this is bbc news, the headlines. the russian government says one of it's leading war bloggers has been killed in an explosion at a cafe in st petersburg, russia's second largest city. vladlen tatarsky was a vocal supporter of russia's war in ukraine and was holding a meeting at the venue. authorities in the united states have been assessing the damage caused by storms and tornadoes. at least 26 people are known to have died and dozens are missing. the bbc has been told there are �*positive updates�* in the case of british men, two of whom are pictured here, who were arrested by the taliban in afghanistan earlier this year. and pope francis has led mass in st peter's square in front of more than 30,000 people, kicking off the year's easter services, just a day after leaving hospital in rome.

you are watching bbc news. now its time for the travel show. this week on the travel show: we've got the struggle of equality being queer, and the struggle of equality being indigenous people in this country. how pride reaches the world's oldest cultures. things like this make me happy because it's ensuring that things are changing. how to see the world without being able to hear it. you would see that the smell is close, but then the next smell and the mouth is different. and a teetotal tipple in the land of wine. it's good actually! i don't like it.

hello there from sunny paris, where later on in the show i will be finding out whether the city of love is ready to relinquish its favourite drink, but first... we're off to sydney, which is celebrating 50 years since its first gay pride week. and five since same—sex couples were given the same marriage rights as everybody else. so that's made this year's pride event all the more special, as jackie wakefield has been finding out. the summer season in sydney, and everyone is out on the streets. it's the time of year the parks and open spaces are full of parades, parties and concerts. and this year, after the quiet

of australia's long lockdown, nobody needs much excuse to head outside to reconnect with their friends. most cities have a pride celebration. they have become a regular fixture in the calendar, but this year in sydney, we have got a special edition — world pride is in town. god save the queen! world pride is like a touring jamboree, held in a different place every other year, and for some, sydney is the perfect host. it's going to be the queerest, biggest celebration of pride we have ever experienced here in australia. you think mardi gras is big — this is mardi gras on steroids. it's so free! i've only been in sydney for a couple of years, i came from tasmania, so sydney is pretty awesome. it's nice to see everybody out and about, celebrating, even friends who aren't in the community, just everyone gets together for it.

45 years ago, we call our '78ers, in 1978, a group of people marched on the streets and protested for equality. a lot of people were brutally attacked, a lot of people were put injail, and from them was the start of our first public pride movement in 1978, which has now turned into our sydney gay and lesbian mardi gras parade. this is the first time that a world pride has taken place in the southern hemisphere, so i say to people we won it on three things. we won it on our first nations disability and inclusion and culture because we are the oldest surviving culture on the planet. we won it on the advocacy of our '78ers and our sydney gay and lesbian mardi gras, and we also won it because of our relationship with the asia—pacific region. in previous years, it has been held in new york and copenhagen. this is a first time it's come to the southern hemisphere, and that allows the spotlight to be

shone on people from the oldest known surviving culture on earth. welcome, each and every one of you, onto my gadigal people's custodial land. applause. normally this place is an arts centre, but during world pride it's where australia's first nations lgbt community has been coming, and for the duration, they have renamed it marri madung butbut, or the gathering space. chocolate box grew up in a small town in new south wales and is now a drag act in demand. in fact, she won the miss first nations competition in 2019 and 2020, and is competing again this yearfor the title of supreme queen. i fell into drag because i was working as a bartender at a gay

venue and i saw a drag and i said, "that looks fun," and it looked like a way i could continue my dance career and like live out my dream basically, and i did it, fell in love with it, got asked to do a show and then asked to come back, and here we are eight and a half years later — it's myjob, it's fabulous. your cultural background, how does that come into your performance? how does that influence you? the way we tell stories, that's how we communicate, that's how we pass on our... there is no realfamily heirlooms, there's no material things, we tell stories, we pass stories down from generation to generation, and that's what we're doing on stage every time we get out there, we're telling a story, we're painting a picture for the audience to imagine. we all need, everyone just needs to communicate more really, it'd make the world much easier.

australia's government said world pride had the potential to be the biggest event in sydney since the olympics in 2000. for first nations communities, it's a very bright spotlight, and an opportunity like no other. what does it mean for you personally as a first nations man in the lgbt community? what does that mean for you to see everything happening today? ten, 20 years ago, i don't think something like this would have happened, so to be able to see our community and our culture front and centre is something that is so incredible, because if you can see it, you can be it. what is it like to be black queer person in australia? we've got the struggle of equality being queer, and the struggle of equality being indigenous people in this country, first people from this country, so i think there is a lot of work to go. things like this make me happy

