this is bbc news, the headlines: at least seven people have been killed at two shootings in farms near half moon bay in california, just south of san francisco. police say they have arrested a suspect. it comes just two days after 11 people died in a mass shooting also in the state. a court in washington has convicted four members of a far—right militia group of seditious conspiracy, for their part in the capitol riots in january 2021. the four men, all belonging to the oath keepers group, were also found guilty of other felony charges. european union foreign ministers have agreed to allocate another 500 million euros for military aid to help ukraine.

but there is increasing pressure for more help with military tanks from germany to help fight off the russian invasion. poland says its will make an official request to the german government. the british prime minister has said there are clearly questions that need answering following reports that the chairman of the conservative party and former chancellor nadeem the howie was forced to pay a significant penalty and millions of pounds in unpaid taxes. rishi sunak has ordered an investigation into whether there were breaches of the ministerial code. mr zahawi is facing calls to resign but he said repeatedly that he made a careless but not a deliberate error. are your tax affairs a distraction

for the party, mr zahawi? down the stairs and into the car — the man who was charged a penalty by the tax authority and settled a huge tax bill while he was chancellor of the exchequer. nadhim zahawi is now the chairman of the conservatives. his boss, the prime minister, left facing questions about his colleague's conduct. integrity and accountability is really important to me, and clearly in this case, there are questions that need answering, and that's why i've asked our independent adviser to get to the bottom of everything, to investigate the matter fully, and establish all the facts and provide advice to me on nadhim zahawi's compliance with the ministerial code. but hang on a minute — the prime minister's tune has changed here. look at what he said in the middle of last week. my honourable friend has already addressed this matter in full, and there's nothing more that i can add. downing street now say they didn't know until this weekend about the penalty mr zahawi paid. so, what do we know about the finances of a man who used to be, briefly,

in charge of the country's finances as chancellor? he was very successful in business before he became a politician, and he is a multi—millionaire — and it turns out, while he was chancellor, revenue and customs declared him "careless" in how he managed his tax affairs and presented him with a penalty and a bill totalling around £5 million. the prime minister needs to show some leadership — this is a test of the prime minister. he promised us, his first words, integrity and accountability. well, if those words mean anything, the prime minister should sack him and sack him today and show some leadership, because if he doesn't, it's just going to be further evidence, i think, for the british public ofjust how weak this prime minister really is. what could have happened today is nadhim zahawi choosing to resign or the prime minister choosing to sack him. neither of them did. nor has mr zahawi appeared in front of the cameras and answered the filing cabinet full of questions that await him when he does.

so, the whole thing trundles on, while this investigation works out what happened. where would you like me? in the end, though, the prime minister will find himself in a spot where he has to make a judgement call. is his commitment to professionalism, integrity and accountability best served by keeping his party chairman, or not? chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. now on bbc news, the travel show. coming up on this week's show: during the pandemic many of us realised just how intense was our passion for travel. and i am so excited about the opportunities to explore economically and responsibly this year. the ukrainian artwork that has now found a safe home on display at a gallery in madrid. and who discovered the equator?

hello and welcome to the travel show, coming to you this week from behind—the—scenes at our home here at the bbc in london. it is here where we plan the shows and edit the films from all over the world, finding stories, juggling logistics and, just like everybody else, trying to find the biggest bang for our buck when it comes to travelling abroad. over the past decade here at the travel show hq it has been ourjob to create new content for you every week on a fairly modest budget. so no wonder we picked up a tip or two along the way about how to get the

most for our money. we get the best value we can by packing in as much as possible on each trip, travelling light and using our network of local fixers and producers as often as we can to help bring down travel costs and our carbon footprint. so how can you save money when you travel abroad in 2023? here is our global guru, simon calder, with some ideas. when so many of us are feeling the squeeze financially it is no wonder that some travellers are considering cutting back on adventures. when money is tight, seeing your ideal destination on tv or social media can stir up a load of negative feelings and leave you believing that your dream holiday, isjust that, a dream. in 2022 the travel show team went dune bashing in qatar. attended age—old ceremonies in chile, and saw some amazing creatures that also call this

planet home at yellowstone. right over there in the distance is a grizzly bear. and this is how you can get to some of these destinations. the usa is full of wish list locations, hollywood, miami beach, new york city and natural wonders like yellowstone which lucy and the travel show visited in early 2022, coinciding with its 150th anniversary as a national park. this is old faithful, probably one of the world's most famous geysers. there she goes. people save for years to see amazing places like yellowstone but with the cost of living soaring, are such trips becoming out of reach? as always, if you can travel at times of low demand you will get the best deal.

