this is bbc news. the headlines: ukraine says continued russian shelling is still stopping rescue workers reaching the theatre in mariupol targeted in an earlier attack. they say hundreds of people are trapped in the bomb shelter under the building. there are reports that food and water shortages mean children are starving to death. ukraine says its troops have managed to stop russian soldiers advancing on the port city of odesa. heavy fighting is continuing in many parts of the country. united nations head antonio guterres has appealed for an end to the war warning it's becoming more unpredictable by the hour. the us has condemned what it called russia's orchestration of a sham trial against the kremlin critic, alexei navalny. his prison sentence

was extended to nine years after he was found guilty of fraud and contempt of court. he's widely regarded as the country's most a court at the old bailey has heard a recording of the emergency call, which was made moments after the conservative mp sir david amess was fatally stabbed last october. ali harbi ali is on trial for murder and preparing acts of terrorism, which he denies. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. heading from london to leigh—on—sea by train for what the prosecution says was a terrorist assassination. ali harbi ali is accused of researching several mps, including michael gove before settling on a sir david amess as his target. screen grabs left on his phone show he had booked an appointment and it said, "i don't think i'll

take too long, thanks." the appointment was at belfairs methodist church work in a room beside the altar the prosecution says he said sorry and then stabbed sir david amess to death. yvonne yves who was also waiting to see the mp dialled 999. emergency. police, please, quick now. a man is wielding a knife and he threatened me. they say he's killed david amess at belfairs methodist church. he wants to get shot, apparently. he wants to be a hero. he wants the police to come and shoot him. who, the person with the knife? yes. he is wielding the knife now. he says if we go near him he will stab us. the prosecution says thatjust before the attack ali harbi ali messaged family and friends on whatsapp saying he'd done it for the sake of allah. he denies murder and preparing a terrorist act. daniel sandford, bbc news, at the old bailey.

more about that on the bbc news website. now on bbc news, the travel show. this week on the travel show — centennial celebrations in a city of literature. the beauty ofjoyce�*s language, the way he relates to the common man, it is incredible. as thousands of families are reunited and the tourism industry starts to recover, australia's big cities are coming back to life. and making meals in malaga. absolutely phenomenal.

this week i'm in dublin, a unesco city of literature that has produced a host of famous writers from samuel beckett to oscar wilde. but i'm here puzzling over one particular novel that's made the irish capital a must—visit destination for any book lover. a novel that this year celebrates its 100th birthday. and that book is ulysses byjamesjoyce. now, even though it's widely regarded as being one of the finest pieces of literature of the 20th century, it's also notoriously difficult to read. now, i've tried, and i must admit, i've failed too, but i am told that if you invest in it, if you flow with its stream of consciousness, it's extremely rewarding. set over a single day, ulysses follows two characters, leopold and stephen,

on theirjourneys across dublin. today, there are guided tours that follow their footsteps and help readers make sense of it all. this is davy byrne�*s pub, it's like one of the set pieces in ulysses. bloom goes in there and ends up getting a gorgonzola cheese sandwich, which even now, is hip to the groove. and a glass of burgundy, like, you know? you're not dealing with muck here. jack's an actor who has been running these tours for five years. "men, men, men perched on high stools by the bar, "hearts shoved back, calling for more bread, swirling, "half—masticated gristle, no teeth to chew, chomp, "chomp from the grill, bolting to get it over, sad boozers..." it is a famously hard to read

book, but do you think as an actor, you are helping it to come alive? well, i hope so. it's like waves washing over you. the beauty ofjoyce�*s language, the way he relates to the common man and woman is incredible. many of you might note that these are examples of stream of consciousness, which is a techniquejoyce used and it is basically how you think yourself. i'll start off on the top of my head and then i know where i am going with it, so he will have to finish sentences. —— so he will half—finish finish sentences. so you have to keep up. withoutjoyce, we would be missing one of the main planks of attraction to dublin. his works are all about notjust dublin life, but about life. so, what is it about this city that inspired joyce and other great writers? to try and answer that, i've come to the old library at trinity college dublin,