because it's ensuring that things are changing and the conversations are happening, but there is a lot of truth telling that needs to happen, there's a lot of healing, and i think it comes from the non—indigenous part to be able to actually really recognise what happened here, and the effects of what happened all those years ago. chocolate box's dance set took runners—up place in the end. the title of world pride�*s miss first nations supreme queen went to cerulean — a drag artist from melbourne. and the next world pride will be in washington, dc in 2025. jackie wakefield in sydney. if you're planning to spend any time there this year, here are some of the things we think you should know. the landmark sydney opera house

celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. there are loads of events and performances planned, including the inside out at the house seven—day festival in may. shows will be simulcast live to audiences outside on the forecourt, and you can pick up tickets for that starting at $10. the city is also hosting a south—by—southwest festival in october. it normally takes place in texas every march. this is the first time it will ever have been held outside north america. expect lots of music, film and gaming events, red carpet premieres, esports tournaments and concerts across the city throughout the week. finally, one thing definitely worth wrapping your mouth around while you're in town is the great aussie pie. you will see pie stands around all the main sports grounds, but in recent years there has been an explosion

in higher end alternatives. try the wagyu beef or lankan chicken curry in the surry hills bakeries, or you can search out harry's cafe d'wheels, which has been serving its famous tiger pies for more than 80 years. right. next this week, we're off to mexico city, where you will find amazing street food pretty much everywhere. our global gourmet has been to meet one man whose filthy culinary creation has created something of a stir.

still to come on the travel show... see the world without

being able to hear it. and why france is saying 'non�* to a booze—free future. not my taste. i like wine, regular one, i'm used to that. so don't go away! a trip down memory lane next, and one from our series of encounters with travellers who experience the world very differently. now, the prospect of heading for a life on the road while deaf may sound daunting to many of us, but for one woman, it's opened doors and sparked new friendships, and we met her back in 2019.

cork pops. to end this week, back in the french capital and taking some time out for a little tipple.

whether you're mad for merlot or salivate over a sauvignon blanc, the city of love swoons for a glass of wine. as other countries have music orfashion, in france, you'll see a glass of wine on each table in any bistro or michelin—starred restaurant. i mean, there are paintings about wine, they fought wars about wine. it's worth 25 billion euro a year to the french economy and then, there were 5.5 billion bottles produced in france last year. but as bars and restaurants all over the world shut their doors, the pandemic forced loads of us to reassess our relationship with booze and explore more non—alcoholic alternatives. international sales of non—alcoholic drinks have shot up by a quarter but in france, the growth has been slower, reportedlyjust 4% in the same period.

so, how do parisians feel about alcohol free wine? i've never tried it. i like wine — regular wine. i'm used to that. i think we're losing something. you want to feel the taste. - it's not as fun, either. one man hoping to transform french attitudes is augustin. hello, ade! bonjour! last year, he set up what he says is paris's first shop entirely devoted to non—alcoholic drinks. do you get any snobbery? do you get people who come in and when they hear there's no alcohol, they're like, "what?! what is this? !" yeah, at the beginning, some people were kind of making fun orjust laughing when they entered. but then, for us, it's not against alcohol because most of our customers, they're what we call 'flexi—drinkers', so they keep drinking alcohol but they also, time to time, want to have a break. of course, you have all the pregnant women, the muslim people who never drink alcohol.

actually, it came from my own story because i quit drinking during the pandemic. i don't like soda, i don't like very sweet beverages so i was looking for other options. he's far from the first person to ride this trend. a few rounds of alcohol—free bars have opened up over the past few years all across the world. from 0% tokyo to sans bar in texas, to the virgin mary in dublin. along with spirits and beers, augustin stocks two kinds of alcohol—free wine. the first is de—alcoholised. it's fermented like a traditional wine before the alcohol is then removed. you'll see the smell is close, but then the lands in the mouth is different. you know what? that is so interesting. so, i can taste the kind of familiarity and then, i'm waiting for the alcohol. but it hasn't arrived. it's like wine—light.

the second kind doesn't involve fermentation and is more like a poshjuice. and this one is very good if you eat it with your meat or pasta. we've picked a particularly potent one made from... ..beetroot. it's busy. i don't think i'm ready for this one yet. but this is exactly what we see with our customers. so now, they are more looking into substitutes, so the de—alcoholised wine, and we know in some years they may look for new recipes and new techniques and everything. but are parisians ready to embrace this new gastronomic experience? there's only one way for me to find out. excusez—moi? s'il vous plait. would you like to try some non—alcoholic wine?

