periphery. the way it is handled covid, the way it handled the mask murders in christchurch was handled, there have been a lot of progressive things happening in new zealand and that has got global attention. helen clark, thank you very much. thank you for giving us that beautiful bucolic image over your shoulder. thank you. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello, there. not an awful lot of rain to come this weekend. many places will be largely dry, but not an awful lot of sunshine for many of us either with a lot of cloud in the sky. cloudy conditions for most as we head through the rest of today. there will be some breaks in the cloud here and there, some spells of sunshine, equally some showers across the far south—west and some patchy rain moving down across the north of scotland where the winds will be coming in from the north as well, so it is going to feel particularly chilly here. top temperatures in aberdeen for example 9 degrees. furthersouth, london, plymouth, 13, maybe hull getting a high 01:14

degrees if we see some brightness through the afternoon. then into this evening and tonight, a lot of cloud around. some clear breaks across southern areas, that could allow some fog patches to develop. a bit of patchy rain where the cloud is thickest further north. widely, lows between five and 8 degrees, but a bit colder than that in one or two spots. tomorrow, a similar—looking day. it will be dry for the majority, but there will be a lot of cloud and it will feel rather cool. hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: the french prime minister says the country will react with the greatest firmness after the brutal murder of a teacher, who was beheaded on friday evening in a suburb of paris. president macron has described the killing as an islamist terror attack. more than half the population of england are now living under tougher coronavirus restrictions, after new measures came in overnight. lancashire hasjoined

the liverpool city region in the highest alert category, while london has moved into the second highest level. hundreds of people have been queuing at a hospital in eastern china, where a covid—19 vaccine is being offered to the public for the first time. the prime minister of new zealand, jacinda ardern, has won a second term in office, after her rival conceded in the general election. we will hear from jacinda ardern at the top of the hour. now on the bbc, rajan datar drops in on rome as it prepares to mark 150 years since becoming italy's capital city in the travel show. this week on the travel show... rajan is looking for a knees—up in rome. wow. face—to—face with neanderthals in gibraltar. and i am braving the elements in japan. this is great!

welcome to the land of the trees. this is wakayama in centraljapan, a short train ride south of osaka. and this is where many of japan's urban population have been coming to escape the congested cities during the pandemic. and i have come to try a style of rafting that you can only do right here. before that, we are off to europe and italy's eternal city. rajan: rome. a city that plays to its own tune. trumpets play.

with iconic ancient history punctuating the landscape of this modern metropolis. italy itself, however, is a relatively young country. for its nation builders, there was only one city that could be the capital and this year is a special anniversary. because over the next year, rome is supposed to be celebrating its 150th anniversary as the capital city of italy. but looking around me now, i get the feeling it is not going to be quite the fanfare they were hoping for. since its initial big outbreak here, italy has suppressed the spread of the coronavirus better than many other countries. but cases are on the rise and international tourism is still way down. tour guide desiree has

said she has seen demand from international travellers drop by as much as 90%. this is the colosseum and it is still incredible. so who are the tourists you have been showing around 7 where are they from? so there is good and bad? good and bad. what i see here looks like ancient rome, ancient history. do you want to take a look? fantastic. the forum was once a place where romans gathered together for big processions, speeches and markets. to understand how rome was, you have to come here in this place.

with this weather too. but what is the connection between this, thousands of years ago, and you and your friends today? what is the connection? i feel the connection today as well. i'm roman. when i am here and when i walk around the ruins i can feel the people that were here. and 150 years ago, it was that historical connection that made rome an obvious choice to be capital. back then, the country that we now know as italy was a separated collection of states with rome at the heart of the pope—governed papal state. but italy was in the process of becoming unified and all roads in this effort led to rome. why was it so important that rome had to be the capital of this newly—formed italy?

for italy to become a unified country it was decided that rome had to be taken from the pope by force, starting right here at the city walls next to the porta pia monument that now holds a museum for the military unit called the bersaglieri who broke through the city walls first. so this is the document that marks the creation of the bersaglieri. hard to believe i'm actually touching the document. and allowed to touch a document that was so essential

to italian history. bersaglieri means ‘sharpshooters' in english, and they were famed for their mobility. this is fascinating. that's porta pia, where we are right now, and just along the city wall there is the actual invasion opening where they actually went through. this is proper history. history of this country. today, many hold them with deep affection here, and notjust for their military accomplishments. at national events, the bersaglieri have long been known for a unique style of parade, displaying their historic speed and agility. and i have been granted a private performance by the distinctive marching band. and here they come. trumpets play.

quietly: wow. bravissimo! that is fantastic. tell me, how easy is it to run and play? it must be really difficult? what is it like when you are out there in the streets under normal conditions and people are watching you? how does it feel?

