this is bbc news — the headlines: new evidence of china's crackdown on muslim minorities in its western province of xinjiang has been revealed in a leaked document seen by the bbc. the document sets out how the authorities decided the fate of more than three hundred uighur detainees. the us technology giant apple has warned that it won't achieve its forecast revenues for this financial quarter because of the coronavirus outbreak. the company says that although its factories in china have reopened, they're not yet operating at full capacity. the united nations says the latest government offensive in syria has now displaced almost nine hundred thousand people since december. it has created a new humanitarian crisis in the region. in a rare public address, president assad has insisted his military campaign will continue despite the impact on his own people. a downing street adviser who's

been widely criticised for his comments on issues including race and women in sport has resigned. andrew sabisky had only been in post for a short time. labour had called for mr sabisky to be sacked — for suggesting in the past that black people had lower average intelligence than white people. our political corrspondent alex forsyth says the episode has led some to question what kind of government borisjohnson wants to run. andrew sabisky was hired as an advisor, a contractor, in number 10, and that was quickly condemned when these comments made in his name appeared. among other things that he said, compulsory contraception could be used to stop a permanent underclass, and women's sport is more comparable to the paralympics than to men's. now, after growing criticism, he tonight said he had quit that downing street role, taking twitter to say that the media hysteria about his past online comments was mad, that he had been a victim of character assassination, that this was a distraction from the work of government so he was going to go. but i think part of the problem here was that,

earlier in the day, downing street had repeatedly refused to answer questions about this appointment, or about borisjohnson‘s views about the comments that andrew sabisky had made. that prompted anger, not just from labour, but from some conservative mps. one saying that he was uncomfortable with some recent trends coming out of number 10. remember, this is a government that won an election with a big majority, that come in wanting to do things differently, wanting to do things in its way, and one of the prime minister's most senior aides, dominic cummings, put out an advert wanting misfits and weirdos to work in downing street, to shake out whitehall. what this shows is it doesn't matter how packed the parliamentary benches are with conservative mps, there is still some unease among them sbout some of the decisions being taken in downing street, and some question about the kind of government that borisjohnson wants to run. now it's time for the travel show. coming up on this week's programme: electric tuk—tu ks. ..

it is almost silent, the suspension is still the same though. fatphobia and the woman that beat it. and, look away now if you don't like snakes. laughs. horns beeping. we are starting ourjourney in sri lanka's capital city colombo, where the two kings of the road are the tuk—tuks, also known as auto

rickshaws or three—wheelers. horn honks. ahh! and where honking seems to be a national sport. nothing like the great honking horn of a giant bus to put fear in you. there is actually over a million tuk—tuks here in sri lanka and it definitely shows, because these things are everywhere. that's a pretty high number for a country ofjust over 20 million people. the prospect of good money has prompted many young people to become a driver here. the number of tuk—tuks hasjumped eightfold in the last 15 years, causing a little bit of congestion on colombo‘s roads. and it is notjust the pros. driving a rented tuk—tuk is increasingly popular with tourists too. why are you renting a tuk—tuk today?

what is it about a tuk—tuk that made you go, i will get in one of these today? well it's because of the convenience —i can stop it wherever i want and i can go wherever i want. having that freedom is really important to you then? how excited are you honour scale of one to ten? 0h,100. laughs. tourists need a local driving license to drive a tuk—tuk here, but also some practice. ok, this definitely is not as straightforward as i thought it would be. i think i need some assistance! 0k. thushari has been a tuk—tuk driver for four years. female drivers remain

a rare sight in sri lanka, but times are slowly changing. right, so they are your top tips? i think i am ready for the road, thank you. you really feel that lack of suspension. and there are so many potholes here, oh! once you reach that level of comfort with driving, the best thing about driving a tuk—tuk is that you can just take in all the gorgeous scenery. and on my left is the beautiful ocean.

but the gentle ocean breeze isn't enough to disperse the emissions produced by the millions of vehicles on sri lanka's roads. air pollution in its capital city regularly exceeds the levels recommended by the world health organization. ten years ago the government banned the import of the most polluting rickshaws, the 2—stroke engines, but several hundreds of thousands remain on the roads. the pollution definitely isn't as bad as i thought it would be, but it is definitely palpable — in fact i think ijust ate some. as part of the global fight against climate change, sri lanka has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. this man hopes his invention will help achieve his country's goals. so his is what you have been working on? yes, this is our electric tuk—tuk, this didn't really look like this earlier, it was a very old chassis that i used.

