a new $3 trillion relief package — republican senators and president trump say they will oppose it. the measure was passed by a vote of 208 to 199 — it was backed by some republicans who wanted more provisions for helping local governments. brazil's health minister, nelson teich, has resigned after less than a month in the job following disagreements about the government's handling of the crisis. over the past week around seven hundred people a day have died of covid—19 in brazil. the rate at which coronavirus spreads has gone up across the uk and is now close to the point where infections may rise again.the reproduction or ‘r' number, needs to stay below one to control the outbreak. virus—spread in care homes and hospitals is believed to be behind the rise. this weekend is the first since lockdown restrictions

were eased in england, allowing unlimited exercise, and travel, in order to enjoy the open air. but the rules vary, depending on where you live in the uk. the easing of england's guidelines has been welcomed by some, but others in tourist areas worry about a possible big influx of people, as sian lloyd reports. these residents of stratford have been a fixture for generations, but, for the past eight weeks, their surroundings have been significantly quieter than usual. the historic town is a magnet for tourists from far and wide, and the economic impact of the lockdown has been felt here. but after the government advice was changed for people living in england, visitors are beginning to return. this couple have travelled some 50 miles from their home in leicestershire. because boris said we can go further afield, we've made the most of it. this is our normal life. we like to get out and about.

so, we're just going to have a walk around the river and we brought our own flask of coffee, and we're going to have that and then we'll have a steady ride home. we are sensible, but i think these two just needed to blow off a little steam and have a little bit of a change of scenery really. this family live within the same county, now able to visit one of their favourite places. set up a picnic. a little picnic and feed the ducks, and it'sjust been nice to just get out. especially since lockdown‘s been a bit eased a little bit more. as long as sticking to the guidelines. the countryside in england is beginning to reopen. the national trust will unlock the gate to this car park tomorrow morning. but people are already parking here to walk, and the charity says it expects a huge influx over the weekend. they're urging people not to travel long distances to their favourite destinations and to visit places closer to home for the time being. you have to understand, i think, as a visitor that obviously local

communities near places you like to visit are rightly concerned about huge volumes of people arriving, so we ask you to be extra thoughtful and respectful about their concerns. and obviously if a footpath goes past a house, make sure you're really mindful of that. many restrictions are still in place, and fines are imposed when rules are broken. authorities here are welcoming people to the town, but warn it's not business as usual. coming up at 6:00, breakfast with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. but first on bbc news, the travel show. india. 70 years after independence, this emerging world power of more thani billion this emerging world power of more than i billion people this emerging world power of more thani billion people is still changing. iam thani billion people is still changing. i am on a journey to two extremes changing. i am on a journey to two extre m es of changing. i am on a journey to two extremes of this vast subcontinent.

it is crystals. hard crystal. white salt. fantastic. i began in the far west in gujarat. and this week i have travelled over to the north—east. i am on the banks of a mighty river and i am about to go to a spiritual place. it is one of india's lesser—known regions. and just to my right is the border with bangladesh. a part of the country that prides itself on its traditions. he makes it look so easy. that is incredibly difficult. but it is also looking forward and embracing progress. so now i am on my way to go and see an eco— warrior. it will be an incredible

adventure. india's north—east. a collection of eight states almost cut off from the rest of the vast country. but for a tiny strip of land. at partition, a large swathes of the region was sectioned off to become east pakistan and later bangladesh, leaving the indian area landlocked. it is geographically and culturally out on a limb. this is frontier country. little known to tourists and other indians alike. they call it the land of clouds but thatis they call it the land of clouds but that is because of the severe monsoon season. that is because of the severe monsoon season. hilly, remote and the air is so crisp and fresh and the air is so crisp and fresh and the view... well, simply

spectacular. it is this cool climate that made the state and its capital a popular retreat for the british during the colonial era. they dubbed it the scotla nd the colonial era. they dubbed it the scotland of the east. it is pretty crowded but what about the city today? there is only one way to find out. i took a bus into the city centre. it is a modern industrial town these days, shillong. i think

those breaks may need some work. tell me, what do you think about shillong. this is your home city. what do you think? more than half of the population belong to one tribe here in shillong and a traditional british sport is thriving here. but it sure ain't polo. every afternoon, hundreds of people gather from all around to

ta ke people gather from all around to take part in a really interesting daily ritual. this is a sport whose name derives from a traditional hindi word for arrow. a target is mounted and 50 arches have a few minutes to hit it as many times as possible. the significance of the sport dates back to the early 1800s when warriors defended their homelands and not with guns nor swords with bows and arrows. i am aiming forthe swords with bows and arrows. i am aiming for the target, obviously, which is? the small one there? 0k. why is it going to the ground? show me. get out of the way, everyone.

