The biggest terrorist trial in french history has ended with the conviction of fourteen people for aiding islamist attacks in paris in january 2015. Seventeen people were killed in the assaults on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a jewish supermarket. The longest sentences, 30 yea rs, the longest sentences, 30 years , we re the longest sentences, 30 years, were given to one of the attackers and his girlfriend, believed to be in syria. The uk Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged people to keep christmas celebrations short and small to reduce the risk of spreading covid over the festive period. Despite warnings over rising infections from scientists and doctors, restrictions will still be relaxed between 23rd and 27th december. China has agreed to allow a Team World Health organisation scientists into the country next month to investigate the origins of the coronavirus. Beijing has been reluctant to agree to an independent inquiry into the outbreak, causing a series of diplomatic rows with other countries. Now on bbc news, the travel show. 0n the show this week. The panto survivors keeping the show on the road. The native American Woman making waves in the grand canyon. The roman empires sunken party town. And how to run up a sand dune. Its tough. Ijust keep thinking, relentless forward motion, just one step in front of the other. Hello, and welcome to the travel show, coming
to you from the festive windsor. Now, in spite of the glimmers of hope we are hearing on the news, for many of us, travel is still impractical but never fear, we are here to bring you inspiration amid all these dark and gloomy nights. First, though. For britains theatres, christmas can only mean one thing panto. Singing, dancing, comedy, romance and belting catchphrases. All based in a traditional fairytale setting. Pantomime has every ingredient needed for a fun family night out. Except in 2020, many of our much loved pantomimes dont have a stage to perform on. With only a limited number of shows still running across the country this year, panto, like the majority of the arts, has been dealt a heavy blow by covid. Data from play association uk theatre revealed ticket income from its members productions grossed £60 million last year, the highest amount ever. This winter, however, things couldnt be more different, and fo many much loved regional theatres, its had a devastating impact. Lincoln, for instance, is normally brimming with christmas magic in december. Not this year, though. Its hugely devastating, and when we took on the theatre in 2016, it was completely on its knees. It was in desperate need of some tlc, its reputation was dreadful, so we had a real hard slog and a battle to win the hearts and minds of the community, never mind the industry, and throughout our 4 year journey, we got several awards. 0ur pantomime that we just did last year, robin hood, was nominated in the top five pantomimes in the country for the british panto awards for best pantomime, which was huge, it was brilliant. And we really worked hard to get to that stage, and for it to suddenly stop and bejust culled instantly wasjust like, yeah, i cant even put into words how soul destroying that was. Pantomimes origins can be traced back to italian street theatre in the early 16th century. From there, they spread across europe from italy to france before becoming popular in the uk. Ive got to say ive always had a real affection for pantomime since i was a child and then i took my children to the theatre. But you know what . Ive got a sneaking sympathy, affection for the bad guy in pantomime because the bad guy, everyone boos and hisses them but actually, they are really important. Hang on, hang on, hang on a minute. Its notjust the bad guys who are important in panto,
its also the good guys and i happen to be one of them as well. Why are you important, basil brush . Really, when you are in pantomime, its about good winning over evil, its a very moral story nowadays, you see, and i think thats very important, you have the bad guys everybody boos and the good guys who get the cheer. Yay basil, ive got to say you are a veteran of pantomime, youve been doing it for decades and decades. This year has been tough. What effect has it had on you and your colleagues in better land . In theatre land . Ive got to tell you, its been one of the most toughest years since ever. Ive been a furloughed fox since march. I was supposed to be at the Glastonbury Festival and the Edinburgh Festival and i had a very full diary and it was pulled like most other entertainers but actors and musicians and performers are a very versatile bunch, they are good at getting other jobs because unemployment is part of being an actor, but this year was particularly terrible because those of the jobs didnt exist. They couldnt go and work