we basically took the engine off here and fixed the motor to the old gearbox and then we have the battery pack that is placed under the seat. sasiranga de silva won a un award for creating a simple kit which converts petrol tuk—tuk engines to electric. what inspired you to develop this electric technology, what was the inspiration behind it? as you can see sri lanka is a beautiful country, but since recently we noticed that the emission levels are higher, so the respiratory diseases, levels of disease are going high there, so i thought, you know, as an engineer, if i do my best, to contribute to bring the emissions down in sri lanka. what do you think it is going to take to get your conversion get up and running, produced on a mass scale? because it is quite high, and a tuk—tuk is quite a low cost product, so the conversion cost has to be as low as possible for drivers to afford it. so i have been doing so many research so i can downside the battery so i can

reduce the cost. sasiranga hopes he can bring the cost of his conversion kit down by a quarter, to the equivalent of about us$1700 or £1300. and here's another eye—catching innovation — an emission—free electric model. of course the litmus test will be whether electric tuk—tu ks are accepted by local drivers. this is where the magic happens. so i have asked this thushari to join me on a taster session. so this is it, yeah, a bit different to what we're used to. i am going in the back though. makes a change, to be driven around. it's so quiet, isn't it? compared to the four stroke engine, it's almost silent. (laughs).

the suspension‘s still the same though, still getting rattled around in the back. we're pretty lucky though, we're among the first people to try this electric tuk—tuk. excellent driving, excellent driving. so how was it, how did it feel? ifeel your pain. and would you one day like to own one of these? the issue of affordability will decide whether electric tuk—tu ks are ever developed on a mass scale. but here, the project's manager is bullish about the future. whether we like it or not,

the future is electrification of the transportation system. so i think in the next five years or so, it is going to come into the streets, and even bikes and even scooters, so it is going to happen in the nearfuture, yeah. five years is ambitious, but who knows — the spirit of innovation and a smattering of political will might be just enough to clear the air in colombo. stay with us, because still to come: the traveller who took on the fatphobes and won. and snakes in the rainforest — how this jungle paradise is about to quadruple in size. laughs. so don't go away.

right in the heartland of sri lanka lies kandy, a bustling historical and religious town, set around a tranquil artificial lake and surrounded by scenic hills. there are hundreds of hotels here to choose from in kandy, but there is one that beats all others for one thing — eccentricity. this hotel was built in the 1930s, and its current owner helga has filled it with a mishmash of art pieces adorned with antique furniture and wall—to—wall ceiling paintings and photographs. this quirky art was originally a form of therapy. i was going through a rather dark period myself, going through a bitter divorce. and my father said to just get out of your system,

paint it out. at first it was all black and then came the gold monkeys, see no evil, speak and hear, you know. itjust progressed from there, and i thought this was fun. this place is just completely covered in beautiful old photos. what you get is a real sense of pride in the family's history and heritage. they have had some really famous visitors here too — like gandhi. you have got quite an eccentric style. how would you define your style though?

well, i don't think i am particularly eccentric. i mean, this is a minimalist‘s nightmare. as somebody said, this place doesn't have a theme — i said life doesn't have a theme. with the dark lighting and the cobwebs and the kind of dark artwork along this corridor, there is a real eerie, ghostly feel to this place. i kinda feel i am going to meet someone, or something at the end of it. there definitely was someone around. . . a couple freshly settled in their room for the night. i kind of like this because the room is really nice, you can see it's all pink, thank god it's not black. for sure i'm not coming out of the room in the night, that's for sure. laughs. i don't want to get killed. art must be fun. i like art to make people smile, i like people to smile. chuckles. next this week, the latest part in our series about travelling differently. this time we met the woman