here we go. now we're getting there! spectators get involved by taking bets on the number of arrows that hit the target. and, crucially, it is only the last two numbers of the total score that matter. they are all added up and the last two digits will be the result. 695 arrows. so 95 is the result. this became one of the few states to legalise gambling in 1982. people here are superstitious. they dream about theirfamily, a superstitious. they dream about their family, a dog, superstitious. they dream about theirfamily, a dog, cat and they make it into numbers. so i have 200

rupees of hard earned money here. can you show me how to gamble? let's go to one of these counters. i want to gamble on a lucky number... two digits. i want to go for... 39. and i will put 100 rupees on 39 and on my other bet i will bet on 77. can you fix it so i win? they laugh it depends on my fortune? idid depends on my fortune? i did have a dream last night that a strange dog walked past me and that dog had the number 39. is that the kind of dreams we all have? wish me luck. it is a tense moment as the

numbers are counted. 320. and my dream turns out to be a shaggy dog story. 77 was my number. 97 was the result. still, two of my lucky numbers, nine and seven. next i head out of the city to explore the regions famed hills and villages incredible to think that despite landscapes like this, the north—east is one of the least visited areas of india. but things are this are slowly changing. we have been travelling out of shillong towards the bangladesh border for about travelling out of shillong towards the bangladesh borderfor about two hours now and it has been bumpy and rough road until suddenly we reached

this bit and it is beautifully smooth road. it would not look out of place in a major town. and we're heading to a village with an interesting reputation. the hills of the only place in the world where you find bridges grown from the roots of the indian rubber tree, ficus elastica. this bridge was meant for the religious to cross the river when they came back to their daily life. during that time there was no partition, no bangladesh no pakistan so we had that link.

during monsoon, the khasi hills are some of the wettest places on the planet. but people here have found an ingenious way to harness nature in order to prevent the village from being cut off by floods. what are they doing? they are tying bamboo to cross on both sides of the river so that the roots of this tree will be woven along these bamboo. bamboo act asa woven along these bamboo. bamboo act as a scaffolding which helps to connect roots from trees growing on opposite riverbanks. this is skilled and occasionally dangerous work. thanks to continuous repairs, bridges like this have stood firm for generations. and will probably remain for many more to come. so we

leave meghalaya and head to assam, passing through the tea plantations that have made this region world—famous. that have made this region world —famous. we are that have made this region world—famous. we are on our way to jorhat, the jumping off world—famous. we are on our way to jorhat, thejumping off point for our next adventure. i am on the banks of the mighty river brahmaputra and am about to head to one of the biggest river islands in the world. there are 150,000 people on the island and only six ferries each day, so each one is really crammed. looking at the list of prices for all the different categories, passengers, 15 rupees. that's ok, reasonable. you go down past vehicles and animals have to pgy- past vehicles and animals have to pay. a buffalo has to pay a5. a

bull, cow, 30. an elephant has to fork out 907 rupees. perhaps, fortu nately, fork out 907 rupees. perhaps, fortunately, none of these creatures we re fortunately, none of these creatures were travelling with us today. and, incredibly, after a few last minute panics, we are set to go. i climb onto the corrugated aluminium roof tojoin men who do onto the corrugated aluminium roof to join men who do this trip day in and day out. starting in tibet, the brahmaputra river is nearly 2000 miles long. it is second only to the amazon in the volume of water that rushes through it. there is an interesting game of cards going on here. i think we are playing west. i feel like we should

join in but it may be a private game with high stakes. —— whist. we arrive at majuli and it is turmoil again trying to get off the boat. to avoid acute there is a sneaky way out which involves climbing onto another boat and going down the steps that way. do you know what? i think i will take that one. here we are on land. it doesn't look quite as spiritual as i imagined, but if you look away in the distance it is just one big, flatland of desert. let's see. majuli island is home to

22 industries initially established in the 16th century by the assamese guru sankadeva. boys are instructed from a very young age in the religion he preached, an offshoot of hinduism. the monks are celibate and according to their beliefs they follow only one god, follow a vegetarian diet and reject the caste system. and here the doctor and includes this special artform. —— doctrine.

this form of classical dance is now recognised by the authorities as a genre in its own right, and many of these monks have performed around these monks have performed around the world. that was amazing, thank you very much indeed. i know you spend a lifetime learning the skills of this, but can i have a go? can i try it? like this. arm through here. 0k. try it? like this. arm through here. ok. you get here, yeah. here? wrong one. very good! thank you. one, two,

three, four. 0ne, one. very good! thank you. one, two, three, four. one, two... there are 64 positions in this classical dance, and i'm having trouble with the first two. without the grace as well, no grace whatsoever. he makes it look so easy, but it is incredibly difficult. and i don't think, iam incredibly difficult. and i don't think, i am going to leave it to the experts, sometimes you just have to give up and let them carry on. an exquisite performance. but there is one problem, one very big problem, and that is that this

island may simply not exist in just a few decades time. hard to believe at the moment, but there is a genuine worry that majuli will be submerged and destroyed within 20 yea rs. submerged and destroyed within 20 years. in the last 70 years it has shrunk in size by two—thirds. and the majority of the original 65 monasteries have gone. every monsoon, the brahmaputra river swells, eroding the terrain around it. bit by bit, the land is disappearing. but there is hope. so now, i'm on my way in attractor to go and see a man whose life ‘s mission has been to try and tackle the flooding that is a flick thing

majuli. he is basically assam's very own eco— warrior. —— are flexing. —— are flicking. sadly these are areas that get completely deluged when the monsoon hit. there is some water there that we have to cross. for the last 36 years, this man has taken on an extraordinary talents, to save this back —— challenge. to save this land from vanishing.