in restaurants and shops and all of that so for most actorfriends of mine, and musicians, this has been a terrible year. While there have clearly been a lot of covid related panto closures this year, there is a glimmer of hope. Some productions are still happening like this one, cinderella at Theatre Royal windsor. I better go start pampering myself and getting ready for the royal ball. Laters, losers. The theatre, and our director, had just done the most amazing job. I cant imagine the hours that were put in, so that we are all safe, the audience is safe and staging it, because as you do your lines, wherever someone moves to, youve got to keep that distance so if there are other lines you move around to out of the corner of the eye, you just have to see that youre in line. Tell me about how bad the impacts is on a theatre if it has had to cancel pantomime this year . Economically, its incredibly important to theatres, so those that cant do anything this christmas, unless they been able to replace that income in some way, they are finding that incredibly difficult. But the other thing is pantomime is the lifeblood of Audience Development for theatres as well. Its the time of year when children experience theatre often for the very first time in their lives. It was the case for me in the wooden theatre many, many years ago with cilla black in aladdin, i can remember it years ago, but pantomime is incredibly important for the theatre world on multiple levels, and i think theatres are going to miss it economically, they are going to miss it in terms of develop and, they are going to miss it in terms of outreach into their community. One, two, three, four, five, six. Here at Theatre Royal in windsor the running costs of staging cinderella are £50,000 a week. They say that with reduced capacity because of covid restrictions, they pretty much need to sell out to make it all financially viable. Maybe being a prince isnt
all its cracked up to be. In terms of the kind of compromises youve had to make, what are they, and where are they obvious . Well, the big obvious one is social distancing in the auditorium, and so we are limited to 50 , so its every other row of seats and weve had to make changes to our ventilation system as well, and we are spraying the auditorium with antiviral disinfect before every performance, and then on the staging of the show, weve had to work quite carefully to make sure we are working in fixed teams to make sure we are social distancing backstage as well, and also things like audience participation, we dont want singing and cheering along because it can lead to aerosol transmission, so we have to tweak the way we do things, to keep the magic of pantomime but make sure were doing it in a secure way. Its clear to see that because of covid, many regional area pantos have had a severe knockback this year but in 2021, you can tell its such a big part of british
tradition, itll be back even stronger. Well, lets hop over the atlantic now and head, like 6 million others every year, to the grand canyon. Until recently, no navajo woman had ever been given a licence to run tours of the site. Well, weve been over there to meet the guide who is changing all that. My name is nikki cooley and im from the towering house clan born through the reed people the clan. My maternal grandparents are of the water that flows together and my paternal grandparents many goats clan, and i come from shonto and blue gap, arizona, and this is how i always introduce myself to anyone as a navajo woman. When commercial river guiding started in the grand canyon, it was primarily dominated by men, and women were only allowed to be helpers, or the cooks, or spouses of the male river guides, and so when i received this invitation from my friend, it was an invitation i took up very quickly. I grew up on the navajo reservation with my paternal grandparents, as my parents were out working. I grew up in shonto, arizona and blue gap, arizona, where i had no Running Water or electricity but i also grew up herding sheep, i grew up raising corn and squash and other crops with my grandparents. I rode horses, and really
living off the land. I was very fortunate to grow up with my elders, who taught me to respect and care for the earth. When i was a river guide, i would get a lot of people saying, tribes are extinct, i didnt know that tribes still existed, when, in fact, we are alive, we are prospering wejust want to be acknowledged. Mathew point overlook provides that opportunity. It teaches them and it shows them that the tribes are still here and living, and they are not extinct, and that this place is a place of spiritual and cultural significance of the tribes. My heritage, my culture is very important to me because the environment, mother earth and father sky,
are very much intertwined with my daily life. My clans are all related to the earth. My lifes work in working with tribes on Climate Change is very much intertwined with the waters, the sky, and the animals. For native and indigenous people, we have a long and rooted history with the environment and the sky, the waters, in the sense that we still honour those relationships each day. Stay with us, because still to come on the travel show, the roman empires sunken party town. And i wonder if your idea of a fun run involves sand and dunes . Well, it does in dubai. Its a great sense of achievement when you get up to the top and you run down the other side. So dont go away. The next in our series now exploring the future of our past. Amanda ruggeris been looking at some of the brand new tech letting scientists uncover and restore some stunning archaeological treats. This week its italy, and the sunken treasure not far from the city of naples. Here in italy, in the gulf of naples, the ancient roman