He was working. He was all business. Right, he had to do it himself. I went on for the ride. Have you seen how small his capsule was . He wasnt doing somersaults, he didnt have your windows. The only way he knew he was weightless was his straps were flying. Right, because he was strapped in. Underlining just how remarkably space travel has changed since 1961. How it will evolve in 2022 and beyond for the next generation, well, thats anyone� s guess. Mark lobel, bbc news. Now its time for a look at the weather with susan powell. Hello, mild air has been pushing its way northwards across the uk through sunday. It is following on a Weather Front, this band of cloud you see here on the satellite picture. That is tied in with an area of low pressure that could get north west of the uk overnight tonight and sought mild evening, increasingly breezy, very windy overnight for the western and Northern Isles of scotland and stormy conditions with widespread gales and further showers for Western Scotland with clear skies in the south and underneath a Weather Front and a lot of cloud and rain for wales in the south and underneath Weather Front and a lot of cloud and rain for wales and the south west but mild temperatures. Overnight lows of seven or 8 and a frost free start of the new week. Through monday it would be cloudy in southern england and wales and rain through the day and possibly for wales and the midlands and lincolnshire. Best of any sunshine for scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England. A bit cooler here than i will be on sunday as temperatures return to average and still being mild in the south. Hello this is bbc news. The headlines. Days before a likely backbench rebellion, uk Prime Minister borisjohson faces fresh questions about christmas gatherings at Downing Street A year ago after a photo emerges of him taking part in a quiz. The Nhs In England is extending its Vaccination Programme as it tries to get on top of the Omicron Variant 30 to 39 year olds can book a Virus Booster Jab from tomorrow. G7 Foreign Ministers warn iran that � time is running out� to rescue the nuclear deal. Emergency teams search for survivors in six us states after more than 70 people die in the largest outbreaks of tornadoes in us history. And the battle for the chequered flag as Max Verstappen starts on Pole Position to take on Lewis Hamilton in the formula one Title Decider in abu dhabi. Now on bbc news. It� s time for The Travel Show, this week on The Travel Show heading back for the first time in over two years. Lets go to gate this aussie girl is finally going home. Laying on a Special Treat as a thank you to thailands monkeys. And how the aftermath of the Second World War helped to create one of berlins most famous takeaway snacks. But first, with the Christmas Holiday season beginning, many will be crossing their fingers for a return to something more like normality when compared to this time last year. Particularly those expats heading home to family. And for australians who have been abroad during the pandemic, which includes myself, reuniting with the family back home this year will be especially significant. There are a few things you have to do to go to australia. First of all you need to be eligible to go to australia, it is not completely open, you have to be double vaccinated and be able to prove it, and then you get proof of that, you get an australia travel declaration, very similar to the Arrival Document you have to do the most places across the world now, and you have to do. One of these lovely pcr tests. So i will be dealing with that soon, youre not recording it. Laughs i dont mind it at all, this is like an extra bit of my passport at the moment, as far as i am concerned. So it went from a situation where you could easily travel around the world at the drop ofa hat, to. You need to have a Long Term Plan and a lot of money to get into your own home country as an australian. I think the first reaction was shock, like, everyone around the world when the pandemic hit, and also feeling quite grateful when australia did shut its borders initially, because it felt like, well, everything is being done to keep my family and friends safe, and surely this is a sensible precaution. But it was this low lying kind of stress because it meant that if something happened to someone at home, instead of being 2a hours away, 36 hours away maximum, now you just couldnt get home. It wasnt possible unless you had very deep pockets. I am originally from the uk but i have lived in australia now for a number of years, i am married to an australian, we are all australian citizens, we have four kids. We came on holiday initially in early march for a three week holiday to visit family in the uk, and we have been trapped here ever since, stranded. The main challenge is that we have a small house and there are six of us, so we are filming this, where we actually sleep, this is my dads study in the shed in the garden. And