anyway, why would i support a pay anyway, why would i support a president who will gamble with my livelihood like that? once you get m, livelihood like that? once you get in, you might face closed national parks, museums and other monuments. the president says he is minded to turnit the president says he is minded to turn it into a national emergency. effectively allowing him to carry on governing, taking the powers back from congress for these purposes, get the federal government open again. is that likely, a credible option? i don't think so. could be used as a band—aid solution to get some construction going on at the southern border with mexico, the department of defence does own a significant amount of land, at the border, he could probably attempt to re—appropriate some of the defilement of dispense fending to begin some military construction. —— department of defence. at the end of the day, congress has to improve all

spending and congress has clearly said it is not going to approve this sort of spending so you can see immediately this could end up in court and could actually build the case for trump's impeachment if he insisted on spending money congress has not approved. do you think he has stumbled into this situation? we have had arguments about the wall before, the democrats have gained control of the house of representatives this week, seizing this is an opportunity to kind of flex their political muscles, do you think he judged the mood correctly? he may have overestimated himself. he seems to have been moved into a corner, to see that you're willing to shut down the government for years, that doesn't leave you a lot of options. to do something most americans

probably will not support, i think it is the case that immigration is a concern among population among americans, they tend to reward people willing to be tough on border security, but they say they are drawing the line in particular elements of this, like the wall. he may be able to exploit certain parts, but nancy pelosi has said you can have your wall, but you're not getting it from our taxpayers‘ money. we will be chasing random breaks from the cloud and rain from time to time, and it will be cooler to further east you are a. a tad milder

further east you are a. a tad milder further west. there will be showery outbreaks of rain across scotland and northern ireland, but it will wea ken and northern ireland, but it will weaken as it bumps into this high—pressure. sunday will be a little milder, with temperatures holding up to the west. temperatures close to freezing if they are breaks in the cloud. tomorrow our weather front produces some drizzle, with top temperatures of seven to ii degrees. hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. two people have been arrested after the fatal stabbing on a train in surrey yesterday. police say the death appears to have a followed an altercation between strangers. in relation to what we know so far

regarding what has happened, it is not random in terms of there was no contact with them before the incident. news just coming out of california — police say they're dealing with a shooting at a bowling alley in torrance near los angeles. reports say there are multiple victims. smokers and problem drinkers admitted to hospital in england will get help to quit or cut down to try to reduce demands on the health service. now on bbc news, it's time for the travel show. this week we are in kazakhstan. the view from the top! a vast country in the middle of central asia... full of stunning landscapes and nomadic traditions. you can feel the fish tugging on the net. nature and the great outdoors have always been central to that kazakh

people's way of life. birds chirping, fish jumping, sun setting... i get it. and i am here to explore how they are now combining both ancient and modern ways to stay in touch with their wild side. grunts it feels good to make the sound, but i don't know what they are saying. woo! this is a lot of fun! i've arrived in kazakhstan‘s biggest city of almaty. once, back when the country was part of the ussr and long before that, it was the capital city. now things have changed. back in 1991 it was the last soviet republic to declare independence, ten days before the collapse of the union. since then it has been under

the president nazarbayev who moved the capital north to the purpose—built city of astana. one thing is clear, this country has undergone a tumultuous period. but through it all nature has continued to play a vital role for the once nomadic people here, and for travellers who visit. you start to get a sense of that at the green bazaar. there has been a market here since before soviet times. this is fermented horse milk, which has been around since the nomadic times and they say it is a cure for tuberculosis. it is a strong taste. the aftertaste is almost like you are smoking a cigar. i don't know why, but that is exactly what it tastes like. very sharp, though, very intense taste. some russian influences have remained, but some of the old kazakh traditions that had been suppressed under the soviets have once again been bubbling to the surface.

like faith in tengriism, calling on nature through shamans, known as baksys. arman, my friend! i wanted to find a baksy, so i'm meeting up with someone who says he can get me an introduction. can you tell me a bit about what exactly a baksy is? ba ksy are spiritual servants who are create by nature to help people. these days in modern culture, do people still go see a baksy? yes, of course, it is part of our life. if official medicine, european medicine doesn't help, people go to baksy. well arman, i can't say i know what to expect, but i feel ready. arman takes me to a far corner of the city, and an old, unmarked apartment block.