city of baiae has been explored by archaeologists and travellers for years. What many people come here for actually lies underwater, and this incredibly preserved site cannot last forever. So i have come to see firsthand how a centuries old problem is finding a 21st century solution. Baiae was a Luxury Resort with incredible architectures connected with the most eminent men of the late republic and early imperial times. The ancient authors wrote a lot about baiae, and they described baiae as little rome, as a place for the holiday. A place crowded with all the aristocracy, but also with young people, with people working on the beach, looking to the sea, people drinking wine. How much did the water level rise . It depends on the part of baiae, but normally between four and six metres. Wow. Thats why you can see underwater not only the floors but also the walls. There are no other sites in the world with this concentration of mosaics from the roman times, underwater. The roman partygoers were drawn to the citys hot springs, but it was the same underground volcanic activity
which eventually sank the citys ground level, leaving its ruins underwater. Even today, the roman architecture remains under threat from volcanic activity, but being underwater brings other challenges to the artefacts too. Especially places that are not protected by layers of sand. If they are on the seabed, open, not covered by the sand, they are attacked by marine organisms. And we call it bio erosion. For example, this is the reason why some statues that are recovered from the sea are completely destroyed, or partially destroyed by the bio erosion. I was invited to join the team testing new technologies to help better monitor the erosion, but also help
the public engage with the site in new ways. So which technologies are you testing this week . This week we are testing underwater drones, underwater wireless sensors which gather data on the conservation status of this site, and also images that we can transmit in real time from the underwater environment. So finally, it was time for me to go down and see it for myself. Under the water, a whole world opens up. The sculptures here are replicas. The real ones are safe aboveground in the nearby archaeological museum. But the other artefacts, from the walls to the mosaics, are original. Its extraordinary to see it all in person, and to learn how these innovations could dramatically improve the way the site is preserved by archaeologists and experienced by travellers. Using a new way of communicating underwater
information and pictures about any problems in the site, like erosion or even looting, can be communicated much more quickly. And the 3d imagery gives tourists a whole new way to experience the site, letting them imagine what it would have actually looked like. We have developed a way to represent how this underwater Cultural Heritage site was in the past, using virtual reality, so you can actually have an experience without visiting the site, and you can also chat in a whatsapp like manner with the rest of the divers and your loved ones on the other side of the planet and exchange images, or exchange your feelings, even when you are diving. We are supporting the archaeologists and they will be able to find more, faster, and at the same time i think they will be safer in the way they actually excavate
the site, and hopefully also Common People will be able to enjoy, through, you know, the 3d reconstruction, what the archaeologists excavate for us. This is going to change, actually, whatever we are able to do in terms of exploring and understanding this environment. Amanda there in the sunken city of baiae. Now, there arent many warmer places at this time of year than the deserts around dubai. Thats where some locals, after months of restrictions and weight gain, are taking on the dunes in a bid to shake off whats been a pretty tough year. We have been there to meet some of them. Do you know your table number . Four youre this side, thank you very much. Im tilliejohnson, im recently new to ultramarathon running. Ive been doing desert running for around a year. And im here today for the first desert run race of 2020. My typical race around the uae has usually been in the mountains or on the road, so this is going to be very interesting today, running seven dunes, i believe, so its going to be a lot of fun. Ive been running for seven years now, and the reason i started running is because its a great way
to stay fit. For the first two years, i absolutely hated it. It was hard, it hurt, and it was boring. But it was also rewarding. I started to lose weight and actually began to enjoy it. Running on soft sand, though, is a whole different experience. Gravity feels stronger, the sand seems to want to drag you down, and you get tired a lot quicker. Five kay here feels more like ten kay on tarmac, and once you mix in the heat out here in the desert, it feels pretty brutal. Getting there ive always been a competitive person, but this is something totally new to me. In terms of technique, the trick is think light and keep moving. Slow down and you get weighed down. And thats when it starts to get really hard. Im about, just touching three kilometres, i think it is. 100 metres from three kilometres. Its tough, its getting tougher now, because