who decided that bodyshamers would not stop doing what she loves most. i am such an explorer, a naturally nomadic person. i want to see the world and so travel for me is my happy place. it's joy. but when i am in one place for too long, i feeljust not myself. like, i always want to be on the go. i'm kellie brown, i'm a youtuber, influencer and traveller. good morning. it is our first full day in lisbon. we got here yesterday. delirium, jetlag, checking in to the airbnb, all we did was take a walk around the neighbourhood. but today we are out and about and we will explore. so as much as travel excites me, there are things that can be intimidating. being a plus size person,

you never know what levels of fat phobia you may be exposed to. different cultures are a little more outwardly fat phobic but it's not something that would stop me from going where i want to be. just a couple of girls on their way to barcelona. we have a long flight and we're about to have a lot of fun, so come with us. come! when it comes to flights, i think it is something that i didn't realise how many larger people were really afraid of, until i would talk about travelling on my youtube channel. i want to talk to you about travelling while fat. aka, being a plus size person who loves to travel. and, you know, i would get comments like i am terrified of flying, not because i am afraid of the plane, but i am afraid of how people perceive me or my seatmate or if i have to ask

for a seatbelt extender. i had someone roll their eyes one time, i was walking past their seat and they rolled their eyes like "you sitting with me?" and i wasn't. i ended up being lucky in having a whole row to myself, to which i was laid out and they were all crushed. i'm like "that's what you get". i decided a long time ago to let go of caring or the flight attendant will pass it to you so discreetly, ‘here honey, here you go.‘ and i'm like, ‘thank you!‘ click. just wandering down random alleys in a strange land. whether you're travelling in europe or asia, africa, throughout the us, in australia, you know, i think there are going to be people with an opinion about your weight no matter where you go. and so how that informs the places — the choices i make when it comes to travel is to not make that a thing. you know? the first thing i care about is safety and what's happening globally — like are they in crisis or war? these are the things you think about when you travelling because if you worry about how every single person in any given country or city is going to receive your largeness,

you would not go anywhere. i could go down the street to the grocery store and someone can have an opinion about me. but it's not prevent me from walking around the city in which i live. i can't let that stop me from exploring the world. and there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. your dance break. now, sri lanka is like heaven for nature lovers. almost half the people who come here do some sort of wildlife activity. beyond the big beasts like leopards and elephants, there's a trove of smaller critters — many that you will find nowhere else on the planet. and that's why we have come

to the wet zone on the south—west of the island. now, i know you can't see much apart from really tall trees but mother nature's soundtrack is truly spectacular. birds chirping. this is the edge of sri lanka's last primary rainforest, sinharaja. it's a hotspot for biodiversity — rare plants, unique bird species, amphibians and snakes all thrive here. it's so important ecologically, that there are plans to quadruple it in size. the only way to explore it is by foot. and for that you'll need some serious legwear. so the forest is also home to bloodthirsty leeches, so i picked up these attractive anti—leech socks in the hopes that i make it out without any of them attached to my skin. ridma used to hike and swim in the forest as a child. it's so dense. yeah.

just a tiny amount of sunlight coming through. he now runs tours of the jungle around the island. it's slippery. the sinharaja forest covers more than 8,000 hectares but you do not need to walk very far to spot some wildlife. here, look. it is a kangaroo lizard. it's tiny! it almost doesn't look real. some of it is after your blood. he's just moving until he can settle down and then he will suck blood from me. the way it moves is creeping me out at the moment and it's so small. i shouldn't be scared. when he sucks the blood he will grow three times the size. and now he is getting and i can feel it. really? what does he feel like? just a tiny little pinch. oh, you can see it getting bigger! now he is sucking blood. in truth, every inch of this rainforest is buzzing with life. there are plenty of spiders of course, but we're

here for something a bit more slippery. see there. it's a green pit viper. under the leaf. oh, my gosh! almost the same colour as the leaf. it's tiny. it's a big one. if this snake bites me what happens? it's quite painful. it gives you cramp. and like, it depends on your condition. stay away. ridma's expert eyes soon spotted another baby snake on our path. what's the name of this snake? it is an ahaetulla, eye catcher, eye catch snake. because they are used to — here on the trees at your eye level and with this... see? he tried to go for you! he is a little one. he has no venom but he does have teeth. he will bite you until blood comes out.

