this is bbc world news today. that we would have never, i'm martin stanford. our top stories... ever come if we had known the realities of isis. exit polls in ukraine put the tabloids a political novice and professional called him hungry hamza. comedian well ahead of the incumbent here he is on the left, petro poroshenko in the presidential election. 30 kilograms heavier. he complained on social media about missing british food, and then almost starved in is's turkish president erdogan‘s ak party could lose control of the capital, ankara, last stand in baghouz. as preliminary results come out from the local elections. only now, in defeat, does he condemn the group he served for five years. the uk prime minister considers her next move because many kids, they did to try to break the brexit deadlock pass away in baghouz, as one of her cabinet ministers many kids passed away admits there are no ideal choices. from severe malnutrition. do you blame the west for that? facebook founder no, i blame islamic state for it. mark zuckerberg calls for new internet regulations, 100%. two weeks after the new zealand because they did have food mosque gunman used the social media and they did have medicine, and they did have enough to provide. but they didn't. platform to livestream his attack. he grew up in a privileged west london home to pakistani parents. he has now been stripped of his british citizenship. young british men brought ruin here. they turned their backs on theirfamilies, their friends and their country. now they are paying the price. for most, there is no way back. quentin sommerville, bbc news, north—eastern syria.

the government has pledged another £200 million for councils in england to improve roads. £50 million will be available to fix potholes, the rest being used to fund and reward improvements in road repair techniques such as developing new, more durable road surfaces. sent big changes coming up in the week ahead, but for the time being the weather is relatively quiet. quite a bit of code across wales in western england, that gets pulled in gci’oss western england, that gets pulled in across the irish sea and it will thicken up in northern ireland, bringing patchy rain. a dry night otherwise, where we keep the clear spells longest, it will be cold with fast developing in rural areas. for

monday, low—pressure slips to the continent to allow this cold front to move into the west, bringing outbreaks of rain to northern ireland in western scotland, with the rain turning steady and heavy later in the day. eastern scotland, east of england and wales fairly dry with sunshine. although it maybe april the ist, don't be full by rising temperatures in the south, it will get colder in the week ahead. there will be rain or showers, a very unsettled looking weak, cold enough for some snow over the hills at times. this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines... tomorrow mps will vote again on alternative brexit options — a cabinet minister says theresa may might have to change her plans as a result. i don't think it's sustainable to say, well, we will ignore parliament's position and therefore leave without a deal. i don't think that is a sustainable position for the government to take.

police in england and wales are being given greater stop and search powers to tackle rising knife crime. it is very important. it is a vital tool in fighting serious violence. i want police officers to feel more comfortable to use it, so that they can protect all communities. there's been a sharp rise in the number of adults calling a national helpline for the children of alcoholic parents, according to figures seen by the bbc. the founder of facebook, mark zuckerberg, calls for governments to play a more active role in regulating the internet. 0h, oh, it is an own goal! and liverpool are back on the top of the premier league after an own goal by spurs. now on bbc news, the travel show.

child crying. i am amber, and my husband is frank. we live outside of birmingham, alabama. we have four beautiful boys — frankie, who is 17, stephen who is 14, and then we have a set of boy twins who are four years old, and they are non—verbal autistic — their names are alex and will. we are the ellis family.

my husband and i have known each other since grade school. we were friends the whole time. we dated in high school and married in college, and this is our 20th wedding anniversary. because we have some issues with the boys, we have not been on a trip in a really long time. they are not very effective at communication, so it takes a lot of intuition to figure out what they need. we have a lot of meltdowns... 0h, did he throw it? child cries. did he drop it or did he throw it? it's ok... when there are two autistic non—verbal children the behaviours can be exponential. sometimes they play off of each other. it's all right, it's all right, it's ok. before the twins were born we were just a family of four. and we had the two older brothers who kind of sort of got along, but not really. after the twins came the dynamic changed, to this really sweet,

