western governments have rejected an ultimatum set by president vladimir putin for payments for russian natural gas supplies to be made in roubles from friday. mr putin had said the switch was necessary because the western financial system was being "used as a weapon" against the russian federation. president biden has ordered the largest ever release of oil from the united states�* strategic reserve — to help reduce international price rises caused by the russian invasion of ukraine. mr biden said one million barrels of oil would be released every day for the next six months. the red cross says it's preparing to enter the besieged ukrainian city of mariupol with two trucks of humanitarian aid. more than 100,000 people are still thought to be

trapped in the city. the ukrainian government is also sending dozens of buses to try and bring people out. the labour leader sir keir starmer has launched his party's campaign for the english local elections in may. council elections will also be taking place in scotland and wales, with assembly elections in northern ireland. sir keir said it was an important opportunity for voters to send a message to borisjohnson and the government on the sharply—rising cost of living. from bury in lancashire, our political correspondent alex forsyth reports. announcer: the leader of- the labour party, keir starmer. cheering surrounded by supporters with placards aplenty, the labour leader made his pitch for elections he'll hope prove labour's fortunes are shifting. you know the reality, prices through the roof... and the key message is hard to miss. voting labour on may

the 5th will send a message to the government they can't ignore, that britain deserves better than their pathetic response to the cost of living crisis. it is also a chance to vote for a party that's on your side, because labour is on your side. in towns and cities across england, these elections are a crucial test of public opinion, so expect the walkabouts, the pavements pounded, in places like ramsbottom. labour's trying to prove it can make progress. i've got to get to you something from the north! not least in parts of the country where it's recently struggled. there's a reason keir starmer�*s come here. he knows if labour's going to find its way back to power, it has to win back voters in towns across the midlands and north of england that turned away from the party. towns like this. it caused quite a stir. keir starmer�*s here. who?! plenty did recognise who'd come to town, keen to chat about what's on their minds.

anything you look at, broadband, everything... food. it all adds up. the cost of living, definitely. education. and childcare as well. what matters, of course, is who can convince voters they have the answers. labour hopes it might be them but there is no easy route back to power. they at least, though, have to be heading in the right direction. alex forsyth, bbc news, greater manchester. now on bbc news, the travel show. coming up on this week's show... 0n thin ice in the alps. if we see something, it's not as we wish, then we either shorten the race or we cancel the races. the best kit for a covid—free break. admittedly, i do feel a bit silly doing this, but i know how effective uvc light is, so i'd like to think it's working.

and eating our way around azerbaijan. that is so creamy. it's really delicious. we're starting this week 1800 metres above sea level, in the shadow of an alpine valley. this is st moritz, in the swiss alps — it's the place, so they say, where the concept of the winter holiday was born. it also occupies a unique place in sporting history — it's where the bobsleigh

was created. but skijoring is an even stranger sporting event than that. the race is a wild mix of horses, skiing, all done over this frozen lake. the white turf event has happened every year since 1907, pausing only for covid in 2021. it sees three days of racing on ice, with the skijoring event as its climax. 10,000 people have turned up to see it, but this year there were question marks

hanging over its comeback year. races at the first weekend had to be shortened after water came through what's normally reliably thick ice. 0rganisers say they were forced to impose limits on the weight of some of the attractions. the drilling of the holes, that's the very traditional way to check the track. because you drill through the snow to the very compact snow until you get to the ice and then you see whether there is some water somewhere. the water comes from fissures in the lake, and then some water can come up. in the morning, there's shadow, so it's really cold, sun comes up — it can change very quickly. and if we see something is not as we wish then we either shorten the race or we cancel the races. it's always those weather changes which make the ice work. so we had some water around the winning post, so we had to take the winning post a little further back, and we only had 800m.

they did some measurements to see the level when the crowd comes on sunday, and i think it's about half a metre that it all goes down. 0k. people have expectations. it's not a normal race course. on any other race course, if it's raining and it's very wet, then you can say "it's going to be wet on sunday" or "we'll cancel the races". here, it can look perfect and then on sunday morning, i have to say "i'm sorry, security goes first, we cannot do the races". horses come from germany, they come from england, they come from france. thoroughbreds are brought here from all over europe and fitted with specially adapted race shoes made with added grooves to grip the snow and ice. i want to please the expectations of the people, which is not always easy. but safety comes first, right? safety comes first. i mean, i have my own horses,

i'm very much into animal welfare. and safety of the horses and for the jockeys as well, it's just not negotiable. yes. luckily, they were able to run a full schedule, allowing the crowds to see races all afternoon in the below—freezing temperatures. before the main event, the skijoring, i caught up with valeria, who's been crowned overall winner here twice in past years. before the first race, i always said "wow, why i'm doing that", and after the race, i say "yeah, i know why". in 2009, i was the first woman to do skijoring. it was really special, because everyone was looking on me. "can she do it?" "is she strong enough?"