oh, my god. wow! you weren'tjoking, weren't you, when you said it was worth it? every time i come into here it is notjust going into thejungle. i come into a big living creature. the rainforest is alive. is it true that there are plans to quadruple the size of the rainforest? it's on the papers now but it is a big project and it takes time. and it's good because sinharaja gives us a lot of things, you know, like the rain to the whole other part of the country. this will be amazing for sri lanka. across the country. not only for sri lanka but for the world. yeah. we made it! there are 104 different types of snakes in sri lanka. only six are deadly to humans.

but with about 80,000 bites a year, this country has one of the world's highest bite rates per capita. most victims are local farmers working in paddy fields. once they are treated in hospital they often turn to people like pieris for the after—care. pieris has been an ayuverdic doctorfor over a0 years. he says he has treated more snake bites than he can remember. so this is how you make the treatment for your patients? oh, that looks painful! what happened ?

this villager is lucky. a bite from a hump—nosed viper can be fatal. this mixture of herbs will make the swelling disappear. so is this exactly what ayuverdic treatment is? using herbs to treat snake bites? 0k. i'm not going to touch this hand but i want to wish you all the luck with your healing process. it sounds like you are in good hands. it has been an honour to meet you. thank you so much and good luck with everything.

i'm so glad i survived the crawling beasts. well, that's all we have time for you this week, but coming up next week, mike is in rio ahead of the biggest party of the year and we find out just how much work goes into preparing the carnival each year. all the welding, the sewing, the machines, everybody is working on one show, your parade. yes. everything. for now from me, lucy hedges and the rest of the travel team, here in sri lanka, it's goodbye. it's bye for now. hello there.

storm dennis may be long out of the way, but it's left a legacy, a legacy of severe flooding in places, water as far as the eye can see on this weather watch picture from the worcester area. now, there are still a number of severe flood warnings in force, these tending to be clustered along stretches of the river wye, which has reached record water levels, and on stretches of the river severn. aside from that, there are still well over 200 flood warnings in force elsewhere in the uk, and it's likely to be a number of days before the floodwaters completely ebb out of the way and those flood warnings start to come down. now, as far as the satellite picture goes, we've got shower clouds working into the uk, but we do have a more organised area of showers i've just drawn in here, and that's going to be crossing the uk, bringing pretty much everyone a downpour or two over the next 2a hours. now, over the next few hours, we do have showers around, most frequent across

the north—west of the country, and for scotland and northern england, those showers falling as snow, above 200 metres elevation, leading to some icy conditions and the risk of some slippery roads on some of those higher scottish routes as we start the day on tuesday. through the rest of tuesday, it is a showery kind of day but remember that feature i showed you just a moment ago? well, here it is working its way eastward across the country. everyone gets a downpour from that, and when those showers come along, they will be very heavy and accompanied by sudden gusts of wind, so it will get very, very squally. behind that band of showers, we're looking at some colder air working into scotland, northern ireland and northern england. temperatures typically around 5—7 degrees for these areas. now, the winds fall light tuesday night as a ridge builds in, but then we've got more rain on the way mid—week, so after a bright and somewhat chilly start to the day, we've got some thickening cloud and outbreaks of rain that are going to move in for wednesday. the heaviest falls of rain will be from the north of wales, northwestwards. however, there is still uncertainty about how heavy the rain is going to be around southern wales. but clearly, this extra rain could cause us some problems so we are keeping a close eye on developments and particularly with regard the flooding situation. now, that warm front moves away

and actually things will get warmer and milder overnight with rising temperatures ahead of the next front, which comes through and this is a cold front. now, on thursday, this cold front swings through. again, we'll have some very squally, gusty kind of winds. the rain not lasting too long, but it will be heavy for a time, and behind the cold front, the air gets colder, so again, the showers will be turning increasingly wintry over the higher hills of scotland later on in the day. that's your latest weather. bye for now.

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm mike embley — our top stories. leaked documents seen by the bbc provide new evidence of china's crackdown on uighurmuslims in the western region of xinjiang. apple warns it won't meet its quarterly revenue projections due to the coronavirus outbreak affecting both production and demand in china with 800,000 people displaced since december combined with freezing conditions — the united nations says the offensive in idlib has created a major humanitarian crisis. and the world's richest man — amazon bossjeff bezos — says he's donating $10 billion to help