home to one of europe's most famous literary treasures, the book of kells, a ninth—century religious manuscript. so, here we are, early in the morning, about an hour or so before the public arrive, to see the famous long room, which is just beyond these doors. whoa! look at this. it's known as �*the front room of the nation', hosting foreign dignitaries, as well as around one million tourists each year. the ceiling is incredible. and it goes on and on. this must be at least 60 metres or something. you are a librarian here, helen. tell me about this city, dublin — what it is that inspires so much great literature? i think it comes down to an aural tradition, a nation of storytellers. dublin itself, you will see not

just oscar wilde's statue or beckett bridge, but you look down and see there is an inscription of ulysses in the pavement, the sidewall. it's in the bones of this city. the old library has some 350,000 books and more than half of them line the shelves of the long room. the collection is a vital piece of dublin's literary heritage, but it's under threat. so, with so many books, i mean, hundreds of thousands, storage must be a huge problem? absolutely. these volumes in here are our most valuable and valued, but also the most vulnerable. this is this beautiful library, as you see, but in effect we are an inner city ring road, and all that particulate pollution from all the traffic is coming through the windows and landing on the books. so there is a restoration project going on to deal with exactly that, right? absolutely. this year, the library has

launched a 90 million euros restoration to improve the building's environmental controls and help protect the collection. during the project, every single one of these books will be cleaned, catalogued and moved off site. if you didn't do it, what would happen? well, the books would deteriorate more, the building already, we know there are structural issues with it, we've got to do it. actually, there isn't a choice. we absolutely must do this project. the more damaged or vulnerable items will be treated here at the conservation laboratory. this is an example from the manuscript collection, it's a map and here it is, being surface cleaned, and clodagh is using what we call a smoke sponge, you see the kind of muck that we get off,

and then a very fine brush to make sure no debris is left. so, over here, this book had suffered from the boards separating from the block, and it has been re—backed with a new piece of leather and the next stage is to look at the pages of the book. and in this case, there is a running tear, so in situ tear repair will happen to prevent that from extending through use. so, researchers who are going to be reading this a lot, will be turning pages, which leads to wear and tear? correct. in our treatment, we have that in mind, and what we are looking to do is stabilise the item, we can't leave the collection just sitting on the shelf as a backdrop, it's an incredibly valuable resource, it's telling us about our past, it needs to be enjoyed, it needs to be used, it needs to be celebrated.

the restoration will provide researchers and tourists with a refreshed experience when it opens in 2026 with new exhibits and a redesigned long room. and who knows — just maybe it will inspire the next james joyce! the collection here at trinity college, dublin, is due to close some time next year, but even if you do not make it in time, there is plenty to do and see around this city. around 70 million people across the world trace their ancestry back to ireland, and the emmigration museum celebrates this small country's far—reaching impacts. it features the stories of more than 300 irishmen and women and even offers genealogy appointments to help tourists explore their own family history. for a refreshment, you could stop off at the country's most visited tourist attraction, the guinness storehouse, which produces 880 million pints of the black stuff

every single year. i popped over a few months ago to check out their exhibits and sample their new alcohol—free stout. you genuinely wouldn't know. well, i genuinely wouldn't know. if you are a budding joyce fan, you cannot miss the celebrations on the 16th ofjune, the annual festival taking place on the date depicted in ulysses, and there are events inspired by the novel all over dublin, including street performances and fancy dress. stay tuned, because later in the programme, i'll pop into one of the festival's most famous landmarks. hello and welcome to this month's global guide. as travel restrictions ease worldwide, many cities are gearing up for a bumper season, reopening museums and galleries, showing off new and improved infrastructure,

and, finally, after almost two years, running big events again! first up, australia has had some of the tightest border controls of any country in the world during the coronavirus pandemic. but finally, the country has reopened to fully vaccinated tourists, family visitors and business travellers. if you are double vaccinated, we look forward to welcoming you back to australia. as thousands of families are reunited and the tourist industry starts to recover, australia's big cities are coming back to life. at the end of march, the 35th melbourne international comedy festival gets under way, a month—long celebration with more than 6,000 performances. next, some big news from a small himalayan country. in a few weeks, the king of bhutan