"is she not scared?" but it was really nice because i had directly a third place in my first race. can you control the horse with the reins, and how different is it for the horse? we definitely can control them — we have to control them, because if there is something next to you, you have to go left, or you have to go right, you have to stop the horse, if something happened. after the starting sound they normally say "0k, where is my boss, oh, ok, it's six metres behind me" and they sometimes really looking for you and try to connect you with — with the reins. and some horses, they love to do it, they say "wow, there is nobody on it, i go". so the big race is coming up and i've placed a small bet on valeria, so watch out for the lady in pink. she's not the favourite, but fingers crossed.

cheering at one point, valeria was in the lead and looking good. cheering come on, come on! go, go! for the riders, the sheer amount of snow and ice kicked up by the horses�* grooves mean face protection is pretty important.

by the final lap, you could see the horses beginning to tire, and she was desperately trying to hang on. so our rider came fourth, unfortunately, but it did look like a really tough race. they came around three times and gosh, these horses were going so fast — it was really thrilling. switzerland has some of the most beautiful train journeys in the world, especially in spring, when you can see greenery re—emerge on the alpine hillsides. the bernina express is among the steepest railways

to operate without gears or aids and the stretch from thusis to tirano is on the unesco world heritage list for outstanding designs of its tunnels, viaducts, and bridges. the trummelbach falls reopen for summer this month, and they're well worth a look. they carry the mouthwaters from thejungfrau mountain down to the valley below. 20,000 litres pour over the edge every second, along with tons of boulders, the force of which causes the entire mountainside to shudder. switzerland's known for being quite pricey, but has an excellent network of youth hostels if you're on a budget. there's around 50 dotted around the country, and there's plenty of variety — from ones in castles and stately homes to something a bit more modern and urban. expect to pay an average of around 90 euros a night for a double room. and finally, your lunch could help fund dinner for someone who really needs it. the recently reopened

refettorio geneva calls itself a "solidarity kitchen". go along for a 30 euro three—course lunch and they'll reinvest that money on feeding some of the poorest in geneva. the philosophy is that social good can still be delivered in a fine dining setting. still to come on this week's show, lucy's here to roadtest the kit that aims to keep you covid—free on your travels. in fact, it's not really that different to any mask i've been wearing in the past couple of years. the difference is this is loaded with tech and connects to an app. and kate hardy buckley takes her tastebuds on a tour of azerbaijan. so juicy and tart. it's going all over the place. so don't go away. in recent years, travelling has taken on a whole new dimension. since covid emerged,

we've all been forced to think about the health of us and of those around us more than ever before. some travel health paraphernalia that we've come to know during covid may be here for good and as always, tech is here with a helping hand. so let's start with this. depending on where you're travelling to, masks still might be needed — and even if not, this thing is future—proofed. the airpop active+ smartmask uses disposable filters for you to swap out once you've been using it for too long, housed in a design that stands out from the crowd. so, after seeing many, many pictures of this thing, i am pleasantly surprised byjust how lightweight and comfortable it is, it's unobtrusive — in fact, it's not really that different to any mask that i've been wearing over the past couple of years. the only difference being that this is loaded with tech and it connects to an app. the clever tech in here will actually monitor how long you've used it for and even the number of breaths

you've taken. it sends the data to an app on your phone and, using your location data, tells you just how much harmful pollution that it's been filtering out, wherever you are in the world. with covid fears lingering, something that's designed to filter out airborne nasties can provide real peace of mind. plus, i think it's really useful that something like this takes things a step further to tell you what you could be putting into your lungs, wherever it is in the world that you're travelling to. now, one thing to be aware of, though, is that the accuracy of information depends on how close you are to an air pollution monitor — plus, it's not the cheapest of masks, if you're thinking of having something to just fling into your back pocket. but, saying that, this is far from your bog standard mask. next up, it's the cleanpod uvc sterilizer from monos. in a gadget small enough to toss in your hand luggage, this thing mightjust help to put people who are worried about what they're touching at ease. with a push of a button, a high—energy beam of ultraviolet c light comes out