ca retaking dynamic. and especially as the twins got older and they stopped developing, or their development was very slow, we all kind of began to understand that the twins were going to need a lot more. # twinkle twinkle little star...# for a long time we didn't have any support. we didn't really talk about the twins, pretty much only my closest friends knew that the twins were special needs. and for a long time i thought i could fix them, that it was just a developmental delay, that i could give them the right supplement of the right food or the right therapy and they would catch up. but over the course of maybe the last year or so i began

to realise, and i think my husband and i began to realise that this is who they are. and it's not something that you can fix, it's how they're wired. we began to come to terms with their special needs, their autism. they're so precious, even though they may be different — different, not less. they're just different, that's all. and people need to see the story, people need to know that you can make it work. we can make it work. we started talking about taking a trip, how should we do it, this is our 20th anniversary... we have come through so much as a family that we wanted to go as a family, and just enjoy each other. so we felt like it was time to go on a trip! it has taken us a long time to come to the point

where we were ready. we have never flown with the twins before so we are kind of nervous and excited about getting on a plane. ok, so let's do each... because they are autistic non—verbal they function on about the level of an 18—month—old. so they are a lot of work. the way our schedules, our work schedules and school schedules for the kids work together, there's not a whole lot of days every month where we're all together at the same time. we have little bits, an hour or two here at the end of the day, if we're not falling asleep already, but whole days don't happen very often for us. a few years ago we went to the beach for a couple of days together, but they were very small. to break routine for an autistic child is, can be disastrous. so this gives us an opportunity to break routine only for a little

while and try it, and see how the boys cope in a different environment, and still have some of their comfortable surroundings — they will have us and the older boys and some of their familiar objects, but be in a different place, and see if we can start taking longer trips. 0k, how are we going to do an aeroplane? somebody has always got to take care of one of the twins, another person has to take care of the other one, and then who is going to look after the things we take with us. what do we need to take, what snacks are going to have. do we take the blankies, do we take toys, do we take the ipad, things to keep them entertained? we actually got in touch with the airline we were going to use and talked to a co—ordinator who let us have a trial run through the airport, which was phenomenal. it was the most fabulous idea anyone has ever come up with.

i had been pretty fearful, but after that day i felt much better and i thought, i think we can do this. we can make it work, we can get on a plane and go on a trip. it's gonna be stressful and there's going to be meltdowns. .. cries. hey, hey! it's ok... if they melt down, how do we deal with the people around us, how do we let them know that it's really 0k, and that we're actually 0k with meltdowns, we just have to keep them calm and soothe them as much as possible. because you worry about the people around you, that you're offending people or, and you worry about being judged. just to know that somebody understands is so helpful, and all of a sudden you don't feel so crazy. they're autistic, so they come with their own needs, you know?

so we're going to take the whole family, for the first time, to a special park called wonderland in san antonio, texas. it's a special needs park and they have lots of fun things specifically for special needs children, very wheelchair accessible. there's a lot of different ways it could go, you know, with their very strict routines that they happen to have, going outside of that a little bit will stress them a little bit, and you just kind of have to roll with it. i'm looking forward to it primarily because it's a new thing that we haven't done before, so it's kind of like, challenge accepted, let's do it. it is the fun for him, "let's do this, let's see if we can accomplish it." so it'sjust his personality, but it is a lot of fun.

i've played too many strategy games. everything is pretty ready, we'lljust have a nice quiet evening, finishing up any last details, and then we will be ready for tomorrow. cries. 0k... let's get your hair all pretty. all handsome. cries. we are going to go on our trip! and you're gonna be so handsome, can you sit for me? you are going to be so handsome. he is so upset because he wants to go get in the car. where are we going? are we going on a trip? are you ready? 0k. all ready! i have the food, the boys'

clothes, our clothes, ipads, blankies, we have the wagon, i think that's everything. i think that's everything! ok, let's go. so we went outside to load the carand pullup to the main porch, and i couldn't crank the car, it wouldn't crank. told the husband, can you come and look at the car and try to fix it? and of course he worked his magic and got the car running again. i was so nervous up until this point, but we have prepared so much, and we've already seen a little bit of meltdown because he's actually wanting to go, so i think it's gonna be really good. everything went fairly well, and we allowed enough time for any problems that might have popped up, like the car. so we are still running