is set to reopen the 400—kilometre tra ns—bhutan trail. the route was originally established by monks, armies and traders centuries ago, but in the past few decades, it's fallen into disrepair. now, after two years of restoration, it's set to open again with repairs made to ancient stone steps and bridges and parts of the path reclaimed from the jungle. in the florida keys, the iconic seven mile bridge has reopened, but only to cyclists and walkers. this structure was built in 1912 as part of the overseas railroad connecting mainland florida with the town of quay west. it's even served as a james bond location. the four—year refurbishment project cost $41; million.

i'm at st pancras, the beautiful railway station that is london's international hub for continental europe, because i want to tell you about europe's three capitals of culture for 2022, starting with novi sad, which curves around a bend in the danube in northern serbia. in the 19th century, novi sad was believed to be the biggest serb city in the world, and was known as the �*serbian athens�*. today, there's a long river beach, which injuly and august, will be the venue for a two—month long festival. kaunas is the second city in lithuania, and a joy, with a deep history, impressive architecture from gothic to 20th and what is said to be eastern europe's longest pedestrian street.

liberty boulevard. 0ne certainty about luxembourg's representative is that getting around the city and the whole country won't cost you a cent because luxembourg became the first country in the world two years ago to bring in completely free public transport nationwide. stroll along and admire the art nouveau buildings and visit the cultural centre in a former slaughterhouse. and if one country isn't enough, then you can walk into france in about half an hour from the city centre, esch is right on the border. still to come... living all the day amongst herbs... it's story time in the city of literature. no idea how i read that but thanks for listening. easy stuff for me,

difficult for you. and it's mealtime in malaga. so don't go away. ulysses byjamesjoyce is 100 years old this year. many people find it impenetrable but there are a bunch of folk who meet every week here in dublin to discuss the book's merits and the genius ofjoyce so i am here to find out what is the story. welcome. this is sweeney's joyce pharmacy. sweeney's pharmacy is one of the landmarks featured in ulysses and today it's run by a group of volunteers as a tribute to jamesjoyce. "and they all looked, was it sheet lightning?" "it was darker now and there | were stones and bits of wood on the strand."

"a fair unsullied soul had called to him." "now is then... these readings moved online during the pandemic but even though the shop's open again they continue to have people tune in from all over the world. "the chemist turned back, page after page, living "all the day amongst herbs, ointments, disinfectants, all his alabaster lily pads." no idea how i read that but thanks for listening! that is what we do here, we read it out loud. we have people here from distant nationalities and parts of ireland and you hear all sorts of music, if you like, joyce would have loved that. to make it easy to understand and get into it. it's a book you grow up hearing about, and supposedly so difficult, it's a lovely feeling to sit here and it is accessible. and if you want tojoin in, you can find more information on the sweeney's website.

the weather has taken a turn for the worse here in dublin but fortunately, to end this programme, we're off to sunny spain tojoin kate hardie—buckley as she embarks on another culinary challenge. i'm in malaga, a sumptuous port city in southern spain. every summer, i normally pass through here to another town further along the costa del sol but this time i'm sticking around. with its fertile soil, the sea air and over 300 days of sunshine a year, this region is perfect for finding the best produce. jose is one of malaga's finest ambassadors of gastronomy. he suggested we meet to explore some local produce that inspire his michelin starred restaurants. what are we going to cook?

