After an iconic hero, too, except this one is very much alive and kicking. For those who don't know who he is, cristiano ronaldo is a very good footballer, and this is his home city, funchal, which is the island's capital. I'm getting the strong impression they really like him here. And itjust so happens that ronaldo is playing tonight for portugal in a major tournament. And i'm going to meet one of his biggest fans, ana isabel, who's here somewhere. I'm going to find her. We'll have to wind our way through this crowd. Hey! ana! rajan! nice to meet you. 0h, lovely to meet you finally. Wow! this is a good place! well, yes, we have the best spot. Now we support portugal. Come on. Let's do it. Well, listen. 0k. Hey, drinks! to portugal. To cristiano. To madeira. Did you know that the british introduced football to portugal? and do you know where they introduced football to portugal? madeira. Right here! excited cries do you think ronaldo helped to increase tourism to madeira, awareness of madeira? absolutely. Yeah, he put madeira on the map. Literally. It's penalties, and ronaldo is about to take the first one for portugal. Exactly. He has to score. Forza, ronaldo. Cheering let's just leave the game at that — on a high note. This atlantic isle has traditionally attracted an older crowd, but in recent years, that's been changing and tourism is very much on the up. And so i'm out bright and early to catch up with ana isabel again to see more of funchal. Hey, isabel. 0h, rajan. How are you? how are you after last night? er. . . Are you still alive? recovering, recovering. Recovering. But it's nice to see you. Really? tell me about. . . You said to me, you promised me you would show me your funchal. I promised you — and here we are. And here we are. This is a beautiful street. I mean, i love these painted doors and everything. Yes. This is santa maria street. This is one of the most beautiful parts of the city, where funchal was born, and also one of my favourite parts. This was actually a project that happened years ago. They invited local artists to bring a bit more life into the street. Right now, we don't find many people, but at night, you don't find a place to sit. It's really, really busy. This is a place that we share with visitors. There's a strong smell in here, isabel, isn't there? yes! fishy! this is our local fish, the famous espada. Espada? black scabbardfish. Oh, wow! this was discovered early days, in1419, and they were terrified because they used to call it the monster fish. 0k, look. Ugh! aha! ugh! look at this. Do you want to hold it? ugh! yep! no, here, here. It looks really ugly, but it is one of the most delicious fish you can have on the island. Yeah? and i really hope you can. . . You'll be able to try this. This was my firstjob. I was here for 11 years. 11 years, you worked here? yes. Did you drink any of the wines? oh, god, yes! it was a beautiful experience. Can i have some of this beautiful experience? yes, you will. Absolutely. Let's do it. Wow. Look at this! hang on. This is. . . . . Five glasses of wine for two people. Yes, well, you're getting the whole set! have you seen tourism change in madeira over the time that you've been working here? well, a lot. I worked also in the beginning as a tour guide. We have the elderly range of clients coming into five stars, but we have also an interest of younger generations coming to madeira. And covid was the perfect situation. We had the green corridor. We had all the facilities, everything ready. There were the families with children. There were the nomads. There were young people that were trying just to go somewhere. And there was one place showing up — madeira. They arrive here and say, oh, my god, where am i? they were, like, amazed. It was like a revelation for them? it was a revelation. And what happened is, they start coming back. In fact, the number of tourists visiting and staying on the island was on the decline in the years leading up to covid. Now, it's up 30% from pre—pandemic levels, with no signs of slowing. Well, i have a very big surprise for you now. We're going on a very nice adventure. So we're getting in one of these? yeah, we're getting on this. These guys are carreiros. Carreiros? carreiros. They have these amazing boots. These are very thick leather. And they have the rubber sole, which is the brakes. They become the brakes? yeah. Ok. Hello. How are you? very good. Here we go! whoa! fantastic. Yes! this is amazing. I mean, what's the fastest you can go on this? you can go up to 30km an hour. 30km an hour? wow! this exists for more than 100 years. This starts middle of the 19th century, 1850. People that lived here, the british and locals, they used this as a way to go in town for