this is bbc news. the headlines: a chinese balloon has been shot down by the us military off the coast of south carolina on the orders of president biden. the balloon, which the pentagon believes had been spying on sensitive sites, appeared to plummet straight down into the sea after being hit. pope francis and the heads of the churches of england and scotland have urged the people of south sudan to work towards lasting peace. the three christian leaders met for a prayer vigil in the country. pope francis told thousands of worshippers that true peace harmonised differences. police searching for nicola bulley, the 45—year—old who disappeared while walking her dog in lancashire more than a week ago,

say they're looking for a key witness. officers want to speak to a woman who was wearing a yellow coat and pushing a pram near the river wyre. now on bbc news, the travel show. advice to the courts has been given that warrants for the forced installation of prepaid metres in the uk could be waved through. more than 1000 once—a—day were approved by magistrates last year as the cost of living crisis put many customers into arrears. earlier this week the regulator, offer jam, asked firms to suspend the compulsory installation of the devices after a couple of times investigation showed british gas subcontractors breaking into homes of vulnerable people. —— 0fgem. this was

into homes of vulnerable people. —— 0fgem. this was the footage that trust energy companies firmly under the spotlight. an undercover reporter from the times showed that collectors working for british gas breaking into the home of a single father with young children, to fit a prepayment metre. energy suppliers can legally force fits these devices. it should be a last resort, if people are in arrears, and vulnerable customers should not be switched. last year more than 1000 warrants per day were granted to energy companies, mainly in order to forcibly install prepayment metres. energy companies identified customers who were in arrears, than their agents applied for a warrant by telephone. they sent in large spreadsheets with between 101,000 cases. the hearings were signed off, issued and sent all the electronic once in a maximum of 15 minutes, according to evidence from pilots. this new advice or magistrates, obtained by the bbc, reflects internal disquiet that the process had been watered down, and that

magistrates were being obliged to take energy companies' claims in good faith, with little or no question. the advice was posted by the top magistrate in england and wales, saying it would be irrational to block the warrants, because they had been made by the energy companies under oath. some legal experts said the advice showed magistrates had no safeguarding role in the process. 1 magistrates had no safeguarding role in the process.— role in the process. i don't thinkthis _ role in the process. i don't think this is _ role in the process. i don't think this is what - role in the process. i don't think this is what the - role in the process. i don't| think this is what the public could reasonably expect of a process that empowers a private company to come and break your front door down. this is turning, the process has been turned into a rubber damp, when it should be a safeguard. campaigners said vulnerable customers could be victims. vulnerable customers, when faced with energy companies forcibly entering their homes to fix in a prepayment metre, expect protection from the courts. —— meter. that appears to not be happening, and that is very concerning. the government _ is very concerning. the government said - is very concerning. the government said this l is very concerning. the i

government said this was is very concerning. the government said this was a matterfor government said this was a matter for the independent judiciary. judicial sources suggest the document was an explanation of current law and processes that magistrates are bound to apply. now on bbc news, the travel show. coming up on this week's show... nigeria's looted treasures and the battle to get them back. they will not have any other choice than to release what belongs to us, because the whole world knows they are stolen properties. we get the low down on europe's sleeper trains. the private companies that are now embracing this new passion for sleeper travel are getting people back onto trains and away from short—haul budget flights. and we head to south america and what's officially the most electrifying place on earth.

hello and welcome to the travel show, coming to you this week from the historic university city of cambridge in the uk. now, it's the beginning of term and students are coming back, and like many generations before them, they'll be benefiting from some of the best educational resources in the world. and that includes valuable treasures looted from afar on colonial expeditions. but we're here because

the university has recently announced it's actually returning some of those, specifically benin bronzes, to nigeria. and it's there, in what was once known as the kingdom of benin, that i want to start this story. for centuries, this street, igun—eronmwon, has been famous for one particular craft — bronze casting. its name literally translates to "the place where bronze works are made". just five minutes from the palace, traditionally, it was the royal family and dignitaries who'd commission pieces to mark historical events. aigbe anthony spent 15 years mastering his craft. i've been into bronze—casting from childhood. i was taught by my father, which my father was taught by the forefathers, and it has been a family business, family work.