and so his lifelong calling began. he is known today as the forest man of india. he began planting trees so the roots would bind the soil, soak up the roots would bind the soil, soak u p a ccess the roots would bind the soil, soak up access water and prevent the land from being eroded by flooding. from a barren landscape he has created a forest the size of new york's central park. and he feels this will be more effect if in saving nearby majuli then following government flood protection scenes.

so we are now going to do the ritual that every guest that comes here is asked to do, which is to plant a tree. what kind of tree is this? so i'm going to put this in here, yeah, thatis i'm going to put this in here, yeah, that is good. he has spoken at environmental summits all around the world and his rollcall of guests is equally international. and i do know that everyone who pla nts and i do know that everyone who plants a tree, when it grows, they put a pluck down with their name on it, so i will have that privilege. fantastic.

and so to my final day in assam, and a different kind of ritualistic celebration of nature. if there is one recurring theme throughout my trip on the north—east, is the sense of community, of everywhere really, and there is nothing better to illustrate that than this. a local village going down to the river to celebrate harvest. this community was started in 1939 by a young woman who came from the mountains in search of food. when she found this place it was better for her because it was closer to the water, so finally she brings herfamily here, followed by her brother and the

entire family... they all come from that one woman? really. fascinating. this is a much loved annual celebration, and people of all ages gather to market using fishing methods that have been passed down through generations. to get in, yeah. stumping. stomping. then you put it towards you... you have to pull the stick, yeah. and look! (laughs). that is just full of fish, you can't see it, it's full of fish. this is today's catch. wow! that is pretty good! and this, you will cook now? yeah? excellent. so my track

across india, from border to border, is almost over and it has been a real journey of discovery for is almost over and it has been a realjourney of discovery for me off the beaten track. this is in india on tap, kind of instant —— isn't india on tap, the kind of instant rewards we are accustomed to. but the rewards, if you make the effort, are immense. a snake! will it bite? is it poisonous? not much? can i get out now? hello. if it's warmth you're after, there is some in this forecast, eventually for all. if it's rain, that's only coming for some. now saturday's weather looks to be a complete repeat of what we had on friday. warm sunny spells at times,

from cloud, the chance for a shower. things are steadily changing. we're going to bring warmer air into the uk, as the weekend goes on, more widely into next week. there will be a bit of rain in places as that transition takes place, more especially though across parts of scotland and northern ireland. let's take a look at things first thing for saturday morning. not as chilly to start the day. there's still the chance of a touch of ground frost in one or two spots. so by day and by night, temperatures are heading up. gardeners and growers can relax, unless of course you're waiting for some rain. there will be a bit of rain at times, across the far north of scotland, into 0rkney. a few showers to northern and western scotland. south—east scotland staying mainly dry. cloud building into northern ireland — one or two showers around here. we could see one or two towards northern england and north wales, but much of england and wales will stay dry, with temperatures edging towards the high teens. but in the northern isles, we are stuck in some fairly chilly air. but wherever you get to see some sunshine,

it is strong may sunshine. it will feel quite warm. into the evening, though, some rain pushing in across northern ireland overnight into sunday morning, reaching into western scotland. still some rain in the far north of scotland, too. 0vernight temperatures, though — well, there's no frost as we go into sunday morning. so for part two of the weekend, there are some weather fronts close by. most of the rain will be falling in western scotland, especially into the north—west islands, where it would be very wet for a time. but we could well see a spell of rain moving right across scotland on sunday, even effecting parts of northern england, and a bit of patchy rain still possibly in northern ireland. but for the rest of england and for wales, it does look mainly dry. there will be some hazy sunshine around. it is here temperatures are starting to edge up. some spotsjust into the low 20s. that warmth will push across the uk more widely as we go through the week ahead. it's towards the end of the week, there is a chance of seeing a bit of wet weather moving in from the west. that's not guaranteed, though. we'll keep you updated on that. for much of the week,

it's high pressure and dry.

good morning. welcome to breakfast, with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. 0ur headlines today: the first weekend of relaxed restrictions in england, but tourist hotspots are warning daytrippers to stay away. "stop squabbling," the children's commissioner in england urges teaching unions and the government, as some primary school pupils prepare to return. good morning. all the clubs in league two vote to end their season early, due to the coronavirus pandemic, while the scottish premiership is expected to do the same next week. good morning. for most of us it is a cloudy start to the day. for england and wales it will brighten up with a bit of sunshine coming through, but

in scotland and