if fun. do you talk to your plants? if they've got a name, i will talk to them. i will say hello to them. we have got veronica, she has been with us have got veronica, she has been with us for quite a while, sol have got veronica, she has been with us for quite a while, so i say hello to her. i can see why house plants can make you happy. rob slade, thank you very much. no worries, thanks. i'm sorry we didn't get to meet veronica on this occasion. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. hello there, today will be the peak of this warm and sunny weather with temperatures reaching 25 or 26 in the south—east. easter weekend looks fine and sunny foremost of us but more cloud in the north—west of the country thanks to this weather front which will produce a hazy sunshine and some rain in the north—west. elsewhere widespread sunshine. in the 20s for most but across the

south—east we could see 26 celsius. into the evening, fining to the day but overnight some mist and fog developing again and rain for the north—west of scotland. elsewhere it will be driver temperatures no more than five to 9 degrees. easter sunday, most places drivers sunshine, more of a breeze in the north—west. scotland cold and elsewhere, very worn 23 or 2a degrees. —— very worn, 23 or 2a

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. police in londonderry investigating the murder of thejournalist, lyra mckee, have arrested two people nearly one—in—io heart attacks and strokes could be prevented if routine check—ups were better targeted in england and wales according to new research. an nhs scheme to help people with serious mental health conditions find work is to be

expanded across most of england. and, campaigners call on the government to cut tax on house plants — because they're good for us and the environment. first we are off to midgets. now on bbc news, it's time for travel show. coming up on this week's programme... car—free in madrid. this is like being a kid again! woohoo! digging the dutch masters. and it's downhill all the way in the mountains of latvia. we start this week in the spanish capital, madrid, where change is coming fast.

we start this week in the spanish capital, madrid, where change is coming fast. the way people get around the city is being transformed, city officials are clearing the cars from the congested streets and opening them up to new possibilities — rentable electric scooters. they have become increasingly popular in many european cities of late. for lots of people, it's a transport revolution they've been waiting for. for others, it's something else entirely. too many in madrid. madrid resident rafa estafania reports. look at this! electric scooters, bicycle sharing, everybody seems to be sharing means

of transport now in madrid. nobody seems to use their own bikes, their own scooters any more. we've got here the electric bikes, they are being charged at the moment, and over there, a line full of electric scooters. they are everywhere. it seems that everybody in madrid is using them to move around. and they are just part of the story. faced with some of the worst pollution in europe, city officials hope to reduce it by 40% by taking the most polluting vehicles off the road in a plan they call madrid central. meanwhile, on all the roads once created to adapt the city around the new automobiles of the time, new spaces are being created for pedestrians. gran via is the newest street from the beginning of the 20th century. tour guide pedro agreed to show me around. it's fantastic because, as a guide, i can see

you from this point of view, from this place for the first time since the renovation. i've never been able to look at this building from this angle. this is because all this is new, right? it was full of traffic going around and it was almost impossible. now it is a new space for the people. excellent, excellent. all new for pedestrians, for the people, no cars. i love it. how is it affecting you and the visitors, the fact that we've got madrid central, that we have more pedestrians on the street, less traffic? gran via or the city centre is never quiet. this is a very alive city, it's crazy, it's amazing. we can feel less traffic and we can feel a better air. it's fantastic. of course, madrid isn't the first to try to remove cars from its city centre. by working with companies offering

greener electric options, there are more ways to explore the centre than ever. already widely available in cities around the world, electric scooters arrived here last summer. you feel like a kid almost. you drive around having fun and it's the joy of riding. it's a great way to move around. commuting with our scooters has become fun. how good do you think is madrid in terms of green transportation? i would say madrid ten years ago or even five years ago was like a car—driven city and now i think madrid is becoming the biggest lap in the world and it's living a fantastic, vibrant moment so you have tonnes of different means of transportation. it's super—exciting because the city council took a very bold move doing madrid central. it's farfrom being perfect, but it's going in the right direction and people are starting

