many countries are hoping to slow transmission by imposing new restrictions. france, the czech republic and italy have seen a record number of daily cases. poland's president — andrzej duda — has tested positive for the virus and is in self—isolation. donald trump has voted early in the us presidential election in his adopted home state of florida. with ten days to go — a record fifty—four million people have already cast their ballots. this is largely due to fears over coronavirus — with the country seeing record daily highs. at least eighteen people have been killed and dozens wounded in a suicide attack near an education centre in the afghan capital kabul. the interior ministry said the suicide bomber detonated his device after guards stopped him. the building in the predominantly shia muslim area usually hosts hundreds of students. ecologists have criticised plans to move ancient woodland habitat in the warwickshire

countryside to make way for hs2 — describing the idea as ‘fundamentally flawed'. developers of the high speed line, want to relocate the woodland — as our environment and rural affairs correspondent claire marshal explains. this tree is from part of an ancient woodland near leamington spa which is being cut down because it's in the way of h52. it belongs to penny. she takes us through a bit of south cubbington wood that isn't being affected by the high—speed line. she says this is what it looked like in the spring. this is what it's like now. it's a bit of a kick in the stomach. it's a bit. alarming, yeah. it's alarming. but, you know, just got to keep calm and go along with it.

ancient woodlands are at least 400 years old. they're rich in life, but there are only fragments left — about 2% of land in the uk. hs2 said it would translocate ones in the way of the line, which essentially means moving the habitat. so the train will be coming from london, in that direction. those trees will go and it will be running at top speed right in front of me and on up to birmingham. they showed us what translocation looks like six months after part of an ancient wood was cut down. these posts around us are marking self—germinating and translocated tree species, so we've got hazel, we've got silver birch and we've got oak. this is where ancient woodland stores have been translocated from what we refer to as the donor site to the receptor site here, and they've been stripped in layers, translocated here and put back in exactly the same way. parliament approved the scheme, but the problem is, translocation has never really been done before

with such a complex ecosystem. well, i think an ancient woodland is sort of like a turner masterpiece, and then translocation is like ripping up that masterpiece and throwing little bits of it somewhere else, and there is some semblance of the ancient woodland there but it's not really quite the ancient woodland we had before, with all its beautiful complexity. in fact, hs2 now acknowledge that the evidence is limited. they say they're planting 7 million new trees as part of a green corridor. the question is, does it make up for this loss? now on bbc news. the travel show team takes a look back at some from a once dystopian landmark... it is something that was built for the few and it is being repurposed now and finding its feet as something for the many. ..to the pyramids of egypt. that is awesome. seeing them in real life is so cool. from a wrestling ring in sudan...

these guys are going pretty hard. ..to gorillas in the clouds. my mind is absolutely blown. they are so beautiful. coming up this week, a look back at some of our favourite african adventures. hello and welcome to the travel show. while most of the world is still inaccessible to travellers, we have been busy curating a list of our favourite trips. this week it is africa's turn. i have been lucky enough to go on a few occasions and i have absolutely loved it every time. how about we kick things off

with a reallyjawdropping makeover in the south african city ofjohannesburg? johannesburg is south africa's largest city, growing at a startling rate after the discovery of gold in 1886. scores came from across africa and beyond to seek their fortune. but while many white prospectors got rich, the black workers suffered in poverty. in the late 1940s, inequality became law under the notorious apartheid regime, which lasted for nearly 50 years until mandela was elected president. by that time, decades of industrial decline and international sanctions had damaged johannesburg's economy and crime was widespread. the city came to be known as one of the most dangerous places on earth. now, there is a drive to change

all that and previously abandoned neighbourhoods like this one are now on the tourist trail. perhaps the most visible symbol ofjohannesburg's regeneration, though, is in berea, 80 miles away. towering over the skyline is the continent's largest residential skyscraper, ponte city. at more than 500 feet tall with an iconic circular design, ponte offers stunning views over johannesburg. now tourists can visit a converted apartment on the 52nd floor. all right, morning, everyone. dlala nje, the social enterprise that operates the tour, is run by a former resident. i moved here in 2012 after doing a story on "what is this infamous landmark on the johannesburg skyline?" ponte opened its doors in 1975. and you know, it was built