from the leds, which the makers say effectively sanitises surfaces without the use of chemicals. to zap the nasties, you position the wand about three centimetres above what you want sanitised. admittedly, i do feel a little bit silly doing this, but i know how effective uvc light is, so i'd like to think it's working. uvc works by scrambling bacteria's genetic code so they can no longer function. so, i guess the real burning question here is does something like this provide more peace of mind than, say, a disposable wipe that's more tangible and actually makes you feel like you're cleaning something? of course, i think it depends on the user, but this really is a nifty way to sanitises surfaces and objects without chemicals or liquid. it's fantastic for door handles, keyboards, telephones, toilet seats — basically anything you can wave this thing over. now to world of the apps, which have come to the aid of the travellers during the pandemic who need somewhere to put their covid vaccine certificates. but with so many around

now, which ones should you consider using? the problem that these apps are trying to solve is that there's no common way to upload certification to airlines. and some airlines have decided to trial the iata travel pass. you upload the certification for your tests, vaccines and so on to it and that's then transmitted to the airline. it's still basically in trial form at this stage, but it's really promising. so, having it in one centralised system, which you would hold on your phone like any other app, would be sensible. i think this will become a part of — a part of travel life, in the way that perhaps, ten or 15 years ago, it would have been completely unthinkable that we all use mobile check—in, right? and show boarding passes on our phones or watches, and a computer in your phone that's powerful enough to do so, it's a fairly new innovation. as with so much else in aviation, covid has proven a real accelerator here. last but not least, i have i have the thermo smart

temporal thermometer from withings. so, once you switch this on, it measures your temperature using your temporal artery which runs across your forehead to your temple. it's all over very quickly, in around two seconds, and it vibrates to let you know it's done. there's my temperature. i then scroll to my profile — lucy, that's me. click the button and it tells me i'm fever—free because it's green — something i'm sure my cameraman is very pleased to hear — and pressing that button also means it syncs your data to a dedicated app on your smartphone. this is no ordinary thermometer — it uses 16 infrared sensors to take 4,000 measurements in just a couple of seconds. and maybe best of all, there's no contact involved. so what you're looking at here is a really non—invasive way to record your temperature. it's personalised and i think it's a really nice touch that you're able to keep touch of your fever over time. the fact that you can store up to eight user profiles as well makes it ideal for families

or when travelling with a big group, for example. and, yes, it's pricey. it's a little costlier than traditional thermometers or non—connected thermometers, but during these covid times, being able to keep tabs on your temperature will certainly make you feel a lot better when travelling. finally, this week, we're back on the road with kate hardie—buckley as she tours the markets, farms, kitchens and restaurants of some of the world's most exciting cities. this week, she's in azerbaijan. they call this country the land of fire, thanks to its huge oil and gas reserves. but this fiery place is also known for its hospitality. people here show their love through their food. and while baku is renowned for its luxurious products, such as caviar, chef ehtiram farzalibayov has built his reputation showcasing wholesome, hearty dishes. welcome to baku.

thank you. thank you so much. this is a beautiful view. what are the ingredients you would like me to get you? caviar? yes, yes! oh, my goodness! wow. my culinary adventure begins south of baku at a sustainable caviar fish farm, located in the historical sturgeon spawning area between the karuah river and the caspian sea.

there's thousands of them! the earliest chance to get the caviar is three years but, for example, beluga, it matures for 12—15 years... wow! ..before it's ready to bring the caviar. there has been a worldwide ban on wild sturgeon caviar since 2006, so the caviar you can buy comes from places like here. rufat tells me baku caviar is on a mission to replenish the fish stock in the caspian sea. for every jar that you purchase, we will release 10 fishes into the wild. they keep bobbing up and down. they are kids and they want to play. laughs he was particularly friendly! rufat shows me the fish they're processing today for the caviar and the fish meat. this is a blond beluga and it's very valuable caviar that they will produce. so the caviar has just been extracted from the sturgeon and here, the caviar master, they're responsible for

panning it to make sure that what you're left with here is the beautiful caviar. that is so creamy! it's kind of a nutty taste. it's really delicious! i travel to the greater caucasus mountains, north of baku, to a pomegranate orchard as pickers harvest the fruit to turn into wine. we are locating between two mountains chains and the soil is super fertile, and that gives the richness and the uniqueness to the pomegranate. we start harvesting late autumn, like first week of october, and it lasts beginning of the december. mmm. so juicy and tart. it's going all over the place. it's a delicious but a messy fruit! every delicious thing is messy. chuckles that's very true! az—granata is a leading producer of pomegranate wine,