the uncertainty of not knowing when that would stop has been particularly difficult. When the australians decided to put limitations on the number of people arriving because it put pressures on quarantine, the airlines have actually been forced to discriminate against the economy passengers, and so we have actually been removed from a couple of flights. We have done everything in our financial means to get home, but were just not able to. Well, we did actually get back home eventually, here in tasmania. We had a three week holiday to the uk, which actually became a 6 month extended stay. We feel so blessed to be home, even here a year on, to be back here in hobart after such a time. We had instances in australia where some Passenger Planes were carrying maybe two, four or five passengers into australia. Thats how bad it got. Surprisingly, it was hugely supported, and for a long, long time, there is polling that shows consistently around two thirds or three quarters of the australian public actually did support these very, very strict International Border bans, even when it meant locking out their compatriots. Thankfully after a late start, australia really did a fantasticjob in terms of getting vaccinated. A bit of a heart. Kind of. I wont be working as a barista anytime soon victoria, my home state, has already reached 90 vaccination, which. It is quite emotional for me because. It has meant i can go home. So. Theres going to be a lot of tears over the next few days. This is very exciting, very exciting. Although i have completely lost the knack of how to pack. I used to be like pow, pow, i could be packed in 15 minutes, and now it is like, what is the weather going to be like . Hot is the answer to that. I have to wait while my test gets checked, but im like, i just want to go. There has been a bit of a curveball in the last few hours. Concern mounts as countries around the world ban flights from southern africa. A third case of the Omicron Variant. A confirmed case of Omicron Variant. I have received notification that the quarantine has been reimposed to some extent, so it was quarantine free travel, now it is 72 hours of quarantine upon arrival, and having to be isolated from my family, so the joyous reunion is maybe off the cards. I dont really know what is going to happen, how i will be isolated within my family home, if thats possible, do i need to get a hotel . I also need to get a permit to enter the state of victoria, which, despite my research, i have just found out about. So it is getting a bit complicated. I guess, thejoys of travelling during covid. Well, lets go to gate. Oh, man, i am so excited i dont even care if i have to quarantine, i dont care. Thats me, of course. I havejust checked in, and i havejust seen the melbourne on the sign. Welcome aboard qantas flight 10 down to darwin and onwards to melbourne. Just about to head off, and i am so excited. Jackpot on a long haulflight, three seats to myself to date, the overall death toll in australia from coronavirus is just above 2000. So they have done extraordinarily well in protecting life. Technically, the issue of stranded australians, or stranded aussies as it became known colloquially, that should have abated by now. Although there are still government repatriation flights being put on by the australian government, because there are some places in the world where people didnt get vaccines that will be authorised or recognised by australia. It makes it very challenging for them to get on commercial flights. I havent left russia in two years coming up to february. I have given up on christmas, i think i will be lucky to get back by february next year if things go well for me. I have just been living this Limbo Existence where i dont know what next month is going to bring. I have been living with a constant dagger over my head of the russian government just saying your visa is up, and i dont know what the hell i can do then, where do i go if that is the situation . Because what country wants me at the current moment with everyone having covid, i am not properly vaccinated, and i have a status where i dont know when my own government will let me back into my country. About 15 minutes away from landing now. After a very long flight. And a quick stop in darwin. We hope you have enjoyed your service on board today, we do look forward to seeing you on board our aircraft again very soon. Laughs guess whos out of quarantine yay lam out lam free i am out of quarantine at long last, and it has given me a bit of a chance to reflect on what has meant to come home. I missed you guys my word, we are lucky to live in a time where, in usual circumstances, you canjump on a plane, 2a hours later be on the other side of the world, in my case i can be home. And i think the pandemic has sort of shown me that in past years i have really taken that for granted. It feels normal to be able to do that. And it is not necessarily something to be taken for granted, and