this is bbc news. the headlines — the international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for vladimir putin and his children's commissioner, accusing them of war crimes over the unlawful deportation of children from ukraine to russia. china has announced that its president, xijinping, will visit russia next week to hold talks with president putin. beijing and moscow say the two men will discuss strategic cooperation. turkey says it has decided to start the process of ratifying finland's application to join nato. the decision comes after long delays, but turkey says more talks are needed before proceeding with a similar bid from sweden.

several thousand people in france are protesting the changes to the pension system with demonstrators lighting firecrackers and filling in the liniment police. just going 8:30 p:m.. coming up shortly if news watch but first it's time to escape with the travel show. i'm beginning this week in northern france on a journey that 2.5 million

people take each year. you kind of get an idea of how popular this place must be because it's off—season, it's super cold, but this bus is packed. you can see, i've just got a glimpse of the abbey. it does look pretty special. this is mont—saintmichel, one of france's most visited sites. it's an island off the coast of brittany in normandy, connected to the mainland by a half—a—mile—long bridge that opened back in 2014. and this year, the island celebrates a very special anniversary. it is the 1000th anniversary of the construction of the church. how on earth did they construct something like this 1000 years ago? yeah. this is the best of mediaeval engineering.

and it started off as a sanctuary dedicated to saint—michel, st michael, in the year 708. then it took off. you know, the pilgrims started to come. they had to come across the bay, so walk through the sands. and then it developed in the 11th century with the construction of the church. the abbey sits at the top of the cliff, surrounded by the village below. even nowadays, there are quicksands out there. there are a lot of strong currents. so, it must have been a really important site for people to want to make that kind ofjourney. it was the journey of a lifetime. it's just quite funny to come in here and the contrast with the mediaeval look, and then you've got shops. people are often surprised. but don't forget, there were pilgrims coming here as they needed to be housed for one or two nights. so there's been inns and souvenir shops, even, for hundreds of years.

of course, there were a religious kind of souvenirs, medals, you know, rosaries, just kind of things. so, what's it like taking tourists around here, then? well, it depends on the time of the year, really. it can be a very nice, peaceful time, you know. but i tend to like less and less working here in the middle of summer. and why is that? because there's too many people. but it's beautiful, of course. a new governing body recently took over the running of mont—saint—michel, with plans to improve the tourist experience. viking helmets, crossbows. eiffel tower. they're encouraging people to visit off—season and steering them away from the souvenir stores towards more of the surrounding area. but accessibility is still a bit of a problem. it's so steep and so slippery that even this electric attachment is struggling to get up here.

so my strategy�*s to get as much speed as possible up that hill, and as soon as i start slowing down, i'll be like, "save me!" excuse me while i take a taxi. oh, come through. we got it! come on! the islands governing body told us that making any changes to this protected historic site is difficult, but they're hoping to find a solution within the next few years. 0nly around 30 people live here on mount—saint—michel. bonjour! inez and jean are two of them. their home has been injean�*s family since before the 17th century

and is full of trinkets and antiques. tell me about this. this is your house? 0ui. and what is it like to live in this place day to day? up in the abbey, the bell was rung for evening prayer.

the abbey is home to a small number of monks and nuns, members of the monastic fraternities ofjerusalem. some of them spend their mornings down in the village tending to their guesthouse or working part—time jobs to help cover the order�*s expenses. yes, it's really a unique place. and, you know, also, - we are here to say that this place has been made first for god and for worship. i would you just like it just to be purely holy? no, that's, you know, that's the way it is. i you cannot change the reality. when we come here in- mont—saint—michel, we know that there is going| to be a lot of noise during the services, that some groups . are going to walk during the mass or whatever. i but we are here for them also. it's a question of balance, - and we have to find in the different

times of the day, the moments- where we are going to be in solitude and alone, to restore ourselves and have a real a deep - contact with god. back outside, i've taken to my crutches. these are the last steps, eddie. are you sure? yes, they are the last steps. is there champagne up here for me? and now we have to go down! and now we have to go down. oh, my days! that view is pretty amazing. and look at this. wow! look, there's the shadow of mont—sasint—michel on the sand. oh, yeah. that's the best time of the day.

when i come to this place, in particular the north tower, as we call it, for me, it sums it all up. i often compare it as being the jewel and the bay. so that's the jewel in the box. you've got it all. and that image has been there for 1000 years? yeah. and if you're thinking of coming to france this year, here's some things to look out for. the loire valley is among the best places to see classic france vineyards, mediaeval towns and more than 300 chateau. the city of blois is the bestjumping off point for the wider region and is itself home to two of the most popular castles, including the chateau de chambord,

a 16th—century masterpiece that many think leonardo da vinci had a hand in designing. in the summer months, you can head for brittany, which every year hosts a huge citywide art trail. it's 30 stages, taking the big attractions at the jules verne—inspired machines in the theme park. you'll have to pay to ride the great elephant or seaworld carousel. but many other sites on the routes are free. the beach town of boulogne is home to europe's biggest aquarium, and it's vast. there are about 1600 species and the main tank is so big, it takes about six weeks to fill. there are rotating exhibitions right now. augmented reality allows you to experience what life is like for creatures in the open seas. i'm in mont—saint—michel, in northern france, where an unlikely dish has become

something of a tourist attraction. i'm getting into it the beat here. the med pilon omelette has been served here since the 19th century, when the owners were in need of a quick and easy recipe to serve to the island's many visitors. since then, it's become a strange staple of the french election cycle. if a presidential candidate visits mont—saint—michel and doesn't eat the omelette, superstition says they're doomed to failure. and some people might say that you have to be pretty important just to afford it because prices start at 32 euros just for an omelet. you do get entertained, though. the moment of truth. time to see if this lives up to all the hype. i like it. really light and fluffy.

i'm feeling presidential already. and remember, you can catch the longer version of this show on the bbc iplayer. but for now, i'm off to get warm cos it's so cold! take care, bye—bye. hello, and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed. why were some bbcjournalists this week notjust reporting on industrial action,

but on strikes themselves? and a row over comments made by a bbc presenter. sound familiar? whenever there's a big speech or debate due in the house of commons, it's become the practice of the bbc and other media organisations to set up shop opposite parliament and broadcast live from the patch of grass known as college green. when that happened for the budget on wednesday, not for the first time, it was a case of camera, lights, action and background music. one of the measures that we're expecting him to go ahead with, which is raising corporation tax, the tax on companies' profits, from 19% to 25%, although we're expecting that he might offset that with some other investment allowances to help business. helen, we'll talk again later.

to the strains of abba, hopefully not then. thank you very much. once the strains of money, money, money had died away, shaun ley had some more music to contend with. this time a tune with a rather painful relevance for the bbc at the moment. but actually it's worth more, - if corporation tax is a bit higher, and this is the point i think- that the government's going to try and make when it talks about success is that the government might try - and do something quite radical on this. - there's certainly been . pressure to say actually, right, write these extra costs off in the year - the investment is made.

not easy discussing the finer points of corporation tax while the match of the day theme tune is blaring out behind you, and alison beaumont considered it very much not worth the effort. the budget was preceded as usual by days of previews, leaks and educated guesses as to what might be in it, including on tuesday's news at ten. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, is expected to announce measures to encourage more people, including younger parents, back to work in england. the current 30 hours of free childcare for three and four—year—olds will be extended. it's thought to one and two—year—olds in what's been called the centrepiece of the budget. for ted, it was all too much, too soon, he wrote.