it's good, actually! i like it! i don't like it. i don't think it tastes like wine. no, it's sweeter, i think. - oh! it's actually good! you like it? yes. wow! that's the de—alcoholised wine. now, for the beetroot. not my case. it's more... more acidic? ..acid, yes. more acidic. it's...this one's bitter, but... laughs. and whether they like the wines or not, most of the parisians we spoke to were at least open to alcohol—free alternatives. yes, because i'm not fond of alcohol. i prefer the taste. so, for you, it'sjust finding something that has the right taste? yes. and then it'll be a winner? yep. cork pops. i'm not sure if the people of paris

are quite ready to give up traditional wine just yet. but the idea of being able to have a couple of glasses without having a hangover the next day, i think it's pretty cool. well, that's your lot for this week. coming up next time: rajan�*s in the spanish city of malaga as it marks 50 years since the death of its most famous son, the artist pablo picasso. you can see the influence of the city on his art, it's very diverse and there is a lot going on. and we are in glasgow to reveal the hidden story behind the uk's real national dish — which isn't fish and chips, in case you were wondering. have ever told anyone outside the restaurant what's inside? ha. until then, you know how it works. you can find us on bbc iplayer as well as on social media, too. we're in all the usual places, along with lots of other great travel content from around the bbc. see you soon. bye—bye.

hello there. let's take a look at the weather for the week ahead. now, following an exceptionally wet march, especially across england and wales, there's plenty of dry weather to look forward to in the forecast with quite a bit of sunshine about as well. these weather watcher pictures taken today in lincolnshire and in pembrokeshire and there's more sunshine as we head through the next few days. it should also stay dry with high pressure very firmly in charge. there's an area of high pressure out towards the south west and also towards the east, just sending in this easterly feed of air towards north sea facing coast. so a little cooler here. but of course, the high pressure is blocking these weather systems, attempting to push eastwards and coming nowhere near this weather front as we head through monday.

so it will stay dry across the board. there'll be a lot of sunshine around, a little cloudier, a little breezy across north western areas of scotland and across northern ireland as well. but even here, some sunny spells cooler for north sea facing coasts and possibly some patchy cloud towards the south and east. temperatures between ten and 12 degrees. and then overnight on monday into tuesday, we'll see clear skies and light winds. and again, another frost as we head into tuesday morning can see that from the blue tones here, but always milder towards the north and the west with the cloud and the breeze. of course, now this is the position of the high pressure on tuesday. there is a weather frontjust moving into north western areas of scotland. so we'll start to see the cloud thicken here and the wind is set to pick up as well. also plenty of cloud across northern ireland. we start to see some outbreaks of rain, but as the weather front bumps into the high pressure, it's fizzling out and of course, it's being blocked. so not really moving very far eastwards. perhaps then a bit more cloud one or two showers for eastern scotland. lion share of the sunshine, england and wales. again, top temperatures between 11

and 11! degrees celsius. again, a little cooler perhaps for north sea facing coasts. now, as we head through tuesday into wednesday, our weather front starts to push a little bit further eastward. so just sending some more cloud bit further eastwards. but again, for the vast majority of us, we should stay dry across england and wales. most of that rain is across north west england and for north west scotland. for northern ireland too, temperatures that will peak between 11 and 13 degrees celsius once again. but it's cloudier, it's windier and there will be some outbreaks of rain towards the west. and then the focus of that rain, of course, moves further eastwards as we head into thursday. it's still quite far away, meteorologically speaking, still a lot of uncertainty. but this is probably the position of the rain as we head through thursday. you can see it's starting to clear these western areas. so there should be some sunshine emerging across northern ireland, western scotland, down through north west england and western wales. their temperatures once again, 11 to 12 degrees celsius, slightly higher where we've got the best of that sunshine. and then we head into the easter bank holiday weekend and good friday, we start to see that high pressure build

back in again. still some weather fronts out towards the west, but it's looking dry with more cloud across much of england and wales on friday. but that should start to break up. best of the sunshine i think for scotland, northern ireland, north west england too temperatures will respond up to around 15 degrees celsius, even where we have the cloud. then it should start to break up. but again, a bit cooler towards those north sea coast. the high pressure hangs on. look at bank holiday monday though. we've got another weather front starting to approach. so by then we could start to see some outbreaks of rain yet again. but it does look as if the vast majority of the bank holiday weekend is going to be dry. there'll be a bit more cloud around than there is at the moment. but still some sunny spells emerging at times. you can see from the temperatures from our capital cities that they'll be round about the average or just slightly above. enjoy the sunshine. bye— bye.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. russia says a pro—kremlin military blogger has been killed in an explosion at a cafe in st petersburg where he was holding a meeting. 16 others have been injured. vladlen tatarsky wrote blogs on the telegram platform from the front line supporting the russian invasion of ukraine. and at least 26 people are now known to have died after severe storms batter the north—east of the united states. several of the world's largest oil exporters, including saudi arabia, have announced cuts in production to maintain prices as demand decreases. in finland's general election, the centre—right leader, petteri 0rpo, has claimed victory the bbc has been told there are "positive updates"