this is bbc news, the headlines: intense fighting has continued in the ukrainian city of severodonetsk, as ukraine's grip on the eastern city seems to be weakening. capturing the strategicaly important city would be a major victory for russia. president zelensky has called for western allies to provide an advanced missile defence system. the european union has said it is considering legal action over the uk's plans to unilaterally change the post—brexit, trade arrangements for northern ireland. the british government insists its plans to alter the deal, agreed with the eu in 2019, do not breach international law. the us congressional committee, investigating last year's attack on the capitol building in washington has heard that

donald trump was �*detached from reality.�* his former attorney—general, william barr, said he showed more interest in "crazy stuff" than facts. mr trump has called the investigation "a sham." now on bbc news, the travel show. this week on the travel show... i'm in america's oldest national park as it celebrates its 150th birthday by welcoming back these magnificent animals. it never gets old. never. no, they're such gorgeous creatures, aren't they? they are. carmen is in hong kong for a night on the tiles, joining some of the young people breathing life into a traditional game of tactics and chance. oh, my god — so many rules! laughter. and we head to cambodia, to meet the troupe of young performers who are bouncing back from a tough time during covid.

the children not only learn circus, theatre, dance and music, but they learn also life and the soft skills. this week, i'm in the great american west, where lakes, volcanoes and mountains span vast swathes of wilderness to make up one of america's most dramatic landscapes, yellowstone national park. whoa!

so this is old faithful, probably one of the world's most famous geysers. and there she goes! oh, my god. just spectacular! the snow—capped mountains in the distance. it's hard not to drive with yourjaw open, basically! 2022 is special for yellowstone. it marks 150 years since it became one of the world's first national parks in 1872. a pioneer in conservation and land management, today, there are over 4,000 national parks globally. but, despite its world—renowned status, yellowstone has a complex history, one it's using this milestone anniversary to try to address.

i'm here to find out how. yellowstone represents some of the very best america has to offer, and 150 years is a long time. we didn't always get it right in yellowstone. there were native american tribal nations in this area probably 20,000 years prior to yellowstone becoming a national park. despite fierce opposition, when the park was first established, indigenous people were forcibly removed from their land. until now, their history has been largely untold, but the park service is trying to change that. so, 27 american indian tribes that, to one degree or another,

were on this landscape prior to 1872. and even though we've done some really good things with tribes over the years, we felt that it was a point in time where we really needed to re—engage with tribal nations. yeah. and for us to not only be able to tell the stories ourselves about american indian history and culture — which is part of our mission — but also to get them in the park... yeah. ..to get them engaged with visitors. and so we've done it. oh, it takes me about four or five days to make a doll. wow. back inside i meet scott, whose native american ancestors were forced from their lands. he's here not only to sell his handicrafts, but also to later raise his tribal flag over the site. this song is my brother's song. it's a sun dance song. it's to wake up to. sings. so, raising the flag to me is, you know, coming home and putting the flag

in and reclaiming, you know, what was — to some — taken away. yellowstone calls out to people to come, worldwide. somehow that word "yellowstone" is a message to people to come and see not only the geysers, but the animals, you know? the buffaloes, the wolves. and so, for me, it's a beacon... yeah. ..of starting an environmental movement to save land for us in the future, but for us to come in to be with the people — the animal people. and it's the animals that are helping soothe these relations — in particular, yellowstone�*s iconic bison.

these days, you don't have to travel far to come across these guys thundering around, causing trafficjams. but at the end of the 19th century, they were hunted almost to extinction. in a short space of time, the population of america's largest land mammalfell from over 20 million to around only 200 and, with them, disappeared the futures of many native american tribes. it was really a sad story. we thought that removing bison from this continent was the way to remove the food source that native americans relied upon. and as we were essentially eliminating native americans from this country, we were eliminating their food. and it's taken us probably 100

years to come to grips with that and then to say what it really does mean to get these animals back out on big landscapes and, more so than that, hopefully get them back to people. these animals mean more to them than maybe anybody on the planet. yeah, yeah. thanks to a captive breeding programme, bison numbers are now booming. coming now — one, two! and, for the first time in its history, the park authorities are working with local native american groups to relocate these magnificent beasts to roam again across tribal lands. here she comes — five! we get in the truck, i'm usually behind the animals as they're heading north. you know, we have these caravans of trucks just heading across the highways of montana. and it doesn't matter what time of year it is, the tribes are just waiting there, they're waiting for these animals to get off of the trucks. back on the road, i'm making

a five—hourjourney to see how one of the latest herds to be released are getting on. so, i've now left yellowstone behind, i've entered the wind river reservation and it feels really, really different here. wind river, one of the largest reservations in america, home to the eastern shoshone and northern arapaho tribes, was created when conflict broke out between the tribes and european settlers in the 19th century. hey, jason! hi, how's it going? i'm good! how are you? jason is the man responsible for the newly relocated animals. hello! along with the breeding programme, he also hosts local school groups to try and reconnect children with their native american heritage. so, how do the kids respond when they come out here? it's in our genetic memory, you know, buffalo are in our dna. we had some kids come out in a bus and they got off