i think Going Forward i will feel fortunate every time i get on that plane. Aunty christa still to come on the show. We are on the hunt for berlins best currywurst. Eaten by everyone from Homeless People to the chancellor. And we are in thailand to see a Monkey Festival that has been helping bring back tourists to the region. What can i say . It is great to be home. But now were turning around and heading straight back to europe, where sausages and curry sauce may not seem the most natural flavour combination, but in berlin, currywurst, as it is known, has become a street food favourite. So we headed to the german capital to find out more about this dish and its surprising origins. In the � 50s and the � 60s, currywurst was one of the only fast foods easily available and everyone grew up with currywurst. Napoli has a pizza of spanish descent, paella, its literally part of the culture of the city. Voila. Hello, My Name Is Laszlo and welcome to curry 36, the most famous currywurst stall in berlin. It is easy. You just get a sausage, cut it in six or eight pieces. And then you add tomato sauce on top. And top it with curry powder and spices and that is it. You also need a fork. It is that simple. Grazie mille. Bon appetito, ciao. We have customers from all over europe, from asia, from the states, basically from everywhere. Thank you for your patience and sorry for the inconvenience. Enjoy it, have a nice day, youre welcome. Luna e l� autre is con carne. I am actually only able to sell currywurst in a lot of different languages. Im not fluent in italian or spanish or whatever. Every region claims to have invented currywurst. The only true story is how it happened in berlin. After the Second World War, herta heuwer had a small food store and she always saw the gis eating out, having steak and ketchup. She wanted to replicate that but it was not possible to have a steak. It was really expensive after the war. And so she just tried it with local ingredients and one day she mixed up curry and ketchup by accident and tried to refine it with more spices, she put on a sausage, customers tried it, they loved it and that was the birth of currywurst. There is currywurst with casing. It is a smoked sausage, a bit more salty, a bit more on the savoury side. And the local thing is currywurst without casing. It is a boiled sausage that is fried afterwards and just a little more softer and tender. Currywurst without casing, it was born out of necessity because after the Second World War, berlin was isolated, it was in eastern germany, so we did not have enough casing for sausages. There was no way to get the casing into berlin. It was just too expensive. One of the things that stands out is the purity of the ingredients the tomato sauce is as important as the sausages. Basically, it is what we are famous for. This is only about 200 litres of it and on a regular day we go through a ton of it in all three restaurants. It is 87 tomato, some salt, sugar, spices, that is it. Some curry sauces have less than 50 tomato. That is not a standard that we try to achieve. Currywurst in berlin is eaten by everyone from Homeless People to the chancellor. I think it is important. I think it is pretty important, it transcends social classes. Everyone eats cu rrywu rst. And that is a taste of berlin. I would say it is down to earth and easy going. But have a try yourself. Next up we are in thailand, where tourists have gradually been returning after the government launched a quarantine free Travel Scheme in november. This and it isjust in time for the lopburi Monkey Festival. Once a year, the resident macaques get to dine like kings. On the most elaborate displays of fruits and vegetables lovingly crafted by locals behind the scenes. We prepare the fruits. We have many, many kinds of fruits. Tropical food, mostly. Banana, papaya, grape, mangosteen, longan, mango and all kinds of vegetables. And we learn every year what they like most. We just know that they like durian the most. The feast costs over 100,000 baht thats over £2000 and is mainly sponsored by the lopburi inn, a local hotel. The owner started it 33 years ago, offering a fruit buffet to the monkeys as a thank you for bringing in customers. And it has grown in size, taking on different themes each year. The monkey is an important symbol in buddhist tradition and as such they are revered and treated very well. But a word of caution, you will be bargaining for more than just a selfie. These longtailed monkeys are very comfortable around people. That was the first time. I was a bit afraid but it was ok because it was worse for other people than for me so it was ok. And here we are. The moment they have all been waiting for. Because of covid 19 there has been a two year gap since the last festival, and in general the pandemic has been hard on locals and these guys. The city is home to thousands of monkeys, and during the lockdown a lack of tourists and locals out on the streets resulted in frequent Monkey Battles over scraps of food, but things are looking up. They like the traditional dessert like this. This is made from egg and he likes durian the most. More than 100,000 travellers took advantage of the thailand pass in november. It may not seem like a lot, but that is as high as the number of arrivals from january to october combined. I can see that tourists are having fun, there are a lot of thai tourists here. Families and little kids. Theyre having fun, but less people because of covid 19 but i think the event bringsjoy to lots of people. Well, now their bellies are full and locals are free to take the wheelchairs. 