so we've grown into it as a living. he's part of an exclusive guild of bronze casters, which has 120 members that mostly work on this street, all practising a centuries—old technique where wax models are used to create a detailed mould for the bronze to be cast in. it will take up to two weeks to make a piece, and it'll take up to a month, depends on the size of the job, for the artwork. whenever a tourist comes to nigeria, they want to visit this place, so they buy and they commission works. whilst the technique has remained the same, most are working off printed images, with little access to their ancestors' original works. we have few ones that is still left, which is in family houses

here, and we still have them in catalogues. yes, there are a few, not much. we don't have much access to it because much of them is stolen. ifeel bad, and i'm not too happy because this is our treasure. it's what our forefathers laboured to do. it's reckoned around 10,000 pieces were looted by the british when they sacked benin in 1897, burning down the city's palace in the process. the bronzes were then sold to institutions around the world. now, there's no law in the uk which forces museums or other places to return stolen artefacts, but some institutions are doing it independently, like jesus college, cambridge.

they were the first institution in the world to return a benin bronze, in 2021. more recently, germany handed back 22 bronzes and agreed to release over 1,000 items from their collections. the horniman in london has also sent pieces back to nigeria, and soon cambridge university's museum of archaeology and anthropology will follow suit. we've identified 116 objects that were taken during the punitive expedition of 1897, and those are the objects that we will be transferring ownership of. i think it's impossible to overstate just how severe an act of vandalism and cultural violence this was. the heads that we see before us here were several of the objects that graced ancestral altars throughout the palace, and the purpose of those altars was very much to maintain the lineage,

to maintain the kingdom. the plaques that had been removed from the walls throughout the city were visualisations of the benin kingdom's history and heritage, and those were all taken away in a wholesale export of this material, leaving very, very little behind. tell me, why are you now and only now returning some of the pieces? i think it's the right time for these collections to go back. one might say it's long overdue. i think the main reason, the most recent reason, is that there has been a request from the nigerian government, and i think fundamentally for us it's the right thing to do. these were stolen, these were looted. there are many, many different ways in which objects came to museums like this. there's such an awareness

both within the uk and internationally of museums, colonial legacies, but also of the cultural heritage that is represented in museum collections. and we want the future retelling and care of these collections to be something that's really, really collaborative. now, this is not a sentiment shared by all. currently, the british museum in london has more than 900 items from the historic kingdom of benin, the largest collection of bronzes in the world, with no current plans to return any. the british museum sent the travel show a statement, where they say that the collections offer an important opportunity for audiences to understand the history of the british conquest of benin city, and to reflect on the impact of that period of colonialism. they're in dialogue with the nigerian government about this, but also cite the british museum act of 1963, that it's their founding responsibility to care for the collection on behalf of the world —

notjust the bronzes, but all the objects kept here. now, undoubtedly, that's not something that sits too well back in nigeria. the national museum in benin has the most accessible collection of bronzes for tourists to see, though a fraction of what it perhaps should be. the time is coming for the british, for london in particular, when they see neighbouring countries around them bringing the objects, they will not have any other choice than to release what belongs to us, because the whole world knows they are stolen properties. there is no place like home. by the time this object comes home, it is going to do a lot of things. it will heal the wounds,

it will create more jobs for our people. it will create more tourists to visit our museums. and on that note, plans are under way to build a brand—new museum to house their returning heritage. the edo museum of west african art is scheduled to open in 2026, and they're optimistic it will be filled with their missing bronzes. fingers crossed the museum project goes smoothly. but if you can't wait that long, here are some alternatives from around the world that you could consider. starting in asia, the national museum of cambodia in phnom penh is filled with reclaimed stolen statues. a lot of the items here were looted from temples across the country, including from the famous angkor wat. a team is constantly working on tracing and bringing back their antiquities from museums and private collectors around the world.