their business. Amazing! what a way to get in town. Yeah. Is this your family business? did your father do this? yes, yes. Really? my grandfather. Your grandfather? yeah. Wow. So they keep it in the family? it's good exercise every day. It's brilliant exercise. Oh! wow. This is the finish line. Fantastic! in 2023, madeira took in 656 million euros in tourism revenue just from overnight stays. It's a massive income stream for the islanders, but with that comes other issues. Now, madeira is an island, and you can't come here without checking out the fantastic coastline and the beautiful atlantic ocean. And luckily, i'm going to meet somebody, marcio suarez, who's going to take me out for a ride. Marcio comes from a long line of fishermen and, for a time, he was one, too. But in recent years, with more people coming to the island, it's become far more lucrative to take tourists out rather than bring fish in. Look, nice. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Look. Wow! crabs. Tell me about some of the things that you have found in the water. So we've just arrived by boat to this faja. Now, a faja is the result of cascading volcanic rock or lava flow which creates a plateau which is really fertile. And that means you get these groves of amazing subtropical fruit and different species of vegetables, which is fantastic. Early settlers harvested these strips of land, though back then, the only way in or out was by boat. Here at faja dos padres, a lift was eventually built, then a cable car, increasing the number of customers to sustain a thriving restaurant business where the owners serve the produce from the farm. And itjust so happens one of the specialities is the black scabbardfish — the one from the market. Excuse me, sir. Ah, hi. Scabbardfish with the lime and mango sauce. Oh. Thank you so much. Bom apetite. Looks great, thank you. So, it looks nothing like what i saw in the market, which is quite nice. Try a bit of the mango sauce. Oh, that's really nice. Tender, white, nice fish. Mmm! and the mango sauce. . . . . Is exquisite. Ha! just look at this — trees of mangoes, which is where my mango sauce came from! well, i could spend all day here — but i have a cable car to catch. This island is guardian to the largest surviving area of laurisilva forest in the world. Unesco declared this 20 million—year—old woodland a world heritage site, and the locals in madeira are fiercely protective of it. You won't find many buildings. But what you will see, and hear, are these. . . . . Levadas. They're irrigation channels that span 3,000km across the island — and they've become somewhat of an unintended tourist attraction. There are a number of different apps that you can use to navigate your way down these levada walking paths. And right now, i'm going to meet miguel gouveia, whose family has spent generations actually building these levadas. But i've got to find him. Wish me luck! it's very dark. And i'll be honest, i don't completely trust my own map—reading skills. Look, light! and it's a gorgeous day, actually. Here we go. Freedom! miguel, right? yeah. Welcome. I'm so relieved to see you. It's so dark in there! yeah, but it's nice weather here. I can tell. Wow! our ancestors had to build levadas to take water from the north to the south for irrigation purposes. How new are these ones? this one right here was part of a plan done back in the �*50s with the purpose of producing electricity. Ah. And you said yourfamily were involved in that? i am fourth generation. So, levadas is like the blood in our veins. Wow. I can imagine, growing up here as a young child, it must have been so exciting to wander around and discover stuff. This used to be like my back yard. There's a house up there. We used to play football up there and the ball went coming down, all through the laurisilva. . . Well, that must have made you a better footballer, because you didn't want to keep coming down here to pick it up. No. . . I started to play other sports! i was really fortunate to have this growing up. So, now people can experience a little bit of what. . . And we can see them here, walking right through. There's a lot of people coming here. Yeah. Whoa! it's been quite a steep journey so far. Yeah. Where's the house, then, that you were staying in? the house isjust 100m up there. Up there? yeah. Much like in the seas, there's been a noticeable increase in rubbish, illegal camps in the protected forest and a general disrespect for the environment. It's supposed to be drinking water. Miguel, tell me, what are some of the worst things that you've seen left behind in these levadas? that we've seen with this increase in tourism? we've seen bottles, plastic bottles, a lot of wraps and even glass