to leave their cars or private vehicles at home and starting to take either public transport or one of the shared vehicles. scooter users leave them wherever they are when they get to their destination, but some people worry they lead to the streets. what would you say to those people who are a bit unhappy with the idea of having all these scooters lying around? we are aware that the dockless system comes with a lot of benefits and some inconvenience. it's just a matter of getting used to it. it's new for everyone, including us, so we need to find together with our competitors and with the city officials ways to kind of move forward in a responsible way. this is like being a kid again! woohoo! so, what if you are a traveller going just short distances around the city centre? pick one, which is going to be better — the old public transport system or the new kids on the block? to find out, i've roped in a friend.

pedro here is going to take public transport. i'm going to take one of these electric scooters. but this is not a race, so i will go steady and safe and i want you to do the same, 0k, promise? i promise. are you ready? i am totally ready. ready, go. so my first challenge is to find a scooter. in just a few seconds, i've found one that is 30 seconds' walk away. it's a quick scan of the bar code and i am off to catch up with pedro. now i've got to say one thing for the scooters — while they do take a bit more effort and concentration, they have to be more exciting than taking a bus. and if you don't know the way, you can easily get lost. but if you need to get

somewhere quickly, well, it looks like i may be there first. we're here! but only just. i cannot believe it, i arrived here literally a minute ago. are you 0k? of course. and if you're heading to spain this spring, here are the things we think you should look out for. seville's april fair is huge and what's more, it's not even in april this year. from may 4th, more than 1,000 tents are pitched around the fairground to the southwest of the city and for the whole week, the site becomes the place to eat,

drink and dance the night away. it's a great way to get a fun flavour of traditional andalusia. the mulafest urban arts festival has become something of a fixture in madrid since it was established in 2012. it's pretty diverse, everything from tattoos to circus arts to motorbikes are celebrated here. you'd better hurry up if you need tickets, though — the whole thing takes place just a week from now. many think spring is the perfect time to visit granada's spectacular moorish alhambra palace. in the summer, it gets incredibly hot and busy. you may have missed the best of the blossom now in its generalife gardens, but you're still guaranteed some stunning architecture without the stifling heat. and while you're in the south of the country, why not check out the restored caminito del rey in a crevasse close to malaga?

the narrow walkway was reopened in 2015 after more than a decade of closure. it's more than three kilometres long and only a metre wide and used to be called the world's most dangerous footpath, but these days there is a bit more fencing to help stop you from plunging over the side. to sweden next, and an archaeological treat that's become the most visited museum piece in the whole of scandinavia. the vasa lay in the bay of stockholm for more than three centuries before its discovery in 1956. we dropped in to meet the people whose job it is to protect the ship forfuture generations. my name is lisa mansson. i am the director of the vasa museum. the vasa is a ship that was actually built in the 17th century, but sank on her maiden voyage.

so the swedish king at the time, gustavus adolphus, he needed more warrior ships so he ordered to build this very big ship that should be the flagship in the swedish navy, but she only sailed for approximately 20 minutes. a wind caught her sails and she leaned to the side and unfortunately the cannon ports were open and the water came streaming in through the cannon ports. she got heavy and and leaned to the side and actually sank. the vasa is 98% original, which is unique in the world.

there are no other ships from the 17th century of this size that are this well preserved. the reason that the ship is so well preserved is that it sank in the baltic sea where we don't have shipworms that you have in more salty water. so thanks to the brackish water in the baltic sea, she was well kept. right now, the museum is going through a very important phase and that is focusing on preserving the ship for the future. if we wouldn't do anything, the ship is slightly moving to the side and she is sinking about one millimetre each year. we don't want to have that go on forever because there will be breakage at some point.