over in canada, the winnipeg art gallery has recently opened a centre showcasing the world's largest collection of inuit art. it's called qaumajuq, which means, "it's bright, it is lit," with a building very much inspired by being in the arctic landscape. more than 27,000 artworks are on display, including a large portion which is on loan from the northern communities. travelling south into the us, why not check out the first american national museum designed and run by indigenous peoples? it's part of the smithsonian institution group, this one based in washington. the building is made out of materials closely connected to the native communities across the continent. inside, you'll find more than 800,000 objects, along with regular workshops and talks. over to morocco next, where you may remember we sent ade to the newly opened modern african art museum in marrakesh.

there you'll find lots of artworks from around the country. its whole thing is about making art accessible, and the first sunday of every month, you pay whatever you want, or can afford, to enter. finally to papua new guinea, where its national museum in port moresby has the task of protecting and preserving the country's cultural, military and natural heritage. some locals see it as a spiritual home, due to its heritage inside. alongside its archaeological objects, it also has natural history specimens and contemporary local artworks. ok, so stick around, because there is loads more still to come in the programme. simon's got his top tips for booking onto europe's sleeper trains. and the place where lightning almost certainly strikes twice.

hello and welcome to london st pancras international, britain's european train terminal and one of the most beautiful rail stations in the world. in east asia, covid travel restrictions are finally unwinding in 2023. while mainland china is still closed to tourists, hong kong has lifted almost all its pandemic—related rules. 0verseas arrivals must simply take a lateral flow test within 2a hours of their flight departing to hong kong.

back here in europe, ferry links are being restored after the peak of the pandemic. the fascinating french port of le havre, a unesco world heritage site and gateway to the seine—maritime region, gets reconnected with portsmouth in southern england from march. also restored, international rail services from renfe, the main spanish train operator, from barcelona to lyon in southern france. which brings us on to my tip of the month. improvements in european rail services have made a cross—continentaljourney an increasingly cheap and appetising prospect this year. for example, on the main high—speed link in spain between the two biggest cities, madrid and barcelona, travellers can now choose from four competing operators.

plenty of 9 euro one—way tickets are available, booking several months ahead. and even at short notice, you can typically pay just 35 euros. great news, too, for those of us who believe that the most civilised way to travel across europe is by sleeper train. a new dutch enterprise, european sleeper, is starting an overnight service from brussels, antwerp, rotterdam and amsterdam to berlin. travel writer monisha rajesh, who's about to head off on a trip to istanbul on three separate sleeper services. it can be expensive but there are plenty of options, depending on your budget and what kind ofjourney you're looking for. tickets start at the very lower end, where you can travel in an upright seat overnight. but you can get seats for starting at around 45 euros, going up to around 270, if you want to be in a private compartment with a lovely big bed and an en—suite bathroom. tell me more about the new

brussels to berlin sleeper. is it really significant? i think it is, because i think the private companies that are now embracing this new passion for sleeper travel are getting people back onto trains and away from short—haul budget flights, which is what i think all of us want to see because of climate change. can an overnight train really compete with fast and frequent and generally low—cost flight? i think it's quite hard to get people to come onto a train for 16 hours at a cost which might be double what you would spend on a flight. but i think you will find people at least looking into it more, considering train travel. and if they don't have to be somewhere very fast, i think it's something that people will definitely embrace. lots of viewers are asking why long—haul airfares, particularly on routes from europe to asia and australia, have increased so much. well, partly the russian invasion of ukraine is to blame. it's greatly increased fuel costs, which are all the more significant on very

long flights. also, the closure of russian and ukrainian airspace means that many routes have to travel much further. staying with air travel, what's happening with airport security checks here in the uk? well, byjune next year, the current limits on liquids, aerosols and gels should be lifted, making the security checks much faster and less stressful. that's all for now from here at london st pancras international. wherever your next railjourney takes you, i hope it's a great success. and do keep sending in your travel questions. for now, from me, goodbye. i'll see you next time. now, here in the uk, we are slightly obsessed with the weather, but maybe not quite as much as in the lightning capital of the world. ok, that's not its real title,

but in the remote parts of venezuela where the catatumbo river meets lake maracaibo, lightning strikes 140 to 160 nights a yearfor hours on end. cat moh has been finding out more. this is what the earth's capital of lightning looks like. this is relampago del catatumbo, or catatumbo lightning.