before i leave the market, i pick up the almonds for our soup. first up, i visit the producers of one of the world's most premium extra virgin olive oils. these are 100—year—old trees? even more. vito tends to his 3a,000 olive trees with such care, his olive oil received is the perfect score

of competitions. we take, an olive and another one, they will be different. i but they look identical. i know, it will be a totally. different taste and in a few weeks, they will become yellow and they will be more tender. l the signal that the oil content is full. - this estate dates back to roman times and today, we're pressing the olives the old—fashioned way. my god, that crushing sound. back? wow, look at that! unlike wine which often improves with age, olive oil is best fresh. it's delicious. i am going to go back to london and start drinking olive oil in a wine glass! i've also got to bring jose something from the sea and i'm just in time for the

fishermen coming in. i've seen sardines, anchovies. doesn't get much fresher than this! this is absolutely amazing. the noise, the pace, the chatter. your fish is off the boat into auction and in a matter of hours, on your plate. i pick up some sardines, a fish synonymous with this city. last on my list is the dragon fruit. beautiful. this cactus fruit often associated with south east asia originates from southern mexico. its production in spain has grown exponentially in the last few years.

and now to jose's michelin—starred restaurant. the easy stuff for me, the difficult stuff for you! 0k. we grind the almonds to create the base of the soup. it has totally changed colour. magnificent creamy white. he takes the freshest ingredients and turns them into something beautiful.

my god, it's beautiful! so fresh. the crunch of the fruit, the sweet sliminess of the sardines. absolutely phenomenal! kate hardie—buckley in malaga and you know what? i don't think i'll ever look at a humble tin of sardines in the same way again after watching that. coming up next week, carmine�*s in switzerland at the only horse race

in the world to take place on a frozen lake. but is its future on thin ice? in the morning, the shadows, it is really cold, the sun comes up, it can change very quickly and if you see something is not as we wish and we need to shorten the race, we cancel the race. do try and join us for that. in the meantime, don't forget you can follow us on facebook and instagram and watch past episodes on the bbc iplayer. i am now going to go and shelter from the rain and possibly read another page or two of ulysses but in the meantime, from us all here in dublin, it's goodbye.

hello there. at this time of year, warm days are often followed by decidedly chilly nights. and tuesday was certainly a warm day, with temperatures in northwest wales getting close to 2! degrees, the warmest day of the year so far. plenty of other places not too far behind. but as soon as the sun went down, the temperatures followed. it has been turning quite chilly out there. high pressure still close by on wednesday. it stays mostly dry, but with those clear skies overhead, quite a chilly start to the morning, with temperatures down around freezing, below freezing in a few places. one or two early fog patches around as well. they should tend to lift and clear by the middle part of the morning. and then it is another beautiful spring day, with lengthy spells of sunshine. the vast majority will stay dry. there's just a small chance of one or two showers popping up in northeast scotland and maybe across eastern counties of england. not as breezy as it was on tuesday across western areas and every bit as warm. top temperatures between 16 and 20, maybe 2! degrees. but as we head through wednesday night, again,

the sun goes down, the orange colours drain away from the map, replaced by blues and greens, with temperatures again dropping down to around freezing. those are the values for the towns and the cities. out in the countryside, i think there will be a touch of frost, and again potentially some fog patches on thursday morning. now, england and wales will once again have a mostly sunny day, with just the odd rogue shower. for scotland and northern ireland, expect more cloud creeping in from the northwest, with some spots of light rain and drizzle. top temperatures through thursday between 16 and i9 degrees in most places. now, for friday, again, the further north you are, there will be a bit more in the way of cloud. some rain for the northern isles. further south, more in the way of sunshine, a bit more of a breeze through the english channel at this stage, and temperatures maybe down just a fraction but still getting up to between 15 and 19 degrees. and then we head into weekend, and some of that cloud in the north associated with a weak frontal system will try to work a little further southwards, but high pressure continues to hold firm, so despite that extra cloud and the greater chance of a bit of fog, it is going to stay fine

and dry with some spells of sunshine. into next week, though, we develop a northerly wind. it'll start to feel quite a lot colder and there could even be some wintry showers.

hello. this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: explosion as the pentagon says ukrainian soldiers are going on the offensive to reclaim ground, we report on the battle for a key town in the south of ukraine where russian forces are being pushed back. this war is only a few weeks old and the russians will almost certainly be back with more soldiers and a lot more firepower. fleeing the besieged city of mariupol: survivors tell of children starving to death. a prominent kremlin critic gets another jail sentence: the us says it's part of the crackdown on dissent to hide the war in ukraine.