so many people ask us, how come that we have this success since it's actually built onafailure? and i think that failure is actually something that is a part of evolution. we need to allow ourselves to fail to build success. stay with us because still to come... it's one small step for tourism in space and one giant leap into your favourite van gogh. we've got the best thing is currently trending in the world of travel. and i'm in latvia, plunging headfirst down an icy hill. lucky old me. so don't go away.

time now for trending travel, a monthly look at some of the best travel—related stories, pics and videos making news online. three, two, one, release. did you ever dream of being an astronaut as a kid? fire! 50 years after the first moon landings, virgin galactic recently successfully tested a manned passenger flight to the edge of space and now they have just signed an agreement to launch flights from uae, hopefully bringing those childhood dreams a step closer for those who can afford them. back on earth, las vegas has always been the home for high rollers and now here's a new hotel room for the very biggest spenders. it's got two floors, has a six original works of art and a pool overlooking the strip.

if you're tempted, then the price tag isjust $200,000 a night, or yours for free if you've got over $1 million in credit with the palms casino. in the more traditional art city of florence, locals have formed a graffiti—busting group, the angels of beauty, to restore the city's ancient sights. these volunteers have armed themselves with special cutting—edge lasers because traditional cleaning methods can damage the stone. the scientists say the new techniques are capable of safely cleaning any surface back to its former glory. and maybe this could be useful in helping you travel in a foreign country. this recent video from matthew brennan in china has had over 2 million views on twitter. he shows how facial recognition software is now being used to direct passengers to their airport gates.

so i discovered the system when i was travelling in southwest china, in chengdu. to my knowledge, they are piloting this new system. it's not available yet in shanghai or beijing. you can't speak to it, it's only a facial recognition system where it will tell you your flight information, your flight status, whether it has been delayed or not and how to get to your gate. the data for my face, i assume, i'd be surprised if it wasn't coming from the security check. super—helpful or sinister? you decide. now, lots of you have sent us your pictures this month using the hashtag #traveltuesday. here are some of our favourites. spring is here in the northern hemisphere and that means huge amounts of people travelling to japan to see the iconic cherry blossoms. here is a daytime shot from reiko sato of the tokyo tower. this stunning photo

is from tetsuro takahashi, and this one was sent to us on twitter. remember, keep sending in your pictures. now, let's meet the travel film—makers and vloggers who have caught our eye this month. if you're in paris anytime this year, then the atelier des lumieres is asking you to step inside the artwork itself, with its new van gogh exhibition, with 140 state—of—the—art projectors and 50 speakers setting the mood for what they call a new emotional and dynamic approach to art. this hugely popular museum had 4 million visitors last year and is looking to have the same hit again this year. well, that's your lot for now, but don't forget to send us your best pics, clips and stories and who knows? maybe next time you could be

trending in travel. gauja is latvia's oldest and largest national park, but we are not here this week for the peace and quiet of its lovely forests. we're here for adventure. and it starts just south of the park in this little town. welcome to sigulda's bobsleigh track, one of the very few in the world where tourists can get the same adrenaline rush as professional racers. built under the soviet union in 1986, the track has played host to international competitions in luge, skeleton and bobsleigh rides, with some obvious success. the track is now used as a training venue for several latvian champions, but there are no competitions on today, which is lucky for me because it means

i get to try it out. although, having a look, i don't really feel so lucky. first, i'm meeting the man in control of the sled, my pilot. this is the ice track, try not to fall over. good to meet you. so tell me, what do i need to do? first, you need a helmet. 0k. next, get inside the bob. sitting, hold, not only with the hands, but all your body, your muscles. and we go down and that's it. all right, so as long as i've got muscles, we'll be ok. i'm in safe hands. yeah! excellent. ok, let's go. get the team together. we're about to set off 100 kilometres down a very icy hill, but luckily i've got an expert pilot. fingers crossed everything goes very smoothly. apart from the pilot steering