were getting into bigger dunes. I havent been counting ijust keep thinking, relentless forward motion, just one step after the other. Lockdowns and restrictions have been hard on everybody around the world, but to be out here in the desert, in the early morning, running and doing what i love again, just feels amazing. In a strange way, maybe because we couldnt get out here and do things like this during lockdown, its made us appreciate what weve got on our doorstep here in dubai more. 50 minutes to do five kay over sand isnt bad. Im really pleased with that, even if i could cover that distance in half that time on tarmac. For me it was never about winning, i just wanted to get out here, maybe to show that despite covid and the current restrictions, we can still take part in sport and do the things that we love. Maybe a little differently, but we can still do them. It was just a beautiful, beautiful run. Seeing so many people out there, you can see that there are many out there for the very first time, to get their First Experience in the desert, it really puts a smile on my face. And im sure they will be back for more. The hardest part, actually, was the very last dune, it was a real tough one. But its a great sense of achievement when you get to the top and you run down the other side. The dune runners of dubai there. Right, thats it for this week. Coming up next time santa in lockdown, and how he and the rest of lapland are missing all the girls and boys who normally pay a Christmas Eve visit at this time of year. Until then, if you want to catch up with more of our recent shows, you can find us on the bbc iplayer, and were on social media as well. Were in all the usual places. For now, from me, rajan datar, and everyone else standing at a safe social distance from me here in windsor, its goodbye. Hello there. On wednesday, we saw a pretty deep area of low pressure sweep up from the south to bring rain and gales, particularly to western areas. Today, though, its looking a bit quieter. Were in between weather systems, so we should see a good deal of sunshine around. Itll stay quite breezy too, though, not quite as windy as it has been. So thats wednesdays low pushing away to the north of the uk. This feature will come in during thursday night. And in between, weve got a good slice of drier weather. Therell be a few showers around this morning, mind you, across southern and western areas. Plenty of sunshine across eastern scotland, central and Eastern England areas here staying dry all day. 0ut west, well see further showers and the clouds will tend to build up here through the afternoon, and the outbreaks of rain will start to arrive across northern ireland, along with strengthening winds. Itll be quite fresh across northern and eastern areas 9 10 celsius around average,
but it will be turning quite milder further west, as this band of rain and stronger winds starts to spread across the country, as we head through thursday night. It will be followed by further areas of cloud and showers to the south and west, and itll be turning very mild across the south lows overnight i2 i3 celsius. And after a chilly start in the north, itll be turning milder there too. Now, this is the pressure chart for friday and you can see were back to very unsettled weather. This very active weather front, with lots of isobars on the chart, means wet and windy weather moving our way. So well start off with a little brightness across the north east england, north east scotland, but generally a rather cloudy, misty, murky day. Some patchy drizzle across the east. Heavy rain across western areas. Chances of flooding for South West England and south wales areas which have seen lots of rain already. And itll be a windy day. Those gusts showing 30 a0 mph for many, particularly across southern and western coasts. With our winds coming in from the south, its going to be a very mild day for the time of year. Highs of 13 to maybe 15 celsius, for example, in parts of north east wales. Low pressure sticks around as we head on into the weekend. Itll send bands of showers into the northern and western areas. But there will be some sunshine around too. You will notice though the mild air starts to get replaced with those bluer tinges, so it will be cooling down through the weekend. So a sunshine and showers weekend. Most showers across western areas. And then, itll be cooling down, and thatll be particularly noticeable as we head through sunday. Welcome to bbc news, my name is mike embley. Our top stories a court in france returns guilty verdicts in the trial of 14 people accused of taking part in the Charlie Hebdo attacks in paris. Despite pressure from doctors and scientists, the uk will allow the easing of coronavirus restrictions over christmas, but with a warning. A smaller christmas is going to bea a smaller christmas is going to be a safer christmas, and a shorter christmas, is a safer christmas. In a giant leap for pandemic diplomacy, the world health 0rganisation is given the green light to visit wuhan in china to investigate the orgins of the virus. Nigerian Officials Say they wont pay ransoms for the boys kidnapped from a boarding school in the north of the country last friday. And a Chinese Space capsule has
successfully returned
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