it's only found in one remote part of venezuela and only accessible by boat along a route largely populated by wildlife. a three—hour journey from puerto concha, the lightning occurs above an area where the catatumbo river meets lake maracaibo. average temperatures here can hit above 32 degrees celsius all year round. some of the nearest human neighbours to this amazing display are in a village built on stilts, called an 0loga.

locals say catatumbo lightning is a symbol, a symbol of respect from nature. here, they call it �*ploy�*. which in english means �*curiosity�*.

nasa has since declared it

earth's lightning capital. catatumbo's 250 lightning flashes per square kilometre every year equates to a staggering total of 1.6 million bolts of lightning annually. the strikes are often visible for seven to ten hours per night. if the elements could write poetry across the sky, it would surely look like this. well, that's it for this time, butjoin us next week if you can, when... 0oh, crafty! look at this! ..christa's in switzerland, finding out about how a vast network of bunkers lying beneath the surface... oh, wow! ..have been adapted over the years. mmm! oh, that's lovely! and she heads to a hot—air balloon festival with a unique

view of the swiss alps. this word gets used a lot but there's something quite magical about being up here. but don't forget, until then, you can find a whole load of other amazing travel content from the bbc online by using the tags on your screen right now. until then, from me and the rest of the team here in cambridge, it's goodbye. hello. the second half of the weekend is set to be the brighter half of the weekend. after a saturday that brought mainly grey skies overhead, sunday promises more in the way of sunshine but a slightly chillier feel.

high pressure building strongly across the uk, keeping the vast majority dry with those lengthy sunny spells. this cold front has been slipping southwards and that's been introducing colder air, so quite a few places starting sunday morning around freezing. a little bit milder down towards the south of england, where we're closest to this area of cloud first thing, but that will be clearing away quickly and then, as you can see, there will be lengthy spells of sunshine. one thing you can't really see clearly here is some high cloud that's likely to stream in across parts of northern ireland, scotland, and northern england. that could turn the sunshine hazy at times but it shouldn't spoil things too much. temperatures a little down on where they have been — 7—10 celsius — but with the brighter skies overhead, i think it will still feel fairly pleasant for the time of year. now, through sunday night, this area of high pressure tends to drift a little further south—eastwards. under the centre of the high with light winds, could see one or two fog patches but around the edge of the high will be

bringing more cloud into northern ireland and scotland, hence, it will be a little milder here to start monday morning. the coldest weather down across england and wales with a touch of frost and some fog patches towards the south—east corner, but any fog should clear pretty quickly and then, plenty of sunshine across england and wales. some bright skies, too, across the east of scotland. the western side of scotland and northern ireland tending to see a little more in the way of cloud, maybe the odd spot of drizzle, a slightly stronger breeze. temperatures between seven and ten degrees. now, as we get into tuesday, we will see a weak weather front sitting somewhere across the centre of the uk. a little bit of patchy rain with that. to the north of it, some sunshine, to the south of it, could be some quite widespread fog on tuesday morning which will tend to lift and clear to give some spells of sunshine. temperatures between six and ten degrees. now, as we head deeper

into the week, high pressure holds on close to the south and the east of the uk but this frontal system pushing in from the north—west may well bring some outbreaks of rain and it will also bring strong winds at times in the north of scotland through the middle part of the week. further south, things stay calmer, some spells of sunshine, but with some patchy fog. the country's cultural, military and natural heritage.

this is bbc news. i'm lucy grey. the giant chinese balloon that had been floating over the united states has been shot down by an american fighterjet off the coast of south carolina. the balloon, which the us says was being used to spy on military sites appeared to plummet straight into the sea. china continues to insist it was a stray civilian weather observation airship. david willis is our correspondent in washington. 0fficials here are saying that this chinese balloon was brought down about six miles off the coast of south carolina

by a single missile fired by a us fighterjet.