for the top i% of society. there were saunas, there was wine cellars. where this building finds itself, it has always been very cosmopolitan. during apartheid, the government didn't want black people to partake in certain sectors of the economy and imported a lot of skills. so what you had was a lot of like german engineers mixing with portuguese artisans, anybody like immigrants, expats, coming here and just making a life for themselves. it was very, very diverse. also what it resulted in was a lot of racial mixing as well. the foreign residents brought with them more liberal values and less regard for the apartheid laws. according to nicholas, the government reacted by cutting off services to the building. as many white residents left for the suburbs, ponte‘s fortunes declined. no running water, no electricity. and this is when you hear the really crazy stories that we — we were brought up on in

johannesburg in the ‘80s and ‘90s, about this building being the place where angels fear to tread, you know? so, this place that you guys are standing on now, it is just unbelievable to think of everything that's happened here. it is a real haunting feeling down here. it wasn't until the late 2000s that the building was cleared and renovated. now it is home to a diverse range

of people, including migrants from all over africa. and dlala nje operate a community centre on the ground floor. the money made from the tour goes towards the organisation's social outreach programs. this building has been through hell and back. and to me, ponte signifies, in many ways, the story of a democratic south africa, in terms of trying to find your identity since 1994. it is something that was built for the few. and it has been repurposed now and is finding its feet as something for the many. the spectacular ponte city. next, we cross the entire length of the continent to egypt where ade went behind the scenes in cairo as they prepared to open the doors to one of the biggest archaeological museums in the world. the ancient egyptians built these

pyramids as elaborate tombs for their rulers, or pharaohs, some 11,500 years ago. they've become the calling card of egypt's tourism. wow, that is awesome. seeing them in real life is so cool. tourism is one of egypt's biggest moneymakers, and in 2010 it reached an all—time high, with more than 1a million coming here on holiday. but the following year, everything changed. change, change, change! anti—government demonstrations in cairo's tahrir square kicked off a wave of protests across the country. standing on the corner of the square is egypt's national museum. built in 1902, it houses perhaps the world's greatest collection of ancient artefacts. during the turmoil, looters and vandals took advantage

of the chaos and broke in. thieves damaged the building and stole more than 50 priceless a rtefa cts. the museum holds a special place in the nation's heart. but the break—in exposed its outdated and weak security, and highlighted what was already known — the need to better safeguard the nation's unique treasures. here in the shadow of the pyramids, a new ambitious project is entering the final stages of construction. the grand egyptian museum will be equipped to take the country's ancient treasures way into the future. it will be the biggest archaeological museum in the world. this place is absolutely enormous. the footprint is

500,000 square metres. there are over 3,000 labourers working here 21w, and it cost over us$1 billion to construct. now, for the first time, over 5000 objects discovered in the boy king's tomb will be on display to the public. this is one of my favourite pieces. it's one of the chariots of king tutankhamen. so we are pretty much looking at a 3500—year—old artefact, but in perfect condition, intact, as it was? if we consider the 3,500 years, it is in a perfect condition. restorers in these specially built labs are using the most advanced technology in the world to prepare the artefacts for display. more than two thirds of the objects from tutankhamen‘s tomb have been

hidden away in boxes since their discovery by howard carter almost 100 years ago. with assurances of increased security, it is hoped that this new centre dedicated to egypt's unique history will finally help encourage tourists to come back. ade in cairo where, sadly, the museum has had to postpone its opening until next year due to delays caused by the pandemic. fingers crossed they can stay on track. stay with us because coming up we have more memorable trips from the african continent, including: when ade explored ghana's dark colonial past as it celebrated 60 years of independence.

