Round up of the news. But first, 0ur world. Kathmandu, the city i call home. My Friend Nirmala and i never felt restricted here, until we started our periods. Suddenly there were lots of things we were not meant to do, like cook or worship. My college friend, shes like im having my period, im treated like a queen, i dont have to work in kitchen, i dont have to go to temples, thats not treating you like a queen, thats like treating you like youre untouchable. The rules didnt make much sense to us growing up. My mother used to tell me that you shouldnt touch plants or they will die. Periods are still deeply taboo here in nepal. And while things in the city are gradually changing, we heard in the remote far west its very different. So were leaving our urban life to travel to the mountains, to discover why the taboos are still so powerful. And ask why some people are so scared of menstruating women that they wont even let them inside the house. They have to sleep in there, im really shocked, this is a place where they keep cattle. My name is divya, i recently graduated and live with my parents. Theyre very liberal but sometimes i cant take part in celebrations as im considered impure by my extended family. It was a festive season, i was preparing everything for the worship and i did everything, i worked for one day and i suddenly had my period and then everybody was like purify everything, she touched it, lets not do it now, it has to get purified before we worship the god. I think what it is when we ask our parents why we do this, they dont have a clear answer because theyre like god will be angry. I feel shes very brave, she stood by her words, thats ok now my daughter doesnt have to go through this and i think im going to continue that. I cant believe how much things have changed since my mum was young. But my Friend Nirmala and i have heard its very different outside the city. We know that in far west nepal we still hear that its the poorest part of our country and we really wanted to know what the women there are going through during menstruation periods, thats the reason we want to travel to the far west. Weve never done anything quite like this before. Our trip will take us to some of the most remote parts of the country where the rules around menstruation are politically strict. It takes several days to get to the far west. Our first stop is dang valley in the fertile plains of terai, near the indian border. Weve arranged to meet a local Health Worker to tell us about the situation for women here. We are just a few miles from the airport and we were shocked by what we find. The practice of sleeping outside the house during menstruation is known as chhaupadi. Its been going on for generations. Because menstruating women are considered impure, they face other restrictions too. She says its an hours walk to the river so women can wash during their period. She doesnt feel comfortable, she wont be able to. I thought i was facing a lot of restrictions, a lot of problems, but when i come here and see the people, this is something out of my imagination. She has been campaigning against chhaupadi four years as sleeping out without access to clean water can cause Serious Health problems. She tells us that chhaupadi was brought here by migrants from the far west so thats where were heading, deep into the mountains of bhajan to try and find out more about this ancient tradition. But what should be a ten hour drive takes far longer as its the hindu festival of colours. And everybody is celebrating. We eventually get on our way to this small village. When we arrive a local teenager agrees to show me around. Almost every family in this village practices chhaupadi. She tells me women will wear the same close and sleep out almost out for four nights, during that time they cant touch men or eat certain foods, afterwards they are purified with cow urine and return to normal life. The very fun part they told me was that they dont follow it, they touch their brothers and fathers and they come to their own house after menstruating and they dont even purify themselves after touching other women who are menstruating. I think things are changing. I think it wont last for long any more. And while ive been continuing to talk, nirmala has met a young woman who is pushing the boundaries even further. She is in her early 20s like us and hasnt slept in the hut for two years. There are several hundred people in the village. Most of the young men work abroad as labourers in india or the gulf. So its the older generation who make the rules. We dont find the older generation saying no to traditions, its the younger ones who are experimenting and saying no this is not true. So i think its our generation who wants to explore new things, i think this generation will bring change. But change comes very slowly, and even in cosmopolitan kathmandu, some of the taboos still remain. I told my friends that i had my period in the school and they were shocked to see me. Really, why were they shocked . They were just like how can you come on the first day, you should be inside the room, you should not go in the kitchen, you should not touch any boys, they were pretty shocked about it. Are they still following those restrictions . Yes like i have seen my friends, they have a special room just because they have a period and mostly in the houses where their grandparents are, they mostly follow it. While we can laugh about the restrictions, they can have serious consequences. Several girls have died sleeping out. Just last year, a 15 year old suffocated while trying to light a fire to keep herself warm in a chhau hut and according to my local priest, there is nothing in Hindi Scripture that says they need to practice chhaupadi at all. The government has been trying to change things. Chhaupadi was declared illegal in 2005, but that hasnt made much difference to people. We have heard such a lot about chhau and want to experience it for ourselves. The women inside are members of the same family, this woman only started her period six months ago so this is all new to her. In an effort to end the practice, International Ngos and local government have been working together to educate local people. And several areas have now been declared officially chhau free. But we want to see what that really means so were