very early schedule, we will get to the airport probably at about two hours before we board the plane. so we are going to fly out of birmingham and fly to houston, the flight from birmingham to houston is a relatively short flight, it's only two hours. from there we will rent a truck or some kind of vehicle, and drive the rest of the way to san antonio. ok, i might be getting a little nervous now. we are at the airport and pulling into the parking deck, so it's really real, we're going to do it. 0k! frank senior, frankjunior, stephen, alex, you, and will. yay! look at that lens. got it? one more time, look at the lens. ready?

it is a healing time for our family. we can go on this trip together. the older boys have such a sweet dynamic with the little boys. 0k, 0k, thank you. instead of patting them down, they put this little solution on them. cries. i am so sorry, i am so sorry! but two toddlers is difficult. when you add non—verbal autistic, it just makes it exponential. i always feel this sense to rush and get everything packed. we have plenty of time. i kind of have to emotionally prepare myself. i'm so relieved that part is over! now let's just get to the gate. you kind of carry that anxiety in the back of your mind of, how is it going to go? just kind of be ready to roll with the punches, whatever happens, just be ready for anything.

travelling, for, toddlers is difficult. and two toddlers can be really difficult. when you add non—verbal autistic it just makes it exponential. so it has taken us a long time to come to the point where we were ready. will has noise—cancelling headphones, he has strong sensory issues with hearing. you can tell it's painful. we're probably going to have a meltdown or two. we might have some vomit, we know it might happen. but the flight from birmingham to houston is a relatively short flight, it's only two hours. and the boys do like car travel. ok, now we're on the fast part. we're about to go fast. up into the air. are you ready?

let's do it. whatever happens, just be ready for anything, and just kind of be ready to roll with the punches. ok, it's going to be a little bumpy. you're doing so good. things are going really well. 0ne boy is asleep and the other is almost asleep. naptime is a good time to fly.

we like the idea of getting into a trip and driving the rest of the way to san antonio. it's about another two and a half hours' drive, and then we'll go to the park. did you sleep with big brother? you did? what did you think? is it time to go play? it is. time to get some clothes on. he's going to grab my hand and try to walk us out the front door. it's time to go, alex is ready. the worst part is over. the anxiety i was experiencing was mostly about the flight. woke up this morning,

ready to prepare for the park. then we'll hop in the car and go. he knows we're going somewhere fun. we're headed to morgan's wonderland, which is a theme park in san antonio, texas, for special needs children. lots of fun things for children of all cognitive levels to experience. morgan's wonderland came about when the founder, gordon hartman, sold his construction company and was able to devote all of his time to building this park for his daughter. she was developmentally delayed. and he made this wonderful playground in her honour and for her, and opened it up to the world. this beautiful park with a carousel, a ferris wheel, train, with sensory fun things and everything that small children and big kids alike would love

to come and have fun. it was almost as if it was built for us. so where do you all recommend we go first? do you like it? oh, my goodness. what do you think?

alex is in his happy place because he loves trains so much. we will probably ride the train at least five times today. so tell us more about the park and how you came to build morgan's wonderland. well, actually, it occurred many years ago when maggie, my wife, morgan and i were on a trip. and morgan wanted to go swimming. morgan and i jumped in and we were having fun, just splashing around in the water. there were three other kids at the other end of the pool, two of them were throwing a ball back and forth. she wasn't able to verbally communicate and say, hey, i want to play, can ijoin in with you guys? so she hit the ball. so they quickly grabbed the ball and got out of the pool because it wasn't a normal way of saying, hey, i want to play.

and the look on morgan's face was, dad, i don't understand, ijust wanted to play. and it saddened me because ijust wanted my daughter to be able to play. so where could we go? we couldn't take her to a water park because of certain circumstances of hers, and talking to others, we found the same situation. “ we —— we could not take her to a lot of parks. so how do we develop a place where those who have special needs and those who don't can all come together and play in a fully inclusive environment? and it was those discussions, those chit—chats, those meetings, they turned into what we now have here today at morgan's wonderland. that is so amazing. and since then, people from all over the united states and literally all over the world make special trips to come here. in an environment that is just different than any other environment in the world. right. whoa, alex, look!

