dl’)‘ ‘ dry weather rain, some but a lot of dry weather and a warmer feel. temperatures rain, some but a lot of dry weather and a warmerfeel. temperatures in the east higher than yesterday, 20 degrees but a fair amount of cloud, it enough in western areas to give the odd shower, those will fade away this evening but overnight some areas of cloud and mist in the southern half of the country, a breeze strengthening towards the north west ahead of some extra cloud in northern ireland and scotland tomorrow, for eastern scotland down into england and wales it is dry, some early mist and fog but spells of sunshine, a bit of rain in places on wednesday at the end of the week looks on wednesday at the end of the week loo ks m ostly on wednesday at the end of the week looks mostly dry. an official un report accuses myanmar‘s military of carrying out genocide against its rohingya population and criticises the country's leader, aung san suu kyi, for failing to intervene. food prices are expected to rise in the coming months as farmers feel the effects of this year's extreme weather.

the campaign calling for a new brexit referendum is attempting to change labour party policy on the issue according to a leaked memo. police in florida are working to establish why a gunman opened fire at a video games tournament injacksonville, killing two people. now on bbc news 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. 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 site and they expected one day maybe to build 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. 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 chilli bites. and the chillis. are they strong chillis? spring onions. forefathers came over from india in the 19th century, but there's a distinctive mauritian accent to the food too. he coughs. itjust hit me! now, this is a multi—ethnic, multicultural, multi—lingual,

multi—religion country. 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 where 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 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? oh my god. yes, it will probably nibble you a little bit if that's ok? nibble me? its claws can 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

or an 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, its 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 the 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 and met 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 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 under way. 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 going to bet. number three. but i'm not sure. there is my horse, number three, rogue runner. if i put 100 rupees on it, it says i'll get 600 rupees back. hi, 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 chance 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! they cheer.

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. good afternoon. it isn't a bank holiday everywhere today but in

those places where it is, i think this is where the weekend redeems itself. after the reign of yesterday, brought by this cloud, which has slid away to the east, some showers around, but if you are lucky, some spells of sunshine to ta ke lucky, some spells of sunshine to take you through the rest of the afternoon. and then through this week actually we will not see an awful lot of rain and it will be warmer than it has been over the last couple of days. through the rest of the afternoon, generally very large areas of cloud but sunny spells and drizzly showers, particularly affecting western areas. as far as temperatures go, in eastern parts of scotland if you see brightness, it will be 18 or 19 in the central belt. the cloud big enough to give the odd spot of drizzle in the west, the same in northern england and the south—west as well. the cloud is broken and sunshine lifts temperatures up to 20. during this evening and overnight, the cloud melts away for

a time but we could see low cloud, mist and fog developing across the southern half of the country. further south, the winds will be strengthening and more cloud into northern england and where the skies stay clear from newcastle to aberdeen, it will be cool. tomorrow will be similar to today in many areas. some spells of sunshine and large areas of cloud and some patches of early mist and fog to contend with. as the afternoon wears on, the winds will strengthen in northern ireland and western scotla nd northern ireland and western scotland and temperatures ahead of that rain band will be 17 to 21. it's rain band associated with the cold front will slide across northern ireland and scotland through tuesday night and some brisk winds in northern areas. 0n wednesday an area of low pressure tries to come up from the low continent, which could introduce showers across southern and south—eastern areas. a lot of uncertainty about that. all the while there will be a lot of dry weather and spells of sunshine and

temperatures 17 to 21. as we head towards the end of the week, it will be mainly fine again. there will be some spells of sunshine and temperatures in the high teens or low 20s. rohingya muslims. hundreds of thousands of people fled to bangladesh to escape the violence. a report says the suspects it has named should appear before the international criminal court. it's not only about justice for victims. it's also deterring future activity. if you allow this to go without any kind of sanction, then every army in the world will think they can do this. also on today's programme. a mother and her daughter have been stabbed to death in the street in the west midlands. the cost of food is set to rise because of this year's extreme weather. and an exclusive report from inside the nuclear plant at sellafield, one of the most contaminated industrial sites in europe.