we are on our way up to the baksy‘s apartment, she will be waiting for us outside the door. not exactly what i expected. chanting. we have just arrived here in the baksy‘s apartment, we are in the middle of some kind of ceremony. there are two ladies who are getting their souls cleaned, i guess — it's hard to know what's going on. chanting and grunting. this is extremely intense. can you explain a little bit of what is happening right now? it is cleaning by fire. for bad spirits.

like an exorcism? yes, yes. each baksy is different, and this one incorporates elements of islam, kazakhstan‘s most followed religion. there is a power in this room i can't describe right now. i have never experienced anything like this. so now it is my turn. having witnessed the devotion vera

had to the process, i feel it wouldn't be right to go through it without the same belief. so we agree on just a blessing for myjourney. but then unexpectedly, i seem to be getting the full treatment. growling and grunting. it feels good to make the sound, but i don't know what to say. he is coaxing... an experience alone it is very powerful. as the process continues, the baksy calls on the totem animals as they did many years ago here. i may not believe in everything that is happening here, but i do like to open myself to the experience as a traveller. all i can say is, i know i feel something. although many muslims here frown on these ancient ceremonies, for some kazakhs, they are a direct link to their nomadic past. it's the world's ninth largest country, but kazakhstan is also one

of the most sparsely populated. its people were traditionally nomadic, with their lives tied to their environment. today, travellers come to explore its relatively untouched landscapes. i want to find out more of the kazakhstani people's relationship with nature today. so i am heading east to the aral sea, the world's fourth—largest lake, or at least that's what it was. welcome to the dusty streets of zhalanash. if you can believe it, this used to be a bustling fishing village, but if you come over here and look down to the ground, you can see what used to be the bottom of the aral sea. there is not much fishing going on now.

it has been called one of the world's biggest environmental disasters. the sea which stretches the border between kazakhstan and uzbekistan was once about the size of ireland. back in the 1960s the immense stretch of water began to dry up. around 90% of it was wiped off the map, and with it the livelihoods of many of the people who lived on the sea's produce. i had heard that here in kazakhstan the sea was actually coming back, and bringing travellers too. so off i go, in search of the aral sea, across miles of the old seabed. i have arranged to meet a guide in this region.

he wanted me to see the full extent of what the sea, which was actually a large lake, once was, thousands of years before it dried up in the 20th century. the view from the top. what caused it to recede so far? the flow of water was diverted to feed the soviet cotton industry. uzbekistan still remains one of the world's top producers of cotton, but while uzbek side of the sea remains mostly lost, recent interventions have meant the north aral sea in kazakhstan is returning.

approaching the shore, one of the biggest draws for travellers has been the eerie sight of shipwrecks scattered across the old sea bed. spiderwebs everywhere. here we are. the aral sea. at one stage this was the fourth largest lake in the world, and soon it will reclaim that title. i made it. birds chirping, fish jumping, sun setting, i get it. i get it now. it's a beautiful place. good morning. this is where we spent the night last night. it might look like we're in the desert, but actually it was very cold this morning.

the bedding was just a simple roll out pillow mat on the ground with some blankets. but this is the fishermen‘s house. we're up early this morning because they are going to take us out to catch some fish. they are quite chipper. myself, i'm working on it. but it should be a good day. my hosts tell me i am not the first traveller to stay with them following the sea's return. though not all of them choose the early—morning fishing run. the sun has not yet crested over the horizon of the kazakh steppe. today we are fishing, and on the fishing team, we have one sleepy, inexperienced travel show presenter, we have our hosts, one of whom you know already, our fishermen and his father at the back. these are our boats. out there, there's a lot of fish, and our plan is today to catch them and bring them back to shore.

0k. we're maybe 100 metres offshore. we've encountered the first net. so from what i understand, the net was put out last night right before sunset. and it stays out until sunrise, and they come out and pull it back in, and every day is quite a surprise. but it seems that over the years there are more and more in the nets almost every single day. ok, so it's my turn to give this a shot, pulling on the net. it's not too hard, actually. you must love it out here.