the bus and the buffalo were curious and they came around the bus and to see them make eye contact with each other was something really, really special. it's an emotional experience, really, you know, to see those kids have a reconnection with that. yeah. it never gets old. never. no, they're such gorgeous creatures, aren't they? they are. drumming. so talk to me about the moment that the first buffalo hoof hit the land. it's taken me 15 years, really, to get the supporters — a bald eagle flying over us right here. gasps. bald eagle! it was very impactful. you know, you could never imagine thatjust that one hoof print would have been so significant. yeah, yeah. but it was 131 years that it

took for that hoof to land. so, beyond conservation, you know, why are the buffalo so important? that piece of our life, connection, was severed when the buffalo was eliminated.. yeah. ..nearly exterminated. so, restoring the animal to our communities is very important and our cultural revitalisation. yeah, yeah! you know, the ecological importance of restoring animal to the landscape heals the land. by integrating this animal back into our diet, it heals us. i myself had to find that — i struggled with alcohol for a number of years and was able to put that away 3.5 years ago, find recovery, find healing. yeah. it's putting away, you know, the atrocities, the problems that were imposed upon us and creating a new solution to something better. yeah, yeah — the buffalo have really helped you find yourself and just reconnect. i wouldn't be here today

without these buffalo. jason, you are making it happen. the work you're doing here is, honestly, nothing short of incredible and i wish you the best of luck with everything, from my heart. well, thank you very much. i genuinely mean that. thank you very much. jason is hoping his work will inspire similar initiatives and that bison will continue to be returned to indigenous people across the globe. back at the lodge, it's scott's big flag—raising moment. this is the crow tribal emblem. it has the great seal of the crow tribe. it's a very great honour, you know, to come and do this for the tribe and the people. a really great honour. for the crow people and all the native people who've never left this country. seeing these two flags flying alongside each other hopefully signals the start of a new,

more respectful future where, although the wrongs of the past are acknowledged, everyone who lives and works in yellowstone can look towards a more positive future. and i can't think of a better way to mark this truly astounding national park's 150th birthday than that. still to come on the travel show... carmen gets a crash course in mahjong, but let's just hope the stakes aren't too high. i'm really not sure i'm doing this right. so don't go away. well, from yellowstone, we're crossing to a very different part of the world. cambodia, in south—east asia, is one of the well—established highlights on the backpackers�* trail. history, geography and spirituality are its selling

points. the country went through a tough time because of covid, but we�*ve been to meet a group of amazing and dedicated young acrobats who are limbering up to shake the past two years off and get performing again. the performers at phare circus have spent up to eight years training for this. three times a week, they dance, juggle and flip for delighted tourists. they are all graduates of the circus�*s school in battambang, which educates and trains local children for free.

in 1994, we can say that 80% of all of the children and families here are under the poverty line. currently, 80% of them are over the poverty line. the children not only learned circus — well, they choose circus — but they learn also theatre, dance and music, as well as the life and the soft skills. we aim to build their career. then they are able to come only, like, to the class and also able to help their family after work. we also are supporting the students and provide lunch to the students who are from really difficult backgrounds. we give them really good foods and help them to gain their energy, to be able to get started with the training itself.

after successfully avoiding the first wave, cambodia suffered a covid outbreak in early 2021. all entertainment venues were closed. that included the circus and the school for almost a year. it meant that we cut activities.

cambodia�*s now reopened with some of the highest vaccination rates in the world. there are grounds for cautious optimism. our aim is to expand within the 25 cities and provinces here in cambodia, and also to abroad as well. if it is going well, though, i think that what i really wish will be coming true and our students will become very good citizens and able to contribute back to their community and also to the school. cheering and applause.

well, to finish this week, we are staying in asia, but heading to hong kong, where the traditional chinese game of mahjong has been played by generations of locals. but in an age of smartphones and tablets, can it survive? we sent carmen to meet a group of young people who are trying their best to ensure that it does. some say the game of mahjong was invented by confucius himself. others, by chinese fishermen around 1,000 years ago. but whatever its roots, it is massive in hong kong. it�*s pretty serious business, which is why i�*m trying to keep my voice down. but if you can watch a game in progress, it�*s a great way of getting under the skin of the city. fan has agreed to let

me watch her game — as long as i behave myself. i�*ve only recently learned the rules, but i think playing a couple of games will give me a really good deep dive into authentic hong kong. laughter. oh, you won? again?! i�*m a little bit intimidated! i�*m going to watch. i�*m just going to watch. the basics are actually very simple — the winner is the first to collect four sets of three and a pair — but it still takes a bit of figuring out. see, i get confused with the win. it�*s very difficult if you don�*t speak cantonese — the characters. i find them difficult. again! yeah! you won again! you are my lucky star! i must be your lucky star! it�*s a very traditional game, played largely by older people — a bit like chess or backgammon — and there are signs that as the older generation is dying out, so is some of the enthusiasm for mahjong.