keep costs down by taking cabin baggage only. most transatlantic airlines now charge extra for anything you want to check into the hold, but at the same time offer generous hand luggage allowances and there is less chance that your valuables will go astray. in april, uk air passenger duty forfligths to north america increases to £87, or in anything other than basic economy, £191. you can avoid the tax by taking a ship to dublin or a train to paris and booking a flight from there. but allow plenty of time to make the connection if you miss the onward flight, you are not getting a refund. the same idea works in the opposite direction. if you are starting in north america and planning to visit a number of european countries, make britain the first nation you

visit, not the last. for all its colour, scenery and wonders, south america appears on the wish lists of surprisingly few travellers. and that may not be about to change. according to a survey by the leading uk travel association, significantly fewer travellers this year are looking to visit a country they have never been to before. with shrinking disposable income, that is understandable. but try and think big. in late march, carmen and the team switched spring for the southern hemisphere autumn in the long, thin and spectacular south american nation of chile and got to part in some amazing experiences. when you think of mummies, you think of the ancient egyptians wrapped in bandages but these guys here, there are masks, sticks where their bones were and what is fascinating is the smaller mummies of children and babies.

south america really rewards travellers who can invest time and a trend we have noticed at the travel show supported by industry data is that the average length of stay is increasing. if you can spend weeks rather than days in a place you will get under the skin of it and have a much more enriching and enlightening experience. even better, stay with a family to understand the culture more deeply and to keep a lid on costs. homestays are easy to find online and typically have a minimum stay of a week or two. last month, the first—ever and sometimes controversial fifa world cup to be held in the middle east came to a thrilling conclusion as argentina lifted the trophy in qatar. every global sporting event creates a kind of travel

vacuum after the game is over. but the alluring setting, the culture, the nature, not to mention the sunshine and the beaches remains as rajan discovered when he visited the gulf state in the buildup to the tournament. so i put my mouth here. yes. and bite, right hand. again, again. if the middle east is on your list of places to go this year, now could be a very good time to be there. since the world cup, qatar has a vast number of hotel rooms to fill and so it has become the region's bargain basement location. in february, a room in a good budget hotel in central doha, five minutes walk from the national museum and ten minutes from the souk is selling at around $60 a night. roughly half of what you would pay for the equivalent property across in dubai.

at the travel show it is notjust money we're looking to save, it is the planet as well. happily, the two often go hand—in—hand. last summer, ade and the team saw the effects of climate change itself. since the fires have hit this whole area it now looks very different. as they visited the greek island of evia to see how it is recovering from devastating forest fires. look at that. just as far as the eye can see, all you are looking at is burnt trees. environmentally, tourism is unquestionably part of the problem. but if greece is on your travel agenda this year, then there are ways of limiting the impact on the planet and your pocket. between the two biggest cities, the capital, athens and thessaloniki in the north it used to be

that the only quick way to make the journey was by plane. thankfully there is a new and much more environmentally friendly high—speed railway taking underfour hours between the two cities. you can save money by being under 2a or over 64 and if you are somewhere in the middle, just sign up for the ht card. it is free and gives you a 15% discount reducing the cost of the cheapest ticket from 9 euros to less than 8. this is the classic africa of storybooks and the location of the great migration. for me, the most remarkable travel show trip of 2022 was the one that ended the year.

a 2—parter out in africa called how does a blind girl go on safari in which visually impaired social media star lucy edwards joined the team in kenya. 5035 it's ok, it's ok. it's completely fine. honestly, when you call baraka a blessing, it is a blessing. it is a blessing to be blind because it means he is meant to teach people a lesson. he is meant to be here to get people... to understand you should not be poaching these beautiful animals. the film made me think more deeply about africa and in particular the wildlife that coexists, often uneasily, with humanity. i have been lucky enough to go on safari in seven african countries and i found the costs are lowest in uganda and zimbabwe with namibia also offering some good deals.

to limit the cost and the environmental impact, consider going on a guided walking safari rather than just hopping into the nearest 4x4. you might find it a more memorable experience. during the pandemic, many of us realised just how intense was our passion for travel. and i am so excited about the opportunities to explore economically and responsibly this year. i have not regretted a single trip i have ever taken, only those i had to cancel. go out and see the world. i will meet you on the road. next, we are off to ecuador and in the 18th century, french scientists thought they had discovered the location of the equator. but they got it wrong. thousands of years earlier, the pre—incas were almost able to plot location almost as accurately as a modern—day

gps, and we find out how they did it. this is the south american nation of ecuador. famed for the wildlife haven that is the galapagos islands and large swathes of the amazon ra i nfo rest. let's not forget the meaning of ecuador�*s name itself. the equator. and in 1982, to mark its position as the middle of the earth, the ciudad mitad del mundo monument was opened on the site of the imaginary line that divides the northern and southern hemisphere. since then, it has attracted hundreds and thousands of visitors. its location was based on a series of expeditions carried out by the french academy of science in the 18th century, known as the french geodesic mission.

