of new south wales have been closed as the region prepares to deal with potentially catastrophic bush fires. a state of emergency has been declared in new south wales and in neighbouring queensland. activists in hong kong have blocked roads and clashed with police, a day after some of the most violent unrest during five months of pro—democracy protests. riot police fired tear gas on a university campus, and commuters were forced to abandon a train after objects were found on the line. bolivia's former president evo morales is on his way to mexico where's he's been granted asylum following his resignation on sunday. mr morales said it pained him to leave, and he vowed to return with more strength and energy. clashes between the former president's supporters and security forces have continued in bolivia. one of the uk's biggest steel—makers has been rescued by a chinese company,

potentially safeguarding thousands of jobs. british steel had been facing collapse after going into liquidation earlier this year but the chinese producerjingye confirmed today it had agreed a buyout. our business editor simonjack reports. this plant has been on government life support since it collapsed in may. technically in liquidation, it was offered a chinese lifeline today, and workers on their way home welcomed it. well, it's been a big concern, hasn't it? nobody not knowing what is happening, whether they've got a job, can pay their mortgages, feed theirfamilies. yeah, it's great news. obviously, there's been uncertainty around it, but now we know, this close to christmas, that we've got a job. with 4,000 employees and 20,000 in the supply chain, the steelworks is the lifeblood of scunthorpe. it's massive good news for lots of families and obviously for all the housing, forjobs, for younger people and older people alike, it's just great news. the thought of scunthorpe not having steel—making here really doesn't bear thinking about.

charlotte charles worked there for 12 years and is now a union organiser. we're cautiously optimistic. our members have been in a state of flux for a number of months now, and so to have some concrete commitment to steel—making in scunthorpe is always going to be welcome news, but the devil will be in the detail. the due diligence has been done extremely quickly, and so now what we want is a commitment to secure the jobs and terms and conditions for our members moving forward. if the deal goes ahead, current workers‘ jobs are secure, according to company assurances to the government. well, i have been given reassurances that next to all current staff will be kept, and that in the medium to longer term they are likely to want to expand the workforce, so i have been given quite strong reassurances on that front. this is not a totally done deal yet, there's details to go through, investment plans to be pored over, and we've had false dawns in scu nthorpe before. but folks here are encouraged that the prospective buyer is a steel—maker, not a financial investor — and company that doesn't make some

of the products that are made here, so there's commercial logic to it. however, there are still some concerns about the economic and strategic rationale of putting one third of britain's steel production in chinese hands. from nothing, injust 20 odd years... despite revenues of £10 billion, jingye is a relative minnow in china's giant steel industry. in 2017, china produced over 800 million tonnes of steel, the uk less than 8 million. so how important will scu nthorpe really be? the main principle of the deal that i would urge the government to concentrate on is long—termism. is this a company that will invest for the long term, that will ensure that british steel remains one of the linchpins of our industrial strategy? steel has been made here for 150 years. the prospective chinese owners are promising many years more — a message that's getting a very warm welcome tonight. simonjack, bbc news, scunthorpe. now on bbc news, the travel show. this week on the travel show,

i found out how punks helped to end the cold war. also on this weekend's special programme, we are off to bulgaria to visit an iconic relic of its communist past. powerful, powerful architecture. and we meet the people in latvia recreating a good night out, eastern block style. i think that will warm me up!

this weekend marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall, back in november 1989. poland was the first eastern bloc country to turn its back on communism, earlier that year. but those iconic images of the wall coming down here in berlin really did confirm that the cold war in europe was coming to an end. 0n the evening of november 9, 1989,

the whole world watched the destruction of the berlin wall. a structure that divided notjust the city, but families, nations, and superpowers. stretching over 80 miles, the wall was built to divide the communist east and the capitalist west. today, only small sections of it still remained, and crossing it is no trouble at all. many cultural and political factors contributed to the destruction of the wall, but if captured the mood of the time as much as music. in the west, megastars like david bowie and bruce springsteen both played protest gigs by the partition. but in the east, under the watchful eye of the secret police,

an underground scene was forming. it was angry, it was an anarchic, and it was a breakaway from control. it was punk music. chaos was the front man for wuta nfall. one of the top bands.

east germany's secret police, the stasi, regularly targeted defined defiant anti—authoritarian punks. 0n multiple occasions, chaos was imprisoned and brutally beaten.

back then, the intense scrutiny of the stasi meant that gigs often had to be held in the unlikeliest of locations. this is the place. wow, this is pretty spectacular. yeah, it's a church. i can't imagine hundreds of punks coming to a church for a concert. yeah, with hundreds of beer. what was the vibe and the energy like in here?

