road restrictions remain in place around moscow after emergency security measures were imposed during wagner's advance on the russian capital. voters head to the polls in greece for the country's national elections. two former prime ministers from opposing ends of the political spectrum are in the running. conservative front—runner kyriakos mitsotakis is seeking a second term, but his rival alexis tsipras wants to block him from getting a parliamentarty majority. now on bbc news, the travel show. incredible food, fashion, ancient ruins, renaissance masters, and la dolce vita. this week, we are in italy.

from its stunning towns, sitting between the coves and cliffs on the amalfi coast, to the ruggedness and tranquillity of sardinia, and the hectic life between the ancient ruins in rome, italy is truly a place like no other, where art, food, culture and history all meet. though the history isn't consigned just to museums — sometimes, it feels like it's all around you. and we start this look back at our adventures to italy with the time that i was in a small town in the north of the country called ivrea, taking part in the annual

bruising battle of the oranges. its origins are unknown, but the festival dates back to medieval times, as locals battle between the carted henchmen and the locals defending the town. i was lucky to join a team for some last—minute preparations before battle commenced. so, this is the first time i've been on this cart. this is going to be my carriage. this is where i will be the baddie. and i'll be going through town, throwing these things at other people. i'm an obvious target — that's the whole point. whoa! but first, a trial run. what am i doing? am i throwing it at them? right! you've asked for it! ow, it really whacks you!

whoa! and that is just a soft trial. whoa. as i recover and psych myself up for the battle, my comrades prepare the cavalry. surprisingly, it's actually the presentation of your cart and horses that you're judged on during the battle, not your orange—throwing prowess. ok, so we've had the lunch. people have had some drinks and whatever to build up some sort of dutch courage. i've got now my armoury on, my insignia. my helmet is here. i've been given lots of advice. can i be honest? i am really quite nervous now, because i've got a feeling this is going to be pretty painful. however, i do have a companion here with me. hi. hi, raphael. hi. you've done this a lot of times. how are you?

what's your advice to me? oh, just to keep calm. just keep going, don't stop moving. don't stop moving, yeah. and...don�*t be afraid. it's just full pleasure. very easy to say this. it's100% pleasure. "it's100% pleasure." you will see. masochistic pleasure, i think! yeah. fanfare plays well, i'm on the cart, and we are nearing the city. and the tension is rising. this is not going to be fun, this is going to be...painful. hip—hip! hurrah! all: hurrah! hip—hip! hurrah! we stop on the outskirts of the town for the horses to be checked over. as my fellow team members say goodbye to their loved ones, there's a definite feeling of heading off to war in the air. hurrah! yeah!

this is it now. tell my family i love them. it was all a blur. the citrus smell, the noise, the adrenaline. i have no idea how long i was being pelted at. wow, that was exhilarating!

it was mad! it was like being in a weird dream. and all the advice that my compatriots on the cart gave me was brilliant. "breathe, keep throwing, keep throwing." and guess what? iwas 0k! fantastic, really good feeling! what an experience, to take part in the battle of the oranges — and all for the honour of the travel show. now the efforts to protect italy's history is a never—ending task for authorities. ade was recently in the eternal city of rome, where he joined the team dedicated to hunting down some of italy's most precious stolen items. i'll let him take up the story of one of the country's most famous missing works of art. so, this is how the story goes. the year is 1969. it's october 17th. we're in sicily. there's a huge rainstorm, and the skies are illuminated

by lightning and the sounds of thunder. now, whilst all the locals are asleep, thieves are breaking into a church through a side window. they enter the church, and they steal one of italy's most famous paintings, caravaggio�*s nativity. now it's rumoured that they cut the painting out of its frame and roll it up into a carpet, and steal off into the darkness of the night. now, it was also rumoured that this painting was stolen by one of sicily�*s biggest mafia bosses. the painting was also said to have turned up somewhere in switzerland. but over 50 years later, and still nobody knows what has happened to caravaggio�*s nativity. it's estimated that around $6 billion worth of plundered art is being traded on the global black market every year, so much so that a special branch of italy's military

police — or carabinieri — is dedicated to tracking down these stolen treasures. over the years, they've retrieved millions of pieces. and now, for the first time, these recovered artefacts are on display in a brand—new museum. i mean, some of these pieces are amazing. soon, all these relics will be sent back to their original homes across italy, whilst the new haul comes in. so, how many antiquities do you have in the museum? some of which have been trafficked thousands of miles right across the globe.

so it's a business? you've got people in italy, people in switzerland, people in the united states all getting paid, and they're all part of this system? and i couldn't resist one last question. nobody knows where the caravaggio is. i mean, do you know where it is?

have you got it? no, no! erm... not here, not here. tracking down the movements of these stolen items isn't easy. but, not to be beaten, the carabinieri are adopting ever more sophisticated techniques, and a change in the law means they can punish criminals more severely. in this battle against these criminals, do you think you're winning?

