Our europe regional editor, Danny Aeberhard has more details the rally was staged as a shot gcioss the rally was staged as a shot across the bowels of central government. The authorities set about 6000 demonstrators turned up but organisers put it as high as 20 5000. It was a resounding win in the elections. They want enhanced financial powers. To recognise officially alongside french. President Emmanuel Macron said he wouldnt agree to changing frances constitution. It marks the 20th anniversary of the targeted killing of the top official on the island. Separatist militants called a ceasefire in 2014. Now, time for the travel show. Full its funny but id always reckoned the the oil rich abu dhabi, here in the uae, was never that interested in attracting tourists. Unlike its flashy, noisy neighbour dubai, for example. But on this trip, i think i might have to revise that opinion. Because abu dhabi seems to be upping its game, especially in the cultural stakes. 0n myjourney, im going to experience world renowned architecture like the new louvre museum, and finding out how traditional local Musical Instruments are being revived. But ill also be exploring both urban and desert landscapes, to get a sense of how this emirate is making the most of its unique environment. Abu dhabi is entering a new phase in its breakneck speed development. But is it really going to reach the heights as a must see Tourist Destination in its own right . Its hard to believe abu dhabi was just a fishing village only a few decades ago. In 1971, the United Arab Emirates became a nation and its dominant stakeholder has always been abu dhabi, led by the al nahyan family, thanks largely to huge oil revenues. And when it opened in 2007, this impressive white marble edifice became a spiritual landmark. Abu dhabis grand mosque, grand in ambition, grand in scale, and grand in design. And when it was finished a decade ago, it became this emirates calling card to the rest of the world. Now, when they made this mosque, they were making a statement, werent they, about abu dhabi . Oh, yeah. What were they trying to say . I think, you know, when people think about the United Arab Emirates or the middle east, the first city that comes to your mind is definitely dubai. But i think after we built this mosque and it was the vision of the late, his highness zayed bin sultan al nahyan, he knew that this was going to be the icon that will bing people to abu dhabi and will show the true message of the middle east. 10,000 visitors come here every day. Inside, up to 40,000 worshippers can be accommodated on key days in the islamic calendar. Just look at the details of every single part of the mosque. It is absolutely beautiful. The carpet is from iran. You have the chandeliers up above us. In fact, this is the largest handknotted carpet in the world, and this gold chandelier is one of the biggest in the world. Islam is regarded here as a living, breathing faith, with verses from the koran the inspiration for all the design and architecture here. But i wanted to know from 0mar if the grand vision in abu dhabi really includes everyone who lives here, like the Expat Community and the migrants are work in relatively low paid jobs. After all, the emiratis are in the minority here. Just look around you. Youll find a lot of people from all over the world and all different backgrounds, who come here and have made this place home. The us always used to sell the american dream. There is the emirati dream, believe it or not. The emirati dream is definitely living a great Quality Standard of life and, of course, living with living amongst people from all over the world. This is definitely the emirati dream. In the wake of the jewel in the crown have come other signature, large scale construction projects. 0n saadiyat island, a cluster of magnificent galleries and museums include quite possibly the most prestigious art brand in the world, which has just recently opened its doors. For a decade now, the grand mosque has been abu dhabis most popular tourist location until this astonishing creation came along. The Louvre Abu Dhabi houses artefacts on loan from paris, and others, bought and permanent. From ancient pieces, to african sculptures, facing european masterpieces from every era. While contemporary arabic art shares space with chinese sculpture. Its a universal museum, its a museum that takes you through time and through different geographies. Youll be able to see different cultures and different civilisations in contact with one another. In a way, to me, walking to the galleries is walking through time and seeing what is happening in different parts of the world at the same moment. There is a medina, or arabic village feel, to the layout and as for the architecture here, well, its all about geometry and light. Its a dome symbolising islamic architecture, but as you can see, there is eight layers up there that allows the light to filter through and come down as you can see it, with what the architect calls the rain of light. So, this whole display of the museum is in a way representing who we are as emiratis, because wes always been in the middle of this region. The gulf has always been a connection of trade and different civilisations, so. Going through this narrative allows you to capture the essence of who we are, the essence of who the uae is today. And the museum is yet to reveal its most publicised exhibit a 500 year old painting of christ, which recently achieved the highest auction price for any work of art, by the very same artist who created this, leonardo da vinci. So basically, the chances are that the worlds most expensive painting is going to be in this room, possibly in this very spot. At 400 million. Exactly who bought the Salvator Mundi for nearly half 1 billion has been shrouded in some mystery. Reports claimed it was a saudi billionaire prince, the louvre people tell me it was the abu dhabi government. Either