bottles. Glasses and bottles. So, luckily, there are groups taking action and trying to keep madeira clean. One of those is a group called clean madeira. They have a very intense social media presence, and this is making a big difference, because people are starting to talk more about the need to keep madeira clean. So, raj, we are in santana. Actually, this is the highest city in madeira. And i wanted to show you this house, typical house. It's an icon in madeira. Whoa! it's called house of santana. Beautiful. The thatched roof and everything. It's amazing. Knock at door they greet each other miguel�*s friend, jose branco, comes from a long line of bakers. He even grows and grinds his own flour. This is actually known as santana bread. The sweet potato is added for extra nutrition. Mmm! that's nice. That's really nice. Mmm. Lovely texture and lovely taste. Really good. Thank you. Mmm. Since we've seen levadas, i would like to show you an alternative. In portuguese, this is called a camino real — in english, a royal road. The king of portugal commissioned six routes in the 19th century, connecting different parts of the island. They were built, eminently, to be a safe route to transport goods, goods produced here and all around madeira. Before that, they had to come in and out by boat. With the advent of actual roads for cars, these walking paths became largely redundant, but miguel has been on a mission to revive them. I first met the royal paths back in 2015. I wanted to escape the city turmoil and all the work problems. And then we did a second journey around madeira in the winter and then people started noticing that we were doing this and this is a very nice way to know madeira. Miguel started an association, along with some others, and now more than 100 people join their annual walk around the island along camino real 23. Our mission was to preserve camino real, to value it and to get people to know it. And i think also the fact that i was a mayor in funchal also helped that. . . You were the mayor of funchal? yes, i was the mayor of funchal. Right, 0k. Yeah, the mayors also walk. They laugh why do you think this is a good alternative to walking the levadas? so, this camino real was built for mobility, for transporting also goods. So, this is its purpose. The levadas weren't for that, were they? no, levadas were made for irrigation and for drinking water and power supply and energy production. And, i suppose, as we've seen, it means that the crowds are dispersed more. Yeah, sure. The levadas are now under a lot of stress, tourist stress. And this is a good alternative for people to know madeira in an immersed way. Plus, i guess, it's really good for the local economy, too? yeah, yeah, sure. Because people walking the camino real will buy what they need, wherever along the camino. So, they will help secure jobs, leave added value everywhere. So, it's a win—win. And. . . . . What�*s not to like when you have these amazing views behind you? yeah, sure. If you like the views, i have something in store for you. Really? so, rajan, congratulations, you finished the camino. It's time to celebrate with a toast. Poncha. Ok. I bet it's very healthy. Very healthy products from madeira, with sugar cane, honey and orange juice. Beautiful. Saude. 0oh. . . 0oh! are you sure there's only honey and sugar in this? what else is in here? ah, i said there's sugar cane. . . Ah. . . But in the form of rum. They laugh and i can taste that. Saude! now, i've been told i can't leave this island before experiencing one of its famous sunrises. That is incredible. And it pretty well sums up most of my time in madeira — from the craziness of watching an international match with passionate portuguese football fans like isabel to then being up in the mountains in the peace and serenity of the royal path with miguel. And one thing that i really noticed — while the rest of the world stood still during covid, here, it was a trigger for more tourism, and it's continued ever since, which leaves this island to make a choice, cos it's at a cusp. Does it let things carry on as they are? or does it actively promote more unusual experiences which are just waiting to be discovered on this island of madeira? hey, i'm ben, and this is the catch up! tonight, dame maggie smith, ea fc changes and ai clones. But first, israel has launched a massive attack on beirut, the capital of lebanon. Israel's army claims it was targeting the headquarters of hezbollah, an armed group it's fighting. A bbc reporter on the scene says it's chaos. Earlier, israel's prime minister told a meeting of world leaders his country would defeat hezbollah and remove the threat to israeli citizens. Some other stories now. Two boys have been sentenced to at least eight and a half years in custody for the murder of a 19—year—old with a machete. Shawn seesahai was killed in a park in wolverhampton. The boys, who can't be named for legal reasons, were 12 at the time, making them the uk's youngest convicted killers since 1993. Actress dame maggie smith has died at the age of 89. I've always wanted to use that spell! you might know her best you might know her best as professor mcgonagall in the harry potter films. Daniel radcliffe described her as a legend and said he was amazingly lucky to work with her. Next, twojust stop 0il activists who threw soup at van gogh�*s sunflowers painting have beenjailed. 