you just cannot stop looking at all of theirfaces. they all have got individual expressions of pain. and when i met the former poachers responsible for protecting rwanda's majestic primates. whispers i spy a gorilla so don't go away. this week we are revisiting some of our most memorable trips to africa from the last few years. next, we head to sudan and the popular friday wrestling bout in khartoum, when ben zand got much closer to the action than he had intended. every friday at 4.00pm, in haj yusef, khartoum, this ancient sport, originally thought up by nubian pharaohs, is still being practiced. for thousands of years,

wrestling has been a fixture amongst the nuba tribes, in sudan, but it's notjust a game. the nuba are originally from the nubian mountains in southern sudan but now, as unrest pushes them away from their homeland, the sport has found another home in the capital, and for the locals it's a huge event. these guys go in pretty hard. i probably should try it out, but i'm not going to. i was happy i was only a spectator, but quickly i realised the organisers had other plans. i'm usually up for doing a lot of things, but wrestling a guy, in front of 2,000 people, is a bit further than what i usually go. so, i'm a bit nervous, the guy is kind of scary. then it was time to head out into the arena. oh, god. wish me luck, wish me luck! ah, no, they actually think this is like britain against sudan. i am very scared. i shake his hand.

i don't even know what the rules are. i actually don't know what the rules are. this is going to end so badly. it actually started quite well, that's until my opponent took off his shirt in a display of ultimate warrior in this man on man death match. what's going on? how did this happen? i spent the duration of the match running away from the opponent. i learnt later that you're not really meant to move backwards, only forwards, but they let me off as i was new to it and they probably knew i was going to lose. as things heated up, i used my premium agility skills, dodged my opponent's attempts to bring me down. with the crowd on my side, i decided to go in for the kill. but i failed massively, and i lost. as it was all over, i was happy i could now retreat to the changing room and think about what i'd just attempted, but in a celebration

of british—sudanese relations, my opponent decided a parade around the arena would be more suitable. oh, my god, i lead a strange life! whilst in the arms of my new sudanese comrade, i had time to reflect on what i was seeing. sudan is a very divided country when it comes to things like religion and ethnicity, but here, in the wrestling arena, it doesn't matter where you're from. even a young lad from liverpool can earn respect. this could be a bit of a daunting place to walk into, but, after that experience, and the love everyone showed me, all i can say is that was unbelievable. and a cheering crowd as well, i'm being carried around. i can get used to that, honestly. what a day, what a day. better luck next time, ben. next up, when ade visited one of africa's most disturbing sites in the wake of ghana's 60th year of independence. ade: 60 years ago in 1957,

the british gold coast broke away from centuries of colonial rule. it became the republic of ghana. it was a peaceful transition and ghana's independence, the first to be declared in sub—saharan africa, inspired other states to do the same thing. look carefully around accra and you will see signs of this anniversary year everywhere. this is a really powerful piece of work. it stands at the mausoleum of ghana's independence leader kwame nkrumah and argues that ghana is still not properly free of slavery and colonialisation. itjust exists in a different form these days. they have all got individual

expressions of pain and it is quite sobering, really. ghana was right at the centre of the slave trade. its most powerful remnants lie a few hours east of here in the old colonial capital, cape coast, which is where i am going next. it is estimated that in total, around 11 million people were taken from africa, bound for the americas. all along this coastline were forts where men, women and children were held in miserable conditions before their dangerous journey. this was the largest of those forts. these days, it is a museum. this was a male dungeon. the men were separated from the women and this dungeon

was designed for 1000 people. a few years ago, during restoration works, archaeologists took up and examined some of the materials on the floor. so they left a small portion of it here to tell the rest of the story. it is made up of faeces, blood, decomposed bodies, clothes... so this is, this is the product of human despair. yes. and toil. pain, suffering, cruelty. and if they survived their stay in the dungeons here, then it was through the door of no return, ready for loading onto the ships. one of them might have decided not to go so he would just jump into the ocean, pulling the rest with him. because they were all chained together? they were all chained

and they would all drown. so you would escape just to commit suicide. and this is after being held captive? after being held in the dungeons for two or three months. it was non—stop hell. non—stop hell. this is a special year for ghana. it is the 60th anniversary of independence and things have moved on, thankfully. we struggled for 400 years under slavery and colonialism and we have come out as a nation stronger than before so we see that as an experience worth sharing with others. so, people can be encouraged in what they do, whatever level they are, that they will rise up through the ashes, use the ashes as fertiliser to grow and become prosperous. words of hope from the man whose job brings him face—to—face

with unimaginable horror on a daily basis. if he can be optimistic there is inspiration for us all. ade there in ghana. now i want to end the show with a trip i will never forget ade there in ghana. now i want to end the show with a trip i will never forget when i visited rwanda to meet the people monitoring the country's growing gorilla population. the walk is pretty tough, i will not lie. the higher you get, the higher the altitude, my breath is getting shorter. three hours and 4000 metres above sea level and i was beginning to fear i might not ever find a gorilla. whispers oh, my god. he's just there.