so can i have the honour then of giving that command before you start your march? si, prego. thank you. posto fanfare bersaglieri, attenti! di corso, march! this year there was due to be a large street parade for the 150th anniversary with the bersaglieri taking a starring role. the event became significantly low—key thanks to coronavirus, but fingers crossed — look out in 2021 for heartier celebrations. rajan reporting from rome. now over to america where we are meeting the woman in alabama putting the sparkle into mardi gras.

the culture of mardi gras is so much fun. we have a good time. it is fun, fun, fun. mardi gras here was the first. it's done before ash wednesday. everything ceases at 12 o'clock, tuesday midnight. and then they go into lent. in mobile, we're more family—orientated. people here come home for mardi gras, rather than come home for christmas, just to party and have a good time and reunite a lot. i grew up in mobile so i've grown up with mardi gras in my blood and i am a mardi gras designerfor royalty. emcee: ladies and gentlemen, royalty, definitely in the house tonight. the queen and king are selected as the royal

ambassador for the city. there are a lot of different organisations but there are two that rules the city, and that is mamga — the mobile area mardi gras association, is predominately african—american association and the mobile carnival association is caucasian, mostly of european descent but overall we blend and we enjoy each other and just have a good time. i would not want there to be one big mardi gras association. i think the cultural differences and the beauty of the difference in the cultures make it so nice. i started sewing when i was 12. my mother was a seamstress, she loved sewing and i would watch her. she would make all of my clothes, all kinds of pretty dresses. when i was 12 i said i needed some new clothes and she said i had to make them. i started to make trains for the ladies of the court. my niece was in the court and i made hertrain.

and from there i started making other people trains. a train is around 18 feet long and about nine feet wide so they are very large and they weigh up to 75 pounds depending on the amount ofjewels on the train. and we will get a chance to see this tonight. mamca, which is the african—american version of it all, they had their first coronation back in 1940. the queen and king's coronation is where the queen is crowned. the king is already king, but he has now selected his queen, but she is not queen until she is crowned so the coronation is the crowning of the king's new queen. ladies and gentlemen. her gracious majesty queen

rosemary elaine dunning. we look at them as role models and you have kind of have a leader mentality and strength to make the right decisions in life. and what we are doing, when we showcase in the trains in their coronation, we are showing how that person grew in their life to be a role model. still to come on the travel show: christa is back in gibraltar to find out why the rock was home to the biggest concentration of some of our distant ancestors anywhere in the world. wow. and i am injapan to try out a distinctive style of rafting that dates back over 600 years.

i am totally soaked from my waist down. so don't go away. now over to gibraltar where christa has been to find out what its hidden secrets have been revealing about some of our closest human relatives. 0n the southern tip of the iberian peninsula lies gibraltar, a small british 0verseas territory tucked between europe and africa. thousands of years ago, this was home to the highest concentration of neanderthals anywhere in the world. clive finlayson has been excavating these caves for many years now, slowly uncovering its secrets. a friend of mine calls them neanderthal city.

they really are unique in the world and the two main ones are, on the left you have gorham's cave — next to those steps, and on the right vanguard cave. also evidence suggests they lived here till about 24,000—33,000 years ago, making it one of the last known places they occupied before extinction. this wasn't open water when the neanderthals lived here. in fact, the beach and the water was miles that way. this was an open plain, like a mediterranean serengeti where you had wild creatures roaming, ready for the hunt. taking a boat trip here is the easiest way to view the caves but occasionally you can apply for special access to go into them as it is a unesco world heritage site and also an active dig area. wow. it was here that the first fully adult neanderthal skull was discovered back in 1848 and then later on, the bones of seven other individuals.

big, aren't they? incredible. it is amazing to think that these people were standing exactly where we are now and they would look out at this fantastic view and instead of the sea that would have had the plains out there, herds of animals roaming right across and they would plan exactly where they wanted to go and do the hunt from here but of course they could also come back, retreat here, into the safety of the cave afterwards. come and have a look. what you have here a re different events. for example, a limpet shell there. we'd have to excavate here but there may be a place where they were living and eating and then moving along. each of these layers is an event. there are hundreds of stories still waiting to be told just in this one cave. most of the discoveries from the caves can be seen at the gibraltar national museum. while neanderthals are a different human species, researchers have

identified a combined total of 20% neanderthal dna on modern humans today. a result of interbreeding thousands of years ago. clive himself has 2.5% neanderthal dna. is this an artist interpretation? no, this is a forensic reconstruction and it's using as much detailed information on neanderthal metrics and so on that we have at our disposal today. this is as close as you're going to get to seeing a neanderthal or what he or she would look like. there's a twinkle in the eye. i think that is what makes her human. the female is called nana and it was her skull that was first discovered in 1848. the little one, called flint, was found some years later. extracted dna from both has meant that we know what their hair and eye colour would have been. come into one of our laboratories. what is it you are doing here?