but since the advent of gps, it has been discovered that the site is actually wrong by 240 metres. this, infact, is where the equator is. now it may feel wrong to compare technology from the 18th century to what we have in the modern day, but a civilisation known as the quitus, who lived in ecuador even before the incas, had already worked out the true location.

travel to catequilla, above the city of quito, and you will find an important pre—incan astronomical observatory, used to learn more about the seasons as well as space.

as the world faces ever—growing problems such as climate change, experts like christabel believe that this discovery proves that some of the answers we need don't lie with new discoveries in the future, but lay buried in our past.

well, finally this week, a year on from the start of the war in ukraine, it's not only the country's population and infrastructure that has come under bombardment, but also much of its cultural heritage. recently, a secret convoy of trucks containing 51 works of art managed to avoid russian shelling and slipped out of ukraine to travel all the way to madrid for safekeeping, and if you're heading to the spanish capital, you can see the collection there until the end of april. here is the story

of how it got there. the cultural heritage of ukraine is in danger at the moment. i think the museum is in danger, too, and in a sense the paintings were ta ken to safety. i hope that they will stay in europe for a long period of time. the national museum of ukraine is situated in the government district of kyiv. it's basically a stone's throw from the cabinet of ministers, which of course is situated very close to the presidential administration, so in case of attack on the government district, the museum will be in very high danger.

the quantity of problems which we faced was unbelievable. museum staff basically barricaded themselves in the cellar, where paintings were removed. literally two months living in this cellar, because they could not go home, because public transportation did not work. electricity cuts, air raids, and of course we had many problems organising shipment of this art. as you can imagine, there is no insurance company in the world which is ready to ensure anything moving through ukraine.

two trucks reached the polish border. we were already relieved, and in that very moment, a missile exploded in a polish village. poland immediately closed the border, and that moment everybody thought that it was the beginning of the third world war. we talked to the ukrainians, we talked to poland, and after more than ten hours on the border, both organised passage for these trucks when the border was still closed. and by sheer miracle, the trucks arrived to madrid on time.

for us, these works are symbolic, and of course it's a part of their cultural heritage. it's a part of their identity, and they are extremely happy that they are right now in madrid, in safety. during the opening i was pinching myself to be sure that it's a reality, because it was so difficult to believe that it would happen that, in a sense, for me it was a miracle.

let's hope those pieces of art

will one day be able to be enjoyed back in kyiv. well, that's all we've got time for this week. coming up next week — we're off to new york to see how the big apple's legendary nightlife is finally back with a bang, and also asking just how ethical is it for tourists to go and see agent egyptian mummies in museums thousands of years after they died. these are human bodies, and no—one would accept to have a member of his family displayed in such a manner, where people take selfies. well, that's bound to be a good one, so hope you can catch that next week. and don't forget there is more great travel content on the bbc. the details are at the bottom of your screen now. but in the meantime, from me, carmen roberts, and the rest of the travel show team at hq in london, it's goodbye.

hello. the weather's relatively quiet across the uk right now, with a large area of high pressure extending all the way from russia, through the baltic, reaching our shores. but the temperature contrast is huge across the country, a bit like last night. 0n the one hand, we have mild south—westerlies affecting northern ireland and scotland. in the early hours of tuesday morning, some spits and spots of rain in the western islands, also milder south—westerlies, and here, temperatures not far off ten celsius. look at the frost further south, in fact, the cool

spot most likely to be around 0xfordshire, for example, perhaps even as low as —8 celsius first thing. also, some freezing fog likely anywhere from the welsh marches all the way to east anglia. and that freezing fog may be stubborn to clear through the course of the morning. in terms of the weather, the cloudiest conditions are on the western isles with the spits and spots of rain. milder here around 11 degrees, coldest in norwich, three degrees.

this is bbc news, i'm vishala sri—pathma. our top stories: at least seven people have been killed at two shootings in farms near half moon bay in california, just two days after 11 people died in a mass shooting in the state. a court in washington convicts four members of a far—right militia group for their part in the capitol riots in january 2021. as the european union agrees on more financial aid for ukraine, pressure grows on germany to send military tanks to help fight off the russian invasion. turkey's president says sweden should not expect him to support its nato membership bid, just days after a copy of the koran was burned during a protest in stockholm.

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