when you think about those times, those difficult times during the gdr, where you were intimidated, by the stasi and the problems that you had amongst the people in the streets, would you do it again? absolutely. punk was the soundtrack to an era

of mounting defiance against the gdr, an era that culminated with the destruction of the wall. now, 30 years on, this underground history is finally surfacing. in the aptly named punk bar, the church from underground, a band is rehearsing for 0st art, a two day festival taking place this weekend designed to pay tribute to the subculture that provided a lifeline for so many. 0st art is a festival in berlin in honour of the anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall. a good chance to get the younger people in touch with the history we had a. it's not like i have to do read some books or whatever, you can feel it. for me, the real punks

were in the gdr, not in the west, because they really had to deal with repression, police, and it was really a big thing to do this. the stakes were much higher for the punks in the gdr. yeah. today has been really surprising. it makes me think of what it must have been like in this city on the night that the berlin wall came down, the energy that must have crackled through it, and how much of that energy was driven by punk music. but what else is also a call is the fact that the next generation here are putting on events like the 0st art festival, which is helping to keep the memory alive of that counterculture, the counterculture of punk music that had to fight so hard just to exist.

this weekend, there are dozens of anniversary events taking place all over berlin, but if you are planning a trip later than that, don't worry, because there is still plenty of things to see and do. at the new timeride berlin, you have a chance to go through the re—created city. you can board a bus all the way back to the 1980s, taking in gdr landmarks like checkpoint charlie, and the old parliament, the palace of the republic. or you can explore some of the incredible tunnels that helped over 300 east berliners escape under the wall.

the berliner unterwelt museum hosts exhibits and tours but being underground, the accessibility is limited. november also sees the planned completion of the berlin handshake project, a collection of almost 11,000 clay moulds, one for each day since the wall came down. the berlin handshake project is shown at the documentation centre at the bernauerstrasse. it's bringing two people together and asking them to shake hands, and in this handshake we put a ball of clay. your other hand, you can also squeeze. out of 11,000 of these handshakes we build a wall of unification. we have the prototype here, and in the future there will also be something outside that you can see.

all you still to come on the travel show... coming up, we've got more from two former eastern block countries who are forging a new future 30 years on, but still remember their past. so don't go away. if you come to berlin, you'll find some parts of the berlin wall standing, and being used as backdrops for tourist selfies, but across the former eastern block there are other buildings and structures that nobody quite knows what to do with maybe because their history is still too raw and some countries are not so comfortable their past? a few years ago, we sent mike to bulgaria to take a look around and iconic building that was left abandoned when the communist regime collapsed.

i'm excited! it's been a long time that i wanted to come here. wow, it's massive, isn't it? at 70m high and 60m wide, it looks out across the balkan mountain. completed in 1981, buzludzha was built as a national monument to glorify the communist party stop its head because this was the birthplace of the bulgarian socialist movement. this is powerful... powerful architecture. following the collapse of the regime, the building was abandoned, and later shut off to the public as it fell into disrepair. recently, the only people have seen inside have been a select group of photo hungry urban explorers who have broken in illegally. this is a really big deal today,

the travel show is the first international crew to be allowed in the front doors of buzludzha, so we are very excited and very lucky to be able to do so. and now is the time. ready? wow! me first? you are welcome. it has seen better days, hasn't it? definitely. it cost the equivalent of $35 million in today's money to build buzludzha. since it was abandoned, the years, they haven't been kind. it's incredible. there's some work to do, obviously. but it's still very impressive. look at this 50 square metres of mosaics right on top. there is the symbol of communism,

actually, the hammer and sickle. and you can read the text around it. "workers of the world unite." the entire perimeter is also covered in mosaic. we have actually more than a thousand square metres of mosaic inside buzludzha. out of all of these, which is your favourite? 0ver there, the people with the dragon. the dragon represents capitalism, monarchy and the fascism, all the enemies of communism, and it is defeated by the communist people. when the monument opened, thousands came from all over the country to marvel at its beauty. there were sound and light shows, and talks from well—known communist artists and poets. one person who remembers that time well is bedros azinyan. he and his father were the official photographers for the building. bedros, you were here

and you saw this room and this building when it was at its best. what was that like? really, all that is left is the wall mosaics and the mosaic on the ceiling. here and here.

time could be running out for buzludzha. if the roof collapses, the walls will go too, and the building will be lost. there is now an urgent debate about what exactly to do with the monument. those who remember the repressions and the hardships of the communist era would like to see it destroyed. others want to restore it to its former glory. but dora is working on a proposal to preserve it as a museum, and a place where bulgarians can discuss the past. it was built to glorify the communist ideal. we all want to do that nowadays. we just want to know the history, to understand why it was built. but if we keep it intact, and leave the symbols in their present condition, i think this will be much more powerful and meaningful for the next generation to understand. it'll be a symbol of much more thanjust like it was, communism. it is more a symbol of bulgaria

and the ups and downs and the roller—coaster the country has been through. there is no doubt that this is a controversial but very powerful and iconic building. and because of that alone, to me, it feels worth preserving in whatever form. but ultimately, it is down to bulgaria itself to work with how it remembers its past, going into the future. well, to finish this week, we are off to latvia. it's a country that turned its back on the old soviet union, and won its independence back in 1990. but although it successfully made the transition from communism to capitalism, some people are still kind of nostalgic for certain elements of the old days, as christa found out when she visited the capital, riga, earlier this year. the russian bear still projects its shadow over the tiny country. but it's also part of its dna. about one in four latvians are ethnic russian.