23—year—old phoebe plummer received a two—year sentence, while 22—year—old anna holland as professor mcgonagall got 20 months. And ea fc, which used to be called fifa, hits stores today. One of the new features allows players to take charge of their favourite female teams. Time now for ten seconds of the future of zoom. Ai clones are more about attending meetings then doing the wholejob. It keeps things interesting, though. Laughter that's our cyber reporter joe tidy trying to trick his co—workers with an ai clone. I've actually been an ai clone the whole time! right, you're all caught up. Have a great weekend! hello. On friday, we had some furtherflooding problems, causing disruption on some of our road and railway networks, particularly focused around parts of the midlands. This was how one of our flood—hit communities in warwickshire looked like, and we still have a number of flood warnings currently in force — again, tightly clustered around the midlands. And of course, it's here where we've seen extreme rainfall so far this month. The wettest place in woburn, bedfordshire, we've had over four times the september average rainfall, well over three times the average rainfall in 0xfordshire, and that's what's caused the flooding issues. Now, we have something of a quieter window of weather into saturday. Chilly north—westerly winds with us, yes, and a few showers draped around our coastal fringes. Many inland areas, dry, clear and cold. Yes, heading into the first part of saturday morning, in the countryside, temperatures well down into single figures, cold enough for a nip of frost into parts of scotland and northern england. So saturday, a very cold start to the day for september, but plenty of sunshine for most. The exception is scotland, where weak weather fronts will move in, bringing some thicker cloud and a few patches of light rain. And although there could be an odd shower for northern ireland, the north—west of both england and wales, should be mostly dry here. And certainly fine for southern parts of wales, southern england, the midlands and eastern england. Lots of sunshine, but it will be another chilly day for this time of the year. Sunday, second half of the weekend is dominated by this next area of low pressure. It's going to be another cold morning, plenty of morning sunshine, but then it turns cloudier from the south—west. The winds start to pick up and it becomes very windy for wales and south—west england — gusts here reaching around 50 or 60 miles an hour. Through the afternoon, eventually, we'll start to see some rain getting into northern ireland, wales and western areas of england, leaving the north and east of the uk dry with some hazy spells of sunshine. Through sunday night and into monday, that's when we'll see some of that rain falling on our flood—hit communities. One thing i would say is the rain isn't going to be as extreme as it has been, but clearly any extra rain is probably not going to be too helpful. A wet and windy day, then, for most of us on monday, and it will continue to be cool for the time of year — temperatures from around 12 in edinburgh to about 16 in london. Heading, then, into the first part of october. . . Yeah, where has this year gone?. . It looks like it should be dry but on the chilly side. Bye for now. Are continuing into the early hours. Local officials say the number of dead from israeli strikes this week in lebanon has risen to nearly 800 people. I'm helena humphrey, glad you could join me. What stability remained in the middle east amid the israel—hamas war has now been upended by this week's escalation between israel and hezbollah. Tonight we'll bring you the scenes from lebanon's capital beirut, where the israeli military has bombed what it says is hezbollah�*s central headquarters there — targeting senior commanders from the group. We'll bring you reaction to the conflict from the united nations, where members are urging all sides to agree to a ceasefire, and from the white house, which says it had no advance knowledge of friday's israeli air strike in beirut.