travelling to a chhau free village. A localjournalist is travelling with us to show us the way. Here we go. Its a bumpy ride. And we dont get very far. Something really terrible happened, our carjust got into the mud and it didnt come out. I think we have got some work to do. Unexpected heavy rain at the night before has made the roads almost impassable. It worked. We eventually get on our way. We dont want to get stuck in the mud again so we decide to walk into the village. And initially people here are reluctant to speak to us about what has changed. But not everyone has been so accepting of the changes. Im really shocked, this is a place where they keep cattle. We expected things to be very different here. With girls sleeping in their own rooms. But it didnt look that different to the previous village. Just demolishing the huts will not make a difference because its their mentality, their beliefs, its their thinking which has to change, its notjust the huts that are demolished that will change it. We want to know if the people in charge think the chhau free policy is working. We are shocked that even government officials admit the lies arent working. And as knocking huts down doesnt seem to discourage people either, it looks like its down to our generation to try to change things. Its time for us to head home, but as we leave, i hope that the girls will continue to push the boundaries of tradition. So that their daughters can earn the simple right to sleep inside. Hello, there. Its a Bank Holiday Weekend and we have very few Bank Holiday Weekends where we get no rain whatsoever and this is no exception. Its not going to be a wash out by any means but some central and southern areas will see Rain On Sunday and into Bank Holiday Monday. One thing is for sure, it has been a little bit warmer than what it has been in the past week, but we have had some wintry showers. It will turn quite windy, particularly on sunday, and most likely there will be some rain across southern parts. It has been a glorious day on saturday across the south coast, like this picture shows in hampshire. But further north, we did have a lot of cloud. Sunday is starting off on a dry note, quite windy with spells of sunshine. The best of it across northern, central and eastern areas. Across the south west, the Weather Front will be moving northwards and eastwards, introducing some pretty heavy rain in places. To the north, it stays dry where we have this sunshine, feeling quite warm with temperatures into the upper teens. This area of low pressure will be affecting much of central and Southern Britain through the course of the Bank Holiday Monday period so it looks like some areas could be quite bright and other areas will see some showers and sunny spells in between. Southern coastal areas will see most of the rain and will feel quite cool with a strong wind. Fairly windy across scotland but here you will see the best of the sunshine, especially Western Scotland, towards northern ireland, with some shelter from easterly wind we could see temperatures around 17 or 18 degrees across the north west highlands. Generally speaking, around the low to mid teens celsius in the sunshine. This area of low pressure eventually begins to pull away towards the near continent and things turn a little as we head towards tuesday and High Pressure starts to influence our weather. It looks like we will still have the remnants of that area of low pressure, bringing some showers to the east coast and towards east anglia. The further west that you are, the better the sunshine and the best of the temperatures. And that is the setup as we head through the course of the week. West will always fare best. Because eastern areas will have that nagging easterly breeze and the Sea Temperatures are quite cool in the north sea. A bit of a breeze across the south east through the channel islands, taking the edge off the temperatures, where we will also have a fair amount of cloud. Head further inland and we get sunshine and it will feel pleasant, especially across Western Scotland and northern ireland. High pressure is firmly in control as we head towards thursday. The winds will be light the further north you are and more of a breeze across the east and the south east is a feeling quite chilly across eastern coastal areas. Further south and west, more sunshine and shelter from that wind will mean we will see the best temperatures. The reason why it is cool on the coast, particularly in the east, is because the Sea Temperatures are ranging between seven and nine celsius so you have to head further inland towards the west for the sunshine and warmth. As we had beyond this period, into friday, High Pressure will continue to dominate the picture but this area of low pressure will be pushing across southern areas so we could see fewer cloud and also a few showers being pushed in towards southern england. For the start of may, this is the setup, High Pressure dominates the north of the uk, low pressure to the south. That will bring average temperatures maybe even a little bit below average for the time of year as we will be pulling in airfrom the north sea. Mainly settled closer to that area of High Pressure, cool air, particularly at night, but in the sunshine but will still feel quite warm. Further south were likely to see some showers and because of that area of low pressure pushing towards biscay and here we should see more sunshine and it might be a little bit warmer. This is bbc news. Im martine croxall. The headlines at 10pm European Council president donald tusk calls on britain to come up with a Serious Response on what will happen to eu citizens living here after brexit. We all want a close and strong future relationship with the uk, but before discussing the future, we have to sort out our past. The Prime Minister theresa may tells scottish voters that every vote for the conservatives will strengthen the union and strengthen her hand in brexit talks. Snp leader Nicola Sturgeon tells supporters the party will not let the tories drag scotland backwards. Labours Jeremy Corbyn defends his leadership style, saying other leaders give in to powerful vested interests. Its emerged that a man arrested by Counter Terrorism officers in north london had once been suspected of trying
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