way, it;, be on display very 0011. Watch this space literally. Playing the cultural card here is notjust about splashing cash on Famous International brands and collections. There are indigenous art forms that are being revived, like traditional arabic instruments. In this academy, 60 students of all ages are learning how to play this instrument, the oud. Its related to the european lute and has origins as far back as the time of the pharaohs. Whats really great about this place is that you dontjust learn how to play the oud, you can actually watch one being made. Starting with the wood itself, and this is where the whole process begins. The craftsman here says by working eight hours a day for a month, he can make two of these instruments. This is artisanship of the highest order. Its been a privilege to watch you at work, thank you. So, fresh from the workshop. Lets see if we can make any music out of it. And im not going to find out more about the oud from just anybody, but actually, quite possibly the most famous female oud player in the world. What is unique about it . The uniqueness, it has a bowl at the back, not like the guitar, its not a flat. So, this bowl gives a deepness in the sound and also, we dont have frets. Right. So that gives richness. Yeah. Particularly in abu dhabi, i think the oud is very important for older people because you can find in every home, you can find a oud. Maybe they are playing it for fun, not very professionally, but they like oud here. 0k, time for me to get a lesson from the expert. These double strings are a bit tricky for a starter. Very good. Ok, thats relatively easy. Thats very good, for the first time. Can you play chords with this, or . Chords, yes, sure. This is c, e, g, c. Im sorry. C. Third finger. And sometimes, we are using the guitar technique, like. Playing the oud like a guitar. I just jammed with. Thats very good for a first time. Wow, that was very good. Ijustjammed with a world famous. It was very good. Of course, culture isnt only about fine art and classical music. Now, abu dhabi is staking its claim as the capital of sports in the golf, and not just by owning the elite football brand Manchester City or by hosting formula 1 races. Because women like amal are breaking new cultural ground by turning iconic urban landmarks, like the corniche, into concrete gyms. Amal is the first emirati woman to coach and compete in parkour. Its a full body workout. People underestimate just how much. There are so many things that youre actually doing that you could do at a gym, but you are just doing outdoors in a different way. You find a space and you start trying to put things on that space that you have. When was the epiphany, when you suddenly thought actually, i can do this . Since i was a child, i was always the rebel in the neighbourhood, like i was, you know, the one running around and it was. The way that we were brought up was literally, you know, barefoot on concrete. Girls play with boys, and we used to beat the boys, like the girls were the stronger ones, you know . I feel like we have created these barriers for ourselves. Especially when i first started parkour, for example, i thought that society wouldnt accept me and i was so afraid, but i felt like that was actually. Stuck with me as a child, like i felt i was afraid of it. But when i started doing the sport i had so much support and it surprised me because its actually contradictory to what people might have thought about a society, especially in the middle east, and it being an arabic country, you know . Amal has created such a stir that nike picked her up for sponsorship and commercials. Of course im not everyones cup of tea, not everyone is going to like what im doing, but i feel that if you are genuine, like for me sport has shaped me since childhood, thats super important and the message i want to give. From the restricted subways of an urbanjungle, myjourney takes me to the wondrous allure of a seemingly limitless desert, abu dhabis defining feature. Little wonder it was one of the locations for the most recent star wars movie. 3. 5 hours south west of the big city is the vast expanse of desert called liwa. Its the uaes driest region. Its remote, but beautiful. Its a world apart from the big city. At this annual sports festival, there are camel and horse races. But basically this is party time for petrol heads, attracting tens of thousands from all over the gulf region. When you just enter this area, its like the feeling of excitement. The adrenaline . Yeah. And truth be told its very much a male domain. Boy racers and supposedly respectable grown ups too bring their four wheel drives and buggies for a romp on the dudes and you dont get much bigger than the tal moreeb. 300 metres high at an incline of 50 degrees. Its crazy here its madness anarchy, almost. All these boy racers and man racers getting it out of their system but im going to meet a guy now whos a bit of a seasoned campaigner here. Mohamed, hi. How are you . Good, good. Can i pop in and you show me a bit of skills . By day, mohamed is the director of his own business, while also studying for a phd. But this is his real passion. I think i was born with this thing in my blood. So i remember when they used to wake me up for school, and, you know, when we are kids, like, i want to sleep a little more, and they would say, mohamed, here are the keys. Go and start your brothers car. And i would justjump out of bed, just for that moment of excitement. So tell me, how long have you been coming to this festival for . I recall i came the first time here in 2006. It has been growing so fast. Initially, i recall we used to come and find only a few tents. Right now its like a complete festival. Can you show me a few of the other things that you do . Ican. Wow fantastic this car is like as it came from the factory. So, from the factory it has around 250 horsepower. It will not be enough to take us to the top. Yeah. Whoa but i refuse to give up. You know what . Ive been looking at one of the worlds highest and steepest sand dunes for a while now. I really want to reach the top and, luckily, ive got myself a lift. Whoa whooa whoo we are getting to the top meanwhile, it turns out, my man mohamed, who took me for a spin earlier, isntjust an average punter here. Hes a serious competitor in the nightly races between teams. This is one of the world famous car races. Around 30 40 cars per event, per day. So imagine in two days you have around 50 cars competing. And he is back after a lengthy gap, when a mechanicalfailure put him in serious peril. I had a smooth race, to be honest, until the top and all of a sudden the car stopped. 