2,000 kilos of food were prepared for the weekend festivities, but nothing is going to waste. The leftovers are taken to monkeys living in the Mountain Temples outside the city. Well, that is all we have time for on the programme this week. Join us next week when rajan will be spreading some christmas cheer and revisiting some of our favourite stories from a year that, well, lets face it, has not been the best for travel. I have to be honest with you. That was a little bit frightening. Were in an all electric revamp of an iconic british motor. Did you see that . this is wild. 11 lions. This is wild. Until next time, from me, Christa Larwood at home finally here in australia and the rest of The Travel Show team it is goodbye and we will see you next time. Hello. Through sunday we experienced some very mild air working its way northwards across the uk behind this line of cloud. We see on the satellite picture, this is a Weather Front there and there is another Affront Waiting to come in from the atlantic linking the two, a centre of low pressure. That will push through the north west of the uk and into the small hours of monday, a very windy evening and night to come for the Western Isles and Northern Ireland is of scotland. Northern isles of scotland. Some further showers feeding in on that wind generally to north west of the mainland. This front trail await further south, down into england and wales, very mild night to the south of the front, though, temperatures ten or 11, our overnight lows. Monday daytime, we will see the front bringing further rain into wales for a time, parts of the midlands, perhaps up into a lincolnshire, but the south of the front, maybe a little bit of brightness, certainly again a mild 12 or 13. To the north of the front, temperatures return closer to average values but actually only briefly because of monday into tuesday, we start to bring our next frontal system into play and that will actually pull milder air into the north of the uk for tuesday. Quite breezy for Northern Ireland and scotland, quite a lot of cloud at times, some rain for the far north of scotland and actually, possibly our warmest spot in the uk to the far north of the scotland on tuesday, temperatures 11 or maybe even 12 here. It is a shade cooler further south across england and wales on tuesday. For wednesday, our Weather Story focuses on further south, really, with this area of High Pressure increasingly coming into play. Yes, there is still a Weather Front around for the north but it is diving into that area of High Pressure so that is going to really take the juice out of it if you like. There will be some rain initially for scotland and Northern Ireland but Mostlyjust Cloud by the time that front sinks into Northern England later in the day. Our temperatures are still a shade above average in many areas through wednesday, highs of 11 or 12. And then, through the latter part of the week, we are really going to start to see this pressure taking hold and it looks like its going to get well established and stick around even into next weekend. Initially, pretty mild air and pulled up around the western side of the high but it looks like how next weekend the high could shift further eastwards and drag in some colder air from the north. Certainly it looks like they could be a lot of cloud though, mist and fog stuck under that height through thursday and friday. So quite grey and gloomy to end the week. This is bbc news, imjane hill. The headlines at 2pm. Health Officials Say the first people in the uk have been hospitalised with the Omicron Variant of coronavirus, as the Nhs In England extends the boosterjab programme. Days before an expected backbench rebellion Prime Minister, borisjohnson faces fresh questions about christmas gatherings at Downing Street A year ago, after a photo emerges of him taking part in a quiz. If taking part in a quiz. He cant deliver the leadershi| that if he cant deliver the leadership that this country needs and we have got a very important votes coming up next week and he cant even discharge the basic functions of government. He is the worst possible leader of the worst possible time. They can now make their mind up when they see they can now make their mind up when they see this they can now make their mind up when they see this picture on a virtual