i am painting with silk. did you start with this and end up with this? i spent five months... five months! that is incredible, it's so detailed. do you mind if i touch it? you can press. it is like skin. exactly like skin. this model is based on a male skull found in a cave in france but they now have the skills to forensically reconstruct him here in the museum. so what is the benefit for us to be able to see the flesh of it, rather than just the skull? i think it helps to understand and for us to empathise with these people. you put flesh, you give them names and suddenly you're looking at people and that is what makes the difference. part of the hard science that we have done over the years has missed the fact that we have not

seen them as people. it will be a while before this one is finished but ijust could not leave without knowing one thing... what is the hairstyle going to be? i think rockstar style. flowing locks, it was all the rage! to finish up this week, i am in thejapanese prefecture of wakayama — they call it the land of the trees. domestic tourism has risen here recently, with the government subsidising japanese getaways, making escapes to remote wildernesses like wa kayama popular. for centuries, the wood here was so sought after that it was used in buildings all around the country but transporting it was no easy task. they came up with a novel solution and today travellers can experience the old journey downstream. it really does look quite strange by today's standards.

i do not know what i was expecting but it really is just a bunch of logs strung together. it must float 0k, it has been around long enough. so what is it like to drive and steer such a long raft like this?

in the past, once the trees had been felled and strung together, the rafters would ride them down the river to their destination. today, with travellers on board, the rafts are safer — there are life jackets, handrails and a bench, plus additional measures now for coronavirus, like masks and reduced capacities. but it is still very open to the elements. we are approaching the first rapid and it is meant to be the steepest and the most exciting. hang on. this is great! i am totally soaked

from my waist down. this is the slower part of the ride, so to speak, but it is just fascinating to think this is what they would have been doing 600 years ago to transport all the logs down to the city to make the temples and the shrines. and these skills certainly come in handy these days when the temptation for getting away from big city life and all the new restrictions is greater than ever.

not that it is all tranquil relaxation. we are approaching a rapid now and we stand up so we do not get too wet. here we go! so that was our last rapid. so interesting to watch these four guys navigate this seven ton log raft down the river. just like they would have 600 years ago. it is amazing. that is all we have time for this week. coming up next week: we will be looking back at some of our most memorable trips to africa, like when lucy met the former poachers now responsible

for protecting some of rwanda's majestic primates. it's very rare that i'm lost for words but these beautiful creatures have just completely taken my breath away. and don't forget to follow us in all the usual places on twitter and facebook and instagram. in the meantime, from me carmen roberts and the rest of the team here in wakayama, it is goodbye. hello, the weather is looking fairly quiet, if a little bit uninspiring this weekend. it will be

predominantly dry, not completely, but many places will avoid the wet weather, often quite cloudy with grey skies overhead. this is the weather forecast for this afternoon, you can see extensive cloud across the map. some breaks in that cloud, some spells of sunshine, the odd shout towards the south—west of england and some patchy rain here and there, particularly across northern parts of scotland where the winds are coming down from the north, so it will feel rather chilly, 9 degrees in aberdeen and a further south lows of 12 or 13, nothing to write home about at this time of yet. through this evening and tonight, still large amounts of cloud filtering from the north, with some rain, clear spells are broadly in england and wales, where you can see some mist and fog developing. temperatures widely five to 8 degrees, it could get a touch colder in some places, particularly in the countryside. tomorrow, high pressure just about in charge, the centre of the height is a long way to the

west, but you can see this ridge in the isobars here. the weather still relatively settled, but still quite cloudy and there will be a frontal system just about here, giving some thicker cloud and perhaps in some spots of rain. there will be some a spots of rain. there will be some a spot of sunshine here and there, perhaps a brighter day across northern scotland, some sunny spells are further south as well. the winds are further south as well. the winds are relatively light, that is why things are not moving around very quickly at the moment, the air pretty still and calm, but rather chilly in the north tomorrow it. in shetland, five or 6 degrees the top temperature, further south, 13 or 14. temperature, further south, 13 or 1a. quite a big change as we head into next week, high—pressure retreats, low pressure starts to dominate the scene. we will see a frontal system on monday bringing cloud and outbreaks of pretty heavy rain across northern ireland and scotland. england and wales are likely to stay predominate me dry, but increasingly cloudy, best of the centre trend was east anglia and the south—east. it will be a windy day, but that wind coming from the south, so but that wind coming from the south, so that is dragging some other air towards us, temperatures on monday

between 13 and 15 degrees. we stick with a slightly milder feel as we head on into tuesday and wednesday, but there will be some outbreaks of rain at times and it will often be windy. that is all from me, goodbye for now.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. nine people are being questioned in france saturday in connection with the murder of a teacher in a suburb of paris last night. millions of people are now facing tighter coronavirus restrictions in england — with lancashire in the north west entering the highest alert category, and household mixing has been banned indoors in london. hundreds of people have been queuing at a hospital in eastern china — where a covid—19 vaccine is being offered to the public for the first time. this for the first time. isn't part of a clinical trial, it this isn't part of a clinical trial, it is being rolled out to members of the public with the backing of the chinese government. anyone who wants it, anyone who has got the money, anyone who can come down here and queue, they can get this