so we've been pulling the net for about 30 minutes, now. the basket‘s almost full. so i think we're probably getting near the end. we have caught a lot of fish. and besides the amount, they are big fish. myself, being a traveller, being out with people is always special. here you can tell that there's a lot

ofjoy in the job this morning. it's not my life being out here covered in fish scales, bor them, you can tell that they absolutely love it, especially when they can bring in a haul like this. i wanted to see how kazakhstan‘s relationship with nature is changing. so i'm meeting up with the mountain guide back in almaty. she's agreed to take me out to some of the places she likes to explore. we begin at the location of one of the country's most impressive historical sites. wow, they look almost like paintings. they are petroglyphs. and these cliffs are covered with petroglyphs, right? this isn't the only site, there are many sites. there are many sites. it's about 5,000 carvings here. wow. it was discovered in 1957 by archaeologist maximova. and it's more than 5,000

carvings on the rocks in this area. and this is the central part, which is very significant and very important at that date, because people was speaking from here, and it was served as a pantheon. so you could clearly hear what they were talking about down in the valley, where the people and crowds were standing and listening. so here we see the 12 dancing men, which is doing the ritual dance. and here it's a women who is giving birth to a child. as you walk around the site, it's amazing how many carvings you see, here. this here is the club? yeah. karla tells me it's thought they believed the more animals they carved into the rocks, be more animals they would successfully hunt.

it adds to the experience today, being able to come just in touching distance of things so old. i'm used to multiple layers of security, men making sure that you don't breath on art like this. but being able to see every little chip out of the stone really makes it special. but what karla really wanted to show me was how some people are mixing old kazakhstan with the new, sandboarding on kazakhstan‘s most famous singing sand dune. famous because under the right conditions, the dune makes a humming sound, almost like an organ. wow. it's huge. you can see the little dust devils twisting up the sides.

it almost looks alive. the skin of the dune, sweeping back and forth like a snake. and it almost is. over the past 150 years it it's moved 3 metres. slowly, but it is moving. it's incredible. i don't know how we are going to snowboard down it. along for the ride was karla's friend and olympic snowboard trainer leanna. the dune stretches for 3km a reaches height of 150 metres and let me tell you, while it might look placid from a distance, it is a different story when you're up there. it's a little bit windy today, but we're on the singing sands. and i guess that's always how it is here. for myself, i have gone snowboarding before. what are some differences with sandboarding ? 0k.

lean back, yes? that being said, it was comforting knowing that i would be going slower than on snow. and also the cool thing about a sand dune is there are are no trees! so it's safer, right? there is no doubt this is the definition of an extreme sport. there are i am strapped in. i think i'm ready. this way, yeah? like this? ooh — and then the board comes... woah! this is a lot of fun, although i promise you that you get sand in a lot of places you do not want sand. one of those places is your mouth. i've got — i've got a bit of a crunch in my teeth right now. but woah, it is a rush.

karla's about to come down. she's standing up. she looks excited but little bit nervous. you've got it, karla, yeah! but before long, we're starting to get the hang of it. this is a lot of work. what's incredible, though, is when you come down, as the sand starts to avalanche, you can feel it shaking and reverberating underneath the board. it's very cool. it sings as you come down. we've got our final round from the very, very top, if i can — if i can make it. let's stay here and take a break for a sec. yeah!

and with that, my trip to kazakhstan is at an end. and what a ride it was. so far we have had a lot of cloud across the country today, which we are likely to keep for the rest of the abdomen. there will be random brea ks the abdomen. there will be random breaks for a time, allowing some brightness. with the breeze coming m, brightness. with the breeze coming in, it will always be cooler the further east you are, five to 6 degrees. a little milderfurther west. bid is a weak weather front arriving through the night, bringing outbreaks of rain across scotland and northern ireland, but with the high pressure that will weaken off. with all the cloud it will be a

little milder with temperatures holding up to the west. if we get some breaks, temperatures will be close to freezing. some cloud producing drizzle across northern ireland, and temperatures 7 29 degrees. this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 11: two people are arrested after the fatal stabbing on a train in surrey yesterday. police say the death appears to have a followed an altercation between strangers. in relation to what we know so far in regard to happened, it is not random in the fact that there was no contact between the two people before the incident. we know that they were talking together. that's all we know about the two men at this moment in time.

smokers and problem drinkers admitted to hospital in england will get help to quit or cut down — to reduce demands on the health service. five 15—year—old girls have been killed after a fire broke out in an escape room in northern poland. ryanair is voted the worst short—haul airline for the sixth year in a row — in a survey by the consumer group which. and as the us federal government shutdown continues, and apple blames its financial troubles on the chinese economy — join me and a panel of guests in half an hourfor dateline london.