this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. 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. 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 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.

wednesday brought big weather contrasts across the uk. some parts were tranquil light winds, early flog clearing to sunny spells. it was a different story here, strong wind, rough seas, cloud and outbreaks of rain. disputable satellite picture from wednesday tells the story nicely, this stripe of bright white cloud, whether front which has been weakening as it sinking southwards and by thursday morning, there is very little left on this weather front, a band of cloud, maybe the odd spot of rain clearing southern parts and then we see some spells of sunshine. but northern ireland will have some

showers, scotland seeing some showers, scotland seeing some showers and these will be wintry over high ground on the far north in shetland, those showers could bring snow to quite low levels for a time. scotland certainly seeing some showers, and these will be wintry over high ground, and in the far north, in shetland, those showers actually could bring snow to quite low levels for a time. and temperatures getting up to eight, nine, or ten degrees. but there will be something of a change in the feel of the weather as we head in to friday. we'll have high pressure to the south of us, that high, if anything, building a little more strongly. at the same time, though, this frontal system running across the north, and this weather set—up will bring a feed of west or south—westerly winds from the atlantic, see the yellow and orange colours on our air mass chart, it will feel milder. but with a lot of cloud across scotland, some rain in the north—west. from the atlantic, see the yellow and orange colours on our air mass chart, it will feel milder. but with a lot of cloud across scotland, some rain in the north—west. patchy rain further south, also affecting parts of northern ireland and northern england. but the best of the sunshine will be found across

the midlands and down into the south—east of england. temperatures 9—12, maybe 13 degrees in the eastern side of scotland. and this area of high pressure will still be with us, just to the south or south—east as we head in to the weekend. where winds are light, close to the centre of the high, we could well have some mist and fog patches around on saturday morning, across parts of wales, central and southern parts of england. northern ireland and scotland will see some quite large areas of cloud at times. sunshine i think in short supply on saturday, but temperatures 11, 12 or 13 degrees, so feeling very mild indeed for the time of year. into sunday, we could start off with some mist and fog patches in the south, some cloud rolling around the north—west of the uk, but some spells of sunshine, and still that mild feel, 9 to 12, maybe 13 degrees. as we head in to the start of next week, this area of high pressure will still be with us. it does start to drift a little further eastwards, a bit more of a breeze around the western flank of that high, some quite large areas of cloud, but we will see some spells of sunshine, and with a southerly wind it certainly isn't going to be particularly chilly, temperatures above where they should be for the time

of year, 10 or 11 degrees. now, that big area of high pressure is trapped, essentially, in this big ridge in the jet stream, the high pressure sitting just about here. but as we head deeper into the week, this ridge, this block in the weather pattern starts to break down, the jet stream breaks through, and we'll start to see weather systems heading our way. so we will see some outbreaks of rain and some brisk winds at times. but it is likely that high pressure will stay quite close to the south of the uk, so again, this will bring us split fortunes. the wettest and windiest weather up towards the north. further south, well, i think there is the likelihood that things will stay quite a bit drier. but the further north you go, we will see some spells of wind and rain at times, and generally, the weather is set to stay mild. that's all from me, bye for now.

welcome to bbc news, i'm rich preston. our top stories: three days after the earthquakes in turkey and syria, more than 12,000 people are dead, thousands more are still thought to be trapped. president erdogan has acknowledged mistakes were made in the initial response, as the extent of the devastation becomes ever clearer. the rescuers say that they will come back tomorrow and the next day. they will return to sites like this for as long as it takes to return loved ones to their relatives.

president zelensky, on his first visit to the uk