the latest headlines: after 50 days in detention, the former chief executive of nissan, carlos ghosn, has appeared in court in tokyo, telling the judge he's been wrongly accused. he entered court handcuffed and with a rope around his waist. he's facing allegations of failing to declare millions of dollars in income. the north korean leader, kimjong—un, is in china for talks with president xijinping. it's their fourth meeting. it's fuelled speculation that kim jong—un plans a second us north korean summit soon. president trump has said a location for a second summit will be announced shortly. the american actor kevin spacey has appeared in a court in massachusetts, facing charges of sexual assault against an 18—year—old man at a bar on the resort island of nantucket in 2016. his lawyers entered a not guilty plea. he was ordered not to contact the alleged victim. it's 3:30am, thereabouts.

time now for the travel show. this week, we're 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 the kazakh people's way of life. birds chirping, fish jumping, sun setting... i get it. and i'm here to explore how they're 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! theme music plays

i've arrived in kazakhstan‘s biggest city of almaty. once, back when the country was still part of the ussr, and long before that, it was the capital city. now, things have changed here. back in 1991, it was the last soviet republic to declare independence, ten days before the collapse of the union. since then, it's been under the president nazarbayev, who moved the capital north to

the purpose—built city of astana. one thing is clear, however, 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's 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's a strong taste. the aftertaste is almost like you're smoking a cigar. i don't know why, but that's 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 are once again

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 created by nature to help people. these days, in modern culture, do people still go see a baksy? yes, of course, it's part of our life. if official medicine, european medicine doesn't help, people go to baksy. arman takes me to a far corner of the city, and an old, unmarked apartment block. let's go. so we're on our way up

to the baksy‘s apartment, she'll be waiting for us outside the door. not entirely what i expected. we've just arrived here in the baksy‘s apartment, and we arrived 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 bell ringing chanting and grunting. this is extremely intense. can you explain a little bit, what's happening right now? 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's my turn. having witnessed the devotion vera had to the process, i feel it

wouldn't be right to go through it all 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 bell ringing it feels good to make the sound, i don't know what to say. he's coaxing... an experience alone, it's 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's 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'm 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's not much fishing going on now.

it's 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 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've 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 the uzbek side of the sea still 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 seabed. spiderwebs everywhere. here we are. the aral sea. at one time, it was the fourth largest inland 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 a fisherman‘s house. and we're up so early because they're going to take us out to catch some fish. they're quite chipper. myself, i'm working on it. but it should be a good day. my hosts tell me that i'm 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 one of our hosts, whom you know already, our fishermen and his father at the back. these are our boats. 0ut there, there's a lot of fish, and the 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 and they 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. —— pulling in the net. it's not too hard, actually. it's interesting, because it's almost like when you're fishing with the reel, you can feel the fish tugging on the net. 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 to the end. we've caught a lot of fish. and besides the amount, they're 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 normal life being out here, covered in fish scales on a boat, but for 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 a 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's 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 speakingfrom 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

which 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 so much to the experience here today, being able to come just in touching distance of things that are so old. i'm used to multiple layers of security, men standing there, 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 i heard it almost is. over the past 150 years, it's moved 3 metres. slowly, but it is moving. it really is incredible. i don't know how we're going to snowboard down it! along for the ride was karla's friend and olympic snowboard trainer

leanna. the dune stretches for 3km and reaches height of 150 metres, and let me tell you, while it might look placid from a distance, it is a different story once 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've gone snowboarding before. what are some differences with sandboarding ? 0k. lean back, yeah? 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's no trees! so, i mean, i guess it's safer, right? there is no doubt this is

the definition of an extreme sport. there i am, strapped in. i think i'm ready. this way, yeah? like this? 0oh — and then the board comes... ohh! woo! this is a lot of fun, though 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 woo! it is a rush. karla's about to come down. she's standing up. she looks excited but a 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. hello there.

northern parts of the uk on monday were particularly blustery. winds gusts in excess of 70 miles an hour for some. but i think it's eastern areas that will see the strongest winds through the day ahead. this swirl of cloud, this area of low pressure, responsible for that very windy weather in the north on monday. sliding its way eastwards towards scandinavia, but on its western flank we're still bringing in some strong winds, brisk northerly winds, particularly close to those eastern coastal areas. the winds will feed one or two showers in towards the east of the uk at times through the day, but generally speaking, of cloud floating around as well. it'll be breezy wherever you are, but if you're spending your day close to the east coast of scotland you can expect wind gusts of 40—45mph, one or two showers

drifting through too. down the east coast of england, wind gusts the same but may be close to 50 miles an hour for some spots around the east anglian coastline. and combine those strong winds with high tides, well, there is the risk of some coastal flooding. temperature between six and nine degrees, but when you factor in the strength of the wind, it will probably feel a bit colder than that. it stays pretty breezy in eastern areas as we go through tuesday night. still the potential of a couple of showers here. 0ut west, where the wind is lighter and the sky is clear, parts of western scotland and northern england, maybe down into the midlands, we could see a touch of frost, but i think many places will start wednesday morning just above freezing. so, during wednesday it will still be breezy, not quite as windy as it will have been on tuesday, and that wind still feeding some showers in across some eastern parts of england. we also see cloud thickening for northern ireland and western scotland, a bit of patchy rain here late in the day. in between, some spells of sunshine, those temperatures struggling a little bit — five

to seven or eight degrees. but it is set to turn milder as we head towards the end of the week. high pressure builds its way back in, and we start to bring the winds back in from the atlantic. so it is, from the north—west, going to turn a little bit milder. holding onto some chilly air across the south—east on thursday. some places could start off with a touch of frost but i think that is where we will see the best of the sunshine through the day. also, north—east england, eastern scotland will see in some in some sunshine. generally a lot of cloud, maybe the odd spot of drizzle, but towards the west, things start to turn milder. and through friday into the weekend, all of us will get into that milder air. there will always be a lot of cloud and perhaps some rain at times, especially in the north. a very warm welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: a fourth visit to china by north korea's leader, and there's speculation about another meeting with president trump.

50 days after he was first detained, former nissan chairman carlos ghosn makes his first appearance in a tokyo court. he says he's been wrongly accused. the actor kevin spacey appears in an american courtroom, charged with sexually assaulting an 18—year—old man. vancouver has a drugs problem, but is treating it with medicine rather than punishment.