the bobsleigh from the front, a team also includes pushers and a brakeman, but tourists get it easy, theyjust need to duck in and hold very tight. this track is almost 1,500 metres long and you need a pretty strong stomach to manage its 16 curves. oh, man. i think that's one of the most intense experiences of my entire life. that was like being in a very, very active, very cold tumble dryer for a minute and a half. i don't even know how long it was. that was completely insane. another winter sport that can take your breath away

is this, the skeleton. imagine a luge with no brakes or steering aid that you ride headfirst. martin and thomas are brothers and they're both world and olympic champions in this sport. it's our home track and we did many runs here, i think for learning it's great. i agree because if you learn and you can survive here, then you can survive everywhere. you must love this sport, to devote so much of your life to it. what do you love about it? i don't like training and all this stuff, but what i love this competition so that's the best part for me. i don't think i'm ready to try one of the full—blown skeletons, but there is a tourist version available that's a little bit more my speed. wish me luck.

it's called a frog and for this one, there is no crew to make me feel safe. 0hhhh! oh, my goodness! she screams. how was it? so cool! the track in sigulda could now become an olympic venue, too. itjoins stockholm in a bid for hosting the 2026 olympic winter games. answer injune this year

and in the meantime... oh, yeah, i could go again right now. let's go. sadly, that's all we have time for, but coming up on next week's programme... the game's on. got his queen. mike is in norway where one of the world's most enduring games has seen a huge revival thanks to a home—grown grand master. i would say my favourite player from the past is probably myself, like, three or four years ago. my heart is beating so fast. so do join us then and in the meantime, you can sign up our social media feed where you can share your travels with us and the world. until next time, from me, christa larwood, and the rest of the travel show team here in latvia, it's goodbye.

hello there, there's temperatures have been creeping up. yesterday we saw highs of 2a degrees. glorious conditions for a walk out in the countryside and indeed for the rest of the easter weekend we will hold onto the warmth and sunshine. a weather front will continue to plague the north—west of the country bringing thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain. this is the weather front i am talking about. perhaps cloud into northern ireland as well.

high—pressure dominates for much of the country bringing fine and dry weather. mist and fog lives from south and east of the country bringing widespread sunshine this afternoon. sunshine is hazy in north—west scotland because of the weather front. a few spots of rain in the outer hebrides but elsewhere, responding well to the sunshine, maybe 26 degrees in the south—east, the peak of the warm spell. tonight looks mild, clear skies, some mist and fog will develop in central, southern and eastern parts of england but also for wales. but more cloud for the north—west of scotland. temperatures from five to nine celsius. for easter sunday we do it allagain, nine celsius. for easter sunday we do it all again, a fine start to the day, that of mist and fog which will create away. bit of a breeze for scotla nd create away. bit of a breeze for scotland and northern ireland. 12

degrees in stornoway but elsewhere it is temperatures into the low 20s with highs of 2a in the south—east. u nsettled with highs of 2a in the south—east. unsettled weather across the western mediterranean but for us as we head on into easter monday, high—pressure winning the dominant feature so another fine day. the winning the dominant feature so anotherfine day. the breeze blowing up anotherfine day. the breeze blowing up from the site across the whole country which will keep this weather front at be so many places will be dry. additive cloud bubbling up, perhaps sharon in the south—west but most perhaps sharon in the south—west but m ost pla ces perhaps sharon in the south—west but most places will be tried with temperatures ranging from 17 to 20 -- 17 to 23 temperatures ranging from 17 to 20 —— 17 to 23 degrees. an increasing chance of showers next week and gradually it will feel cooler.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 11: police in londonderry investigating the murder of thejournalist, lyra mckee, have arrested two teenagers. police in london say they've now arrested more than 680 people since climate change protests began last monday. new research suggests nearly one—in—ten heart attacks and strokes in england and wales could be prevented if routine check—ups were better targeted. campaigners call on the government to cut tax on house plants because they're good for us and the environment. and as the world's largest group of religious believers celebrate easter, dateline london takes a look at how religion impacts our world in half an hour here on bbc news.