created using a similar process as wine from grapes, with sugars, fermentation and barrelling. before returning to baku, i stop to pick up what people often call red gold — saffron. the expensive part of the saffron is this, three stigmas. we get one kilogram saffron from 117,000 flowers. the absheron peninsula is perfect for the very best saffron, thanks to its sandy soil. it's been hand—picked here for over 1,000 years. there is 300 types of saffron, but the most beneficial and most expensive is this. in fact, absheron saffron is said to be the fourth most expensive ingredient in the world. it only flowers 25 days a year. i'm now all set for chef ehtiram. hello! laughs

here we go! we're making piti — a lamb and chickpea stew from chef ehtiram's home region. so, we're are now adding two chestnuts and the saffron. piti was traditionally a worker's dish, as one serving provides enough nourishment for the day. accompanied by our pomegranate wine. you think it's going to be very sweet but it's actually like a grape wine — it's very smooth, gentle taste. there's actually two stages to the piti — there's a lovely soup, which we'll eat with bread, and then, there's the mashed—up contents of the stew. mmm.

bravo! kate hardie—buckley, getting a taste of some delicious, hearty food in azerbaijan — which i could do with right now, standing out here in the cold! anyway, that's it for this week. coming up next week — christa is looking over some of our best bits from the past few months, from her emotional trip home to australia as borders began to open... ..to lucy's sizzling encounter with a full english breakfast. this is a lot of food! i'm gonna try my hardest. and you can follow more of our recent adventures on the bbc iplayer. and don't forget, we're on social media, too. you can find us on facebook and instagram. just search bbc travel show and look for that blue logo. so it's auf wiedersehen from the swiss alps,

hello. spring weather can often be erratic, and we've certainly seen that play out during the past few days. march, for a good part of the time, was dry and sunny. in fact, scotland and northern ireland, according to the met office, provisionally had the sunniest march on record. it was only on sunday we saw conditions like this in aberdeenshire. the warmest parts of the country 19 degrees. fast forward to thursday afternoon, and temperatures at times only 2 celsius as the snow showers came down fairly heavy. and they are continuing as we go into friday as well. the run of north—northeasterly winds all the way from the arctic continue. strongest towards the southeast as we start friday, linked into this area of low pressure

developing across europe. and it's here we could see a further covering of snow. high pressure trying to build in, and with showers fading for most into the morning, we will see a widespread frost, and across eastern areas, icy conditions to begin the day. for most of you, actually a sunny start to friday. the sleet and snow showers across eastern areas continue, particularly towards that southeast corner, and they will develop a bit more widely as we go through the day. but turning more to rain and sleet rather than pure snow. also at the same time, clouding over through the morning for the highlands and islands, that cloud will bring rain and hill snow across parts of scotland and eventually into northern ireland later in the day. temperatures still on the cold side, 6—10 degrees, feeling coldest towards the southeast corner, especially with the strongest of the winds. but improving conditions for the afternoon compared with the morning, more in the way of dry weather. now, as we go into the night, friday night into saturday, we will see outbreaks of rain and hill snow spread its way southwards into wales. that should keep the temperatures just above freezing away from the hills and mountains, but elsewhere, another very cold night with a widespread frost, and the risk of ice to start the weekend.

but for many, actually quite a bright day. there will be a few showers close to the east, the main showers will be across wales, southwest england, a little bit wintry over the hills. cloud will bubble up through the day to produce occasional slow—moving showers, but the vast majority will spend either the whole or the bulk of the day dry. temperature up a little bit and given the lighter winds and that strong sunshine overhead, it shouldn't feel too bad out there, especially compared with thursday. into sunday, another widespread frost to begin with, isolated showers developing through the day as cloud builds up, but another batch of thicker cloud, outbreaks of rain, stronger winds pushing towards the northwest of scotland, and they will bring slightly milder weather as we go into next week. that's how it's looking. i will see you again soon.

this is bbc news, our top stories... western governments reject an ultimatum set by president putin for payments for russian gas to be made in roubles. translation: nobody sells us free of charge anything, - and we are not going to do charity either. all the existing contracts will be suspended. president biden tries to combat rising fuel prices at the pump — freeing up millions of gallons of crude oil. in ukraine, new attempts are made to deliver aid to thousands in mariupol after weeks of russian bombardment. the war�*s prompted many western nations to reassess their defence commitments — we'll analyse the debate in europe. and the qatar world cup begins to loom large — but there's still scrutiny over human rights.