0n the way back, i lost the brakes. Seriously. Actually, they didnt work. 0h, they didnt work . mohamed wasnt injured, but its been three years since that incident. Maybe before that time i was almost easy on Safety Measures and now. Now you are different guy, a different man . Yeah, yeah. The engines alone in some of these cars cost up to 80,000 each and royal families and famous name sponsors invest in the teams. Mohameds team have been working for six months on this machine alone. The intake manifold is custom made by hogans and obviously all of the gears and materials that we have to prepare a car for 1000 plus horsepower. It may be a different kind of horsepower, but theres something timeless about the prerace rituals. Gladiators coming out to test their nerves and pit their vehicles, spluttering like boxes of firecrackers, against each other. What the hell . 0h. Its like a crazy box of fireworks, storming up the hill, where you feel like the driver doesnt care if the whole car blows up, as long as they get to the top. Now its mohameds big moment. The car didnt make the distance and engine problems mean its now a write off and not able to do its second trial. But mohamed didnt seem too downhearted. Im super excited. When you launch, seriously, under that dune, you just see, like, the end of it and you aim for it and thats it. You forget about your fears, those butterflies in your stomach, nothing, seriously. Fantastic. Well done. Well done for doing it. Take care. A glorious fireworks display to match the fizzing and popping of the suped up cars. 20 years ago this extravaganza would have been unimaginable here. But this emirates still has quite a climb to sell itself as a Tourist Destination on a par with its louder, more glamorous neighbour, dubai. Using the heritage card, though, is a clever ploy, attractive to people who want something unique and off the beaten path and thats as true of the desert festival as it is of the new louvre. The hope is that by taking this route abu dhabi becomes a must see destination in the middle east. You might be hoping for some sunshine on sunday after that grey, rainy saturday. If so, its not looking bad at all, some sunshine on the way. Certainly a brighter day compared to what weve just had and this is what we had, a weather front very slowly moving across the uk, grinding to a halt pretty much by the time we got to saturday night and then through the night this weather front just sitting across the uk, raining itself out so it could rain no more and the skies in one or two areas starting to clear as well, so just Little Pockets of rain but clear skies too. Temperatures will be around two to three degrees in city centres very early on sunday morning. Lets have a look at the forecast around 9am in scotland, it will be pretty chilly, only three degrees for glasgow, edinburgh, a couple of degrees there in aberdeen. A little bit less cold we think in belfast, maybe five with some sunshine and look at that, not looking bad at all for manchester, kendall, manchester, wales, the south west, in fact, if youre lucky we could be waking up to blue skies in southampton but notice in east anglia and the south east, a bit more cloud there and that will be the trend for the rest of the day. That wind you will notice is strengthening across the south east here, coming all the way from scandinavia. Its a cold wind. It will drag in cloud off the north sea and also some showers, so it could be raining on and off at least from time to time in norwich and london. This is what it will feel like with that wind, around zero degrees. How about the rest of europe . I mentioned that wind coming from scandinavia, its not stopping across the uk, it goes all the way down to the bay of biscay and it turns around and moves all the way to morocco so theyre feeling some cold there as well, not looking great across that part of europe. Back to the wind, look what happens when it drags in those showers during the course of sunday night into monday, snow showers get into kent, sussex, essex, norfolk, suffolk, possibly the london area which means first thing monday morning there could be a little bit of snow lying around across the south east all the way up to lincolnshire just in time for the rush hour. This is what it looks like on tuesday, a weather front this time moving across the north and west and on this day we could have some snow in North Western parts of the country down to wales possibly the midlands, still cold, two, three degrees at best for most of us. Heres the summary for the week ahead, its going to stay cold, cold enough for some snow, widespread frost. As i said, cold enough for some snow. Welcome to bbc news, im duncan golestani. A Syrian Rebel Group that was linked to alqaeda says it shot down a russian fighter plane in Northern Syria this afternoon, killing the pilot. The militants said the attack was in retaliation for a russian bombing campaign. Sarah corker reports. The burning wreckage of what looks like a russian fighterjet, red stars clearly visible on the wing. This footage posted online appears to show the plane being hit and bursting into flames in a rebel held area of north west syria