classic race of the season, the duke cup, and a chance for this elite family to create history in the country's national sport. what has happened is that we have been able, with a bit of luck, to win the first three classics, and if we win the fourth one today, we will be creating history. and we got a peek into the paddock to meet soun's cousin. this gentleman, i know him very well. i often see you on the bbc all over the world! this is very much a family affair.

that's the cup that we are looking for. this one here? can i touch it? anyone can touch it before, but i want to touch it after. afterwards, yes... this is fantastic. i'm getting a real insight behind—the—scenes with one of the most important men in racing. inside the jockeys' room, preparations are underway. down by the track, i can feel the sense of occasion here. here is where everybody gathers, rich, poor — everyone. whatever language or culture they're from, whichever ethnic group, this is the day, and this is the first race of the day. i wanted to get a feel

for the passion for racing and gambling here, and so i approached a local punter. i'm from england, do you recommend any horce in any race? i think this one. number three, rogue runner, in this race. i'm gonna bet. number three. but i'm not sure. there is my horse, number three, rogue runner, and if i put 100 rupees on it, it says i'll get 600 rupees back. hey, can i have 100 on number three, rogue runner? a lot of money going on rogue runner. you like rogue runner? is it a good one? and this is my horse, number three, rogue runner. go for it... i like his colours. laughter

do you like number three? number three? here they come. 0h! did he win? it was very close, who won? number three. number three won! at the last minute! at the last moment... yes! and now it is time for

the climax to the season — the big one, the dukes cup, and a time for the gujadhur family to make history. they haven't left much to chance, they have three out of the 12 horses running, including the favourite, enaad, ridden by the most successful champion jockey in the race. 0ur man's in his lucky spot to watch the race next to his family. the favourite and their big hope ennad is struggling. it doesn't look good. ennad, get on, don't let him coax you back! until from the outside another horse from the gujadhur stable suddenly starts making ground. ready to attack is, well, ready to attack. come on, ready to attack!

cheering well done! idid it! well done! well done, sir! well done! the family have done it and made history. now this is over, what do you feel? a sense of relief, almost? frankly, i don't get worked up before a race. i watched you during the race, you do a bit...

i do a bit, but you know, the people around, and the well—wishers, the supporters, everywhere you go around the island, you know, theyjust wish you well. i wanted to win that race for them. and, in this 50th anniversary year of independence, it seems the people of this island have plenty to celebrate. during my time here, i've seen a strong sense of nationhood amongst mauritians, and also realisation that precious wildlife must be protected. this is a relatively prosperous country, breaking free from its complicated and sometimes shameful colonial past. and what's exciting is that right now, its unique cultural identity is still evolving and making it so much more thanjust a high—end holiday hotspot.

hello. it's been a wet and, in places, windy sunday across the country. some heavy rain, lots of south wales seeing around a0 millimetres, close to two inches, but things have been slowly drying from the west over the past few hours, and that continues overnight. behind it for a time, some gusty winds along the channel and eastern coasts, but they start to ease down. a couple showers, across the midlands, wales, parts of northern england and scotland and northern but mainly dry overnight, clear skies and lows between nine and 1a. the week ahead is looking a little quieter. foremost, it will be mainly dry, not so much rain, and a bit warmer, maybe some spells of sunshine around on most days, but not dry because, as we go into

monday, which is a bank holiday exceptin monday, which is a bank holiday except in scotland, there is still this brisk westerly wind which could feed a couple showers through the day. many places will be largely dry and, even though there is a lot of cloud, some bright and sunny spells. that breeze will have lost some of the nastiness we saw on sunday, and the nastiness we saw on sunday, and the best of any sunshine will mean it getting up to between 16 and 20. for many, a fine evening on sunday, sunlight sunshine as the cloud insta nt brea ks, sunlight sunshine as the cloud instant breaks, clearer skies for much of the night, but that will encourage some patchy mist and fog. for tuesday, parts of northern ireland, northern and western scotland, always closest to this front, which will generate more cloud, strengthening the breeze again, and bringing some outbreaks of rain in the further north and west you are but, for most on tuesday, mainly dry with light winds. some cloud coming and going, but good spells of sunshine, warm

spells of sunshine, with temperatures widely between 19 and 23, 18 and temperatures widely between 19 and 23,18 and 19 on the temperatures widely between 19 and 23, 18 and 19 on the eastern temperatures widely between 19 and 23,18 and 19 on the eastern side of scotland, much warmer than the weekend. some complications for wednesday, mainly because of this development across the continent, which is likely to create a few heavy and maybe thundery showers which could work their way into southern and eastern england. further north and west, a scattering of showers but, for much of wednesday and thursday, dry with some sunshine. this is bbc world news today. our top stories. police in florida say several people have been killed in a mass shooting during a video game tournament in jacksonville. pope francis returns to rome after his visit to ireland — where he asked for forgiveness for the abuse irish people suffered by members of the clergy. tributes are paid to the american senator, john mccain, who's died at the age of 81. the british—iranian charity worker, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, returns to prison in iran, following a three day release. hello and welcome

to world news today. we start with some breaking news. authorities in the us state of florida say there's been a mass