what do you think? this is amazing. alex really likes, you know, ipads and things like that that he can manipulate. so when he came into this room, there's not a lot of extra noise but there's a lot of things he can touch. you did it! i'm so proud of you. we started travelling with him when he was six months old. before we really knew he was autistic. so he's very used to it. so by the time we did have a diagnosis he was so used to travelling. so you just accommodated him to it. ijust met danielle who has a five—year—old boy who is also non—verbal autistic. we had a really fun time catching up. my new friend, we just friended each other on facebook. it was lovely to talk to her, so many similarities, how do you do this?

it is better if you try to align the flights with his normal sleeping times. we found that out. yes. other people on the plane, sometimes, to get people who are less understanding... yeah, i was pretty worried about that. but it is pretty rare, i would say. it's great to find a community, in this setting, where we can talk and make new friends. so, we ran into a mother here, we got to talking and we kind of both had autistic children, she said there was another place really close by that we ought to check out. so i think we're going to head on over now and check that out and see how our kids like it. i had a lot of fears going into this trip.

we have a special needs child, and you can't predict their behaviour, and you especially can't predicted in public around other people. and it didn't happen. that park was made for children like them. so we felt safe. that's one thing we really have trouble with sometimes, we don't really feel safe taking them to the normal places where regular children are. to be honest, they are having a lot more fun than i would've thought. normally to get them to have this much fun is kind of rare, we have to do the little things, make weird noises, that's the only time they'll be laughing and smiling this much. but this whole place has that effect. i was literally terrified that we would get into a situation where they'd be melting down, lots of tears, really loud, a complete emotional breakdown for the world to see. but it didn't happen,

everything was much more calm than i thought it would be. they slept on the plane, they had a lot of fun on the theme parks, theme parks were built for them. they welcomed them with open arms and let them enjoy themselves. hello. we have seen some really big swings in temperatures. highs of up to 20 degrees yesterday in greater london but you have at one today. it will get even colder in the week. temperatures in single figures for

many on tuesday, plenty of showers and some turning wintry. the latest satellite figure shows patches of code across western areas, through this evening and overnight the cloud will drift across the irish sea, whilst thickening up, so we could see patchy outbreaks of rain in northern ireland before the end of the night. 0therwise northern ireland before the end of the night. otherwise a dry night, where we see some lengthy clear brea ks where we see some lengthy clear breaks across the east of the uk, some frost will develop in the countryside. a chilly start to monday., high countryside. a chilly start to monday. , high pressure countryside. a chilly start to monday., high pressure with us, tending to move east through the day to allow this cold front to move into the north—west. starting the day with dry weather and sunshine for eastern scotland, much of england and wales having a decent table 30 spells throughout. in the north—west, the cloud thickens with rain from northern ireland into western scotland, with the the rain turning steady and heavier with time. it may be april the ist, don't be full by the warm up in the south,

temperatures up to 16 in cardiff. it will get colderfrom temperatures up to 16 in cardiff. it will get colder from tuesday, very u nsettled will get colder from tuesday, very unsettled and cold enough for some hill snow. cold air move southwards, during tuesday the whence come down from a northerly direction and that will bring those showers and her mother temperatures. rain to start the day in eastern england, that clears, then the showers will have hailand clears, then the showers will have hail and thunder mixed in, some turning wintry with snow falling over the hills. we may see something more organised later in the day in northern ireland, bringing a spell of hill snow potentially, something we would have to keep a close eye on. low—pressure stays with us through the remainder of the week, for wednesday we seek low—pressure spinning of the naughty, thickening the cloud across the north—east of the cloud across the north—east of the country and threatening outbreaks of rain and perhaps some more significant snow across the high ground of north—east scotland. the grampians could see some snow on wednesday. sunny spells and

scattered showers, some heavy infantry. some having a wintry flavour over high ground. that your weather.