500km north—east of rome, we head to venice. there have been gondoliers working on the canals for centuries here — but now, there are only 400 of the famous venetians left. and so, those still working see themselves as custodians of the city. last year, carmen met some who swapped their boats for scuba gear to help clear up the city's canals. amazingly, from 13 of them, they've so far removed 8,000kg of rubbish, three mopeds, two air—conditioning units, one bicycle, 4,000 bottles, and an unbelievable 1,600 car tyres. what gave you the idea to start cleaning the canals? about three years ago, when i was working in the gondola, the water not too much deeper, and i see many tyres, many tyres, and the rest. right. we start in february

2019, yeah? and, er, we bring about 2,000kg in the first time. dredging up tonnes of rubbish, ranging from shopping trolleys to car tyres, is a mammoth and potentially dangerous task. so, the men are given bespoke training. they dive using specialist equipment in order to operate safely. and, early on sunday morning, long before tourists arrive, i'm joining the guys for the real deal. that's one hardcore scuba diving suit. there's not one bit of skin showing. now, i've dived before — i'm not sure i'd want to go into the canals of venice, as lovely as they are. i want to find out what

the newly—trained canal cleaners have to contend with. stefa no. stefa no, stefa no, stefa no. stefa no! ok, so what is all this? these are the heart... the heart of the operation? the teams have to stay in constant communication — it's crucial to help the guys underwater cope with the difficult conditions. it must be very dark and gloomy. can you see? 10cm, 20. that's it? or maybe not. wow. touch, you know? 0h, 0k. you go by feel down there. so, stefano, how often do you do this, every sunday? not every sunday, just in the winter. ah. because in the summer, i have traffic. right. lots of taxi drivers. much of today's catch is all too familiar.

many bottles. lots of bottles. drinking, the guys, in the night—time... yeah! they walk, they — boof — jump, when the bottle�*s empty, in the canal. right. since the clean—up began, some 4,000 carelessly discarded bottles have been retrieved. but later, a baffling object rears its head and has everyone mystified. there's something really big on the line here. it looks really, really heavy. there's about three of them trying to pull it out. what is that? speaks italian oh, my goodness. 0h! it's a trolley. it's probably somebody�*s luggage from about 20 years ago that went off into the canal. look, it's been down there for so long, it's covered in barnacles and slime, and sludge. is that coral?

oh, it's a sponge. no, no, no, sponges. these are sponges. wow. they're sponges, and other... oh, there's a rope. what's it like down there? er...mud. mud. is it dangerous down there? the equipment they use is full protection against the pollution. because the problem is not really the water itself, but the mud. the mud is laying in the canals years after years, and is full of bacteriological and chemical pollution. but what about the gondoliers when they are working? is it difficult if there's rubbish, you know...? yes, yes. when the tide is low, they feel something in the water that is not the real

sea floor, you know? yeah. canals must be cleaned. to transfer this idea to the public was very important. and also, for the sensibility of people — people living in venice and also tourists — that they don't have to throw things in the canals. once the rubbish has been retrieved, gondoliers hand it over to the local council to dispose of it correctly. incredible effort there, proving that they really see themselves as custodians of that great city. now, another famous city here, pompeii, was destroyed almost 2,000 years ago in 79 ad when the nearby mount vesuvius erupted and is now one of the most archaeologically significant sites in the world. back in 2021, lucy went to meet the new director who was trying to dramatically change the visitor experience and introduce new technologies

to preserve this invaluable record of roman life. walking through the streets of this ancient city, under the shadow of the active volcano that destroyed it, is actually quite unsettling. pre—pandemic, almost 2 million people came here every year, which put a strain on the site and led to it nearly losing its unesco heritage status in 2015. but it's come a long way since then, partly thanks to a new director who's made it his mission to protect the site whilst also improving the visitor experience. it has always been a site evolving with the times and so, it has always been a site to experiment and to try out new approaches, both for the conservation and for the dialogue with the public. and how do you think this will change the perception

of how pompeii used to be? it's really about the vision of the past. it's not only the big families, or not only the senators and the ones who got the statues on the forum and the local authorities, but it's also the slaves and women who often have — do not appear in the same way in the written and official sources, and children. and i mean, to see all this complexity of ancient society, that's really important. the challenge at pompeii is its exposure to the elements. and climate change means the site is subject to sudden temperature changes, from extreme drought all the way to heavy rain. today, new technologies are helping to preserve this invaluable record of roman life in the first century. drones are helping to map the site, robots are rebuilding frescoes, sensors are monitoring seismic activity, and thermal imaging cameras

are helping keep a check on humidity, helping staff to act quickly if potential danger strikes. but the real star of the show is, without a doubt, this four—legged robot that bizarrely looks likea dog. chuckles. good dog. so, paolo, i've got to be honest, i am geeking out over this. this has got to be the coolest, most elaborate robot i think i've ever seen in my life! so, talk to me about what i'm staring at. there's a lot going on here. it's an incredible piece of technology. yeah! it's a machine that is able to move around autonomously and is able to bring with it some other technologies, other payloads. here now, you see a computing power where we can run our software and the laser scanner that is a specialised scanner that is able to scan while the machine is moving and the robot itself is able to avoid obstacles,