there's no need to be scared but they are so big. we really lucked out here. we have a mother cradling her baby. they have black backs and we have the mother of all gorillas, the silverback over there. he isjust watching us watching him. i can't believe we are this close. my mind is absolutely blown. they are so beautiful. rwanda has achieved remarkable success in not only protecting, but growing the mountain gorilla

population. in fact, there are now 1000 mountain gorillas here, up from 200 just 20 years ago, when they were on the brink of extinction. this is primarily down to the decrease in poaching when the gorillas were hunted for meat. but in an effort to protect the gorillas, poachers were trained to become mountain guides and porters here, further supporting tourism. so talk to me about the poaching. there is no problem. because we avoid trapping by involving the communities. you cannot say it is done, however, so we keep on. in fact, tourists pay $1500 to spend one hour up here with these great apes. you can hear little grunts in the distance. it is hard to tell if they are

aggressive or playful grunts. how did you feel when the gorilla came out and jumped out? scared. just being able to watch them eating, interacting and even communicating with us in their natural habitat is, hands down, one of the best experiences that i have ever had the pleasure of having while on my travels. i highly recommend it. i still get butterflies just thinking about how incredible that experience was. sadly, that is all we have time for this week butjoin us next week when. .. they are big, they are hungry and incredibly grumpy. christa is in germany to find out

why these creatures have been causing havoc for some holidaymakers this summer. you think you go tracking animals and it will be tiny paw prints or footprints. no... it is just chaos. and remember, follow us in all the usual places by looking for bbc travel. from me and the rest of the travel show team here in london it is goodbye. hello. saturday brought some extremely wet and rather blustery weather for many parts of the uk. it was a particularly soggy end to the day in eastern and south—eastern parts of england. not quite as wet for most of us on sunday.

still some heavy showers around, some blustery winds, but some sunny spells in between. you can see the speckled shower clouds here pushing in on our earlier satellite image. and it's this stripe of cloud here that brought the heavy and persistent rain for many during the first half of the weekend. that is now clearing away. low pressure still very much driving the weather, so it is going to be another windy day and that wind coming in from the west will drive a fair few showers across parts of northern ireland, western scotland, the western side of england and wales, and quite a few i think blowing in across southern counties of england as well. not as many showers across the north east of england or eastern scotland. and we will see some spells of sunshine. but it's going to be windy for all of us. these are the average wind speeds. the gusts are going to be higher than that. we could see gusts of 50 mph or more in the most exposed places in western scotland, where the showers could well turn into a spell of more persistent rain through the afternoon. temperatures 11—14 degrees, a fairly cool feel. and it stays rather cool

and blustery as we head through sunday night and into the early hours of monday. as you can see, there'll be further showers moving in from the west. some clear gaps in between those downpours, and temperatures generally in a range between 5—8 degrees. now, monday is another sunshine and showers day, but a bit of a shift in the focus of those showers. they will increasingly become focused across northern ireland, england and wales, whereas for scotland, i think things should start to turn a little bit drier and we will see some spells of sunshine. not as windy by this stage, but temperatures still struggling a little bit between 11—14 degrees. it does stay unsettled, though, through the coming week. low pressure taking up residence to the north—west, a deep low out in the atlantic, so that'll drive strong winds and showers across the uk, some longer spells of rain at times. and it may well mean that for the end of the week, this weather system brings some more persistent wet weather, so the outlook looks like this. there will be some heavy rain

at times and some brisk winds, a very unsettled autumnal week on the way.

this is bbc news. i'm aaron safir. our top stories: france, italy and the czech republic become the latest countries to announce record numbers of daily coronavirus cases. with ten days to go, president trump casts his vote early in florida, a state he has to win to be re—elected. who did you vote for today?” voted for a guy named trump! at least 18 people are killed and many others are injured in a suicide attack in kabul. and inflight food, without the flight — the airline that feeds its passengers, but doesn't