take auntie mei here. it�*s claimed she�*s the last female mahjong carver in the city. each tile is handmade. how difficult is it to carve the tiles? so, auntie mei, why aren�*t there more mahjong carvers in hong kong?

but there are young people here who still care about the game and are keen to teach newcomers the rules. 0nly take from your left for sequence. ah! because this is... oh, my god! so many rules! laughter. why have i only got ten? because you have three here. ah, 0k! maths isn�*t my forte. ok, so i don�*t want this egg circle, so your turn. i�*m really not sure i�*m doing this right. do you want this? i don't know — i'm thinking about it. no, you can�*t! laughter. this is the mahjong hostel, run by iris, who is not only a lively host, she is also a very patient teacher. because many people,

they don�*t know the game until they come here. and i know many hostels, they do some board game nights or card game nights, but we like using mahjong, yes, to play with the people, because they — it�*s hard to learn at the beginning, but when you know how to play the game, it�*s fun and you�*re addicted to — you want to play every night! sometimes, people, they play until very late. but you�*re the youngest person i�*ve seen on this trip playing mahjong. why — why don�*t many young people get into it? people, they more like playing video game on the phone, you know? everyone has a phone, they play the game, yes. on the phone, and in hong kong, we have a problem of lack of space. you need to set up the mahjong table and get four people together and play. it�*s not easy for hong kong because everyone has only very small house. so, it�*s not the most accessible part of hong kong culture, especially for the casual tourist — the rules are complicated and, quite frankly, most parlours are not that welcoming to newcomers. but there are places that will teach you,

like this hostel — and, surprisingly, i am finding it really fun. that�*s it for this week. coming up on next week�*s show... ade�*s here to run through his picks of his favourite recent travel show stories, including the time he got a special ride to the top of the now far more accessible acropolis in athens. now, i get to experience the acropolis and i get this wonderful view of the parthenon. this is brilliant! i want to take these concrete slabs home! don�*t forget, we�*re on bbc iplayer, too, as well as facebook and instagram. all you�*ve got to do is search �*bbc travel show�* and enjoy scrolling through some of our most recent trips. in the meantime, i�*m offfora dip. 0nly kidding.

hello there. we�*re expecting a short spell of rather hot weather across much of the uk, but not all of it, over the next few days or so. the heat and the humidity will be gradually building northwards. and that�*s because there�*s a heat wave across the iberian peninsula at the moment — temperatures in parts of spain have surpassed a0 celsius. that heat will be pushing northwards into france, and eventually into southern areas of the uk, so england and wales, by the time we get to friday when that heat is likely to peak. and that means that temperatures in london and in birmingham could get over 30 celsius on friday. but further north and west, across much of northern ireland and scotland,

they�*ll stick in the low 20s in celsius. at the moment, we do still have this area of low pressure giving us swathes of cloud, some outbreaks of rain — most of it quite light and patchy — across much of western scotland, northern ireland. this will help to keep the temperatures mild here, overnight tonight, but underneath the clear skies, temperatures will drop back into single figures, mid—single figures locally, perhaps, across england and wales. so a locally chilly start to the day here. but here, of course, we�*ll see lots of sunshine throughout the day on tuesday, some fair weather cloud building through the afternoon. further north and west, with still all of this cloud around, some outbreaks of rain for western areas of scotland. eastern areas of scotland, though, should see some sunny spells emerge at times. temperatures peaking in the southeast of england at around 25 celsius. the pollen levels, of course, in all of that sunshine, will be very high, a lot lower underneath the cloud and the rain towards the northwest, and that�*s where the cloud and the outbreaks of rain will tend to stay as we head through tuesday night. we�*ll start to see some warmer nights as we head through the rest of the week.

temperatures across the board into wednesday morning should stay in double figures for the most part. still got some outbreaks of rain up towards the northern isles as we head through the day on wednesday, lots of cloud here. again, cloudier towards the northwest. across england and wales, temperatures will start to rise into the high 20s in celsius, so 26—27 celsius for much of london. cooler the further north you go. and let�*s take a look at what happens for the rest of the week — so our high pressurejust gradually moves eastwards and the cold front will sink southwards, introducing that cooler—feeling air. but if we take a look at the temperatures, you can see that across northern ireland, 19—20 celsius, whereas across cambridge, 31 celsius by friday.

this is bbc news. i�*m rich preston, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. explosion fierce fighting in the battle for severodonetsk, as ukraine�*s grip on the strategic eastern city seems to weaken. we have a special report. this is a deliberate tactic — bomb, shell, burn, and leave nothing but scorched earth. the uk government publishes plans to override part of the brexit agreement involving trade rules for northern ireland and insists it�*s not breaking international law. donald trump brands the ongoing us congressional hearings into last year�*s storming of the capitol as a kangaroo court and mockery ofjustice. scientists plan to sequence the genomes of all forms

of life in britain, which could transform our understanding of the natural world