to move autonomously in an environment like this one. and also, since you can upload artificial intelligence and machine—learning algorithms on it, you can bring ai wherever it is required and it is needed. well, that's almost it for this week, but we couldn't leave italy without mentioning food and one of its greatest exports to the rest of the world — yes, pizza. a few years ago, jo whalley had the tough task of visiting the nine—day world pizza festival on the coast of naples and was a judge in the prestigious pizza—making championships. it attracts chefs from around the world. we'll leave you with a reminder of howjo and the rest of the judging team got on. this is the big competition. who has the best

margherita pizza? i've got my secret voting sheet here. it's all being taken very seriously. so, this is my voting form. got the name of the chef, my name, and the different categories of marks that i can give each pizza. 500 is the best and ten is the worst. my fellowjudge mario shows me how to inspect all aspects of the slice — to check the crust is bouncy and that i can taste all the distinct ingredients. there are nine categories of pizza to judge and it's a gruelling pace. ok, quickly, quickly. right. oh, gosh. having to speed eat because i'm being too slow with my marking. some of thejudges have been here tasting for hours. they're only swapped out when they're too full to continue. so, i'm on slice number seven. mario has had over 40 slices.

this is 14. still going strong. i've been here forjust over three hours and there are so many people queued up outside, waiting to cook for us. when will it end? then, we get word that the final pizza is being sliced. number 52 — the last one. it's a really unusual flavour — sort of mustardy. quite like it, though. go out with a bang.

while the votes are being counted, the award for pizza acrobatics isjudged. it's seriously skilful. the award ceremony goes on into the night and there are winners from across the globe. the organisers here hope to take the napoli pizza village festival to cities like london and new york and spread the message around the world that neapolitan pizza isn't just food, it's a way of life.

on saturday, we saw the sunshine coming through more and more as the cloud broke up. that certainly gave the temperatures a boost. not only was it hotter on saturday, we have been drawing in this humid airfrom the near continent. that comes ahead of this wedge in front, which will push on from the west and bring some rain. and then we will find this fresh air coming in from the atlantic. but an uncomfortable night for sleeping on saturday night into sunday morning. we have got the rain band coming into northern ireland. that will put eastwards during the day. not much rain in the south. showers will follow in northern ireland. we could get thundery showers across eastern parts of scotland, north—east england, down to lincolnshire. this is where we have got this yellow thunderstorm warning from the met office. that is all pushing the heat and humidity more towards eastern parts of england, in london and essex 32 degrees. that is 90 fahrenheit.

towards the west, the signs of that cooler and fresher air coming in behind the band of rain on that weather front. behind the band of rain on that weatherfront. that behind the band of rain on that weather front. that is behind the band of rain on that weatherfront. that is not behind the band of rain on that weather front. that is not going to last too long. one sunday evening, it is out of the way. we get more of a westerly breeze coming in on monday. that will eventually bring this weather front and some rain from the atlantic, but ahead of it will start with some sunshine on monday. a few showers breaking out, mainly for scotland and northern ireland. and gradually through the day, itjust tends to cloud over more and more from the west. the air is cooler and fresher, less humid, so temperatures are lower. 22 or 23 degrees at best on monday. and then these weather fronts continue to push on from the atlantic. this is where our weather is coming from, the west, and some rain around on tuesday, particularly across scotland for a while. we are going to be left in a warm sector between two weather fronts and that means a

lot of cloud and damp and drizzly weather over some of the hills, but it is going to drive probably towards the south—east. a little bit more humid and those temperatures reaching the mid 20s. there is our warm sector, between the warm front and the cold front. that will push down that cold front from the north—west so that is a band of cloud and rain. that will be affecting scotland and northern ireland on wednesday, to be followed by cooler air in the north—west with sunshine and showers. the rain pushes into england and wales, but again towards the south—east, east midlands and east anglia, it is probably going to be dry until the evening or overnight, and still quite warm and quite humid here. but that weather front is going to move through and later in the week we are in that cooler air flow. we are going to stay in that for the outlook as well. low pressure to the north of the uk, high pressure more towards the south or south—west, over towards the azores. we are left

with a west to north westerly breeze. that will blow in some showers and may be some weather fronts moving down from the north—west, all steered by thejet stream, which is going to be sitting over the uk. we are not going to see a return to the heat and humidity we have got at the moment. the outlook is looking cooler, fresher, always wetter in the north with the drier weather towards the south and the east of the uk.

this is bbc news, live from london. this is bbc news, wagner mercenary boss yevgeny prigozhin is to leave russia for belarus, after calling off a rebellion against the russian military. meanwhile, wagnerfighters return to their bases. the kremlin says it will not prosecute them or their leader

for their advance on moscow.