and imants is one of them. a few years ago he opened a bar for those nostalgic for their youth under the soviet regime. and it had to include one of the latvia's most popular games, the novuss. show me? i must hit that one, and hit those into the pockets? this will be embarrassing, wait for this. yeah! no! i'll leave that to the brezhnevs now.

so we've got all sorts of soviet goodies here, that used to be served up during that era. we've got salami, cheese, herring and spratt with egg all served on bread. it used to come like this. you would order 100ml of vodka, and one of these snacks would come as standard, just to make sure you didn't get too drunk. in 1991, the soviet union collapsed and latvia regained its independence. finally enjoying the freedom to travel and settle abroad, many young latvians chose to leave. riga has lost almost a third of its population since independence. a consequence of this exodus is that it has left an extraordinary number of buildings across the city

empty, like this one, a former ambulance depot. but one group of activists is trying to change this. i was one of the founders of this initiative, in 2013. working with owners and the municipality, free riga turns derelict buildings into social and cultural venues. so what do we have here now? so, this is a street food place, and over there there is a bar with a concert venue. then there is co—working. there are artists‘ residences. you've got everything here! what don't you have here? hotel. no hotel here?

so, tell me about some of the events you hold here, mostly during the summer, i guess? it is a bit cold at the moment. these are all kinds of activities, starting from concerts, exhibitions, workshops, the building looks a little bit rough so he atmosphere is more, how you say, not rough, but... more informal? easy—going. and more informal, exactly. maybe this will become a new berlin or something. going into the bar next door, there is definitely a berliner vibe in the area, only the drinks are local. could i have a black balsam, please? a very little one. well, i think that will warm me up. it is actually not too bad!

sadly, that's your lot for this week. don't forget, you can follow us on social media, to keep up with us on all our adventures. but until next time, from me and all the travel show team here in berlin, it's auf wiedersehen. hello there. it's been a very unsettled start to november, even indeed before november, we've seen a lot of rainfall around. low pressure‘s been firmly in control and it's been quite cold as well. the rest of the week stays unsettled

thanks to low pressure, it will be quite windy too and we will see some snow around as it will remain cold, particularly over the higher ground. lower pressure firmly in control of our weather for tuesday, bringing fairly strong wind from the north—west there will be a lot of showers circulating around it. early on tuesday, it looks like most of the showers will be across parts of scotland and northern ireland, northern england, some wintriness over the high ground of scotland but further south, it should be dry with lengthy clear skies. but that does not mean it won't turn quite chilly here. 1—3 degrees here with the showers, generally 4—5 degrees to start tuesday. so we start with sunshine across the south, and in other areas, but bands of shower and long spells of rain spreading into south—eastern areas into the afternoon. and there will contine to be some wintriness over the high ground. it will feel cold with temperatures 7—8 degrees. out on the wind, it'll feel quite raw. low pressure pushes off into the north sea and allows a bump of high pressure to build in before wednesday before this next weather system moves in wednesday

night into thursday. it could bring some areas quite a lot of rainfall, unfortunately. through wednesday, though, it could be a chilly start in central, eastern and northern areas but dry and bright thanks to that bump of high pressure. the next weather system will be arriving across northern ireland and wales and the south—west of england, bringing some heavy rain here later in the day and it will be another chilly one, temperatures struggling to get up as much as 4 degrees across scotland. through wednesday night a few showers here and the weather front across the south—west will push northwards and eastwards, it'll pivot as well, we think. bit of uncertainty too, its northwards or southwards extent but some areas could see quite a lot of rainfall it could be the flood—affected areas in the midlands and northern england could see quite a bit of rainfall. but again, i have to emphasise there's some uncertainty on the position of the weather front. there are a number of flood warnings still in force and this rain could exacerbate that. so stay tuned to the forecast and head onto the bbc weather website. as we head out into friday

the weather front eventually starts to fade and move southwards and eastwards. so it could be quite cloudy on friday across southern and eastern areas, one or two showers here, quite blustery. but further north and west, we will see a ridge of high pressure move in. it's an improving picture here with some good spells of sunshine. and temperatures again on the low side, sticking in single figures for most.

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: australia's east coast, including sydney, braces itself for one of the country's worst ever bushfire threats. riot police in hong kong fire tear gas at a university campus and transport links across the territory has been disrupted. schools and universities have suspended classes. turkey launches an investigation into the death of a retired british army officer who helped establish the syrian rescue service known as the white helmets. former bolivian president, evo morales, is on his way to mexico amid reports of fresh clashes in the city of la paz. hillary clinton tells the bbc she's ‘dumb—founded' that the uk government won't release a report into russian covert actions