a hong kong legislator who has visited about a hundred pro—democracy protesters still inside the polytechnic university, which is surrounded by police, has said supplies of food and water are unlikely to last another day. hong kong's chief executive carrie lam has said she has told police to end the siege humanely, and that anyone under 18 will not be arrested. the trump administration has declared that israeli settlements in the occupied west bank — widely seen as illegal under international law — are not illegal. that reverses four decades of american policy. israel invaded the area in 1967 and has since built hundreds of thousands of homes forjewish settlers. the multinational accountancy firm, kpmg, is not renewing its sponsorship of an entrepreneur initiative started by britain's prince andrew. it's understood a major reason is the revelations about his ties to the convicted sex offender, jeffrey epstein.

it's a deadly fungal tree disease called ash dieback that's swept across europe and could wipe out most of the ash trees in britain. now scientists say there's new hope after a team from the royal botanic gardens kew identified the genes that provide resistance to ash dieback. it means trees could be bred that are unaffected by the epidemic. our science correspondent rebecca morelle reports. the stunning colours of autumn revealing the richness of our forests, but they're under threat. in 2012, ash dieback arrived in the uk from europe, where it's already ravaged woodlands. it's caused by a fungus that kills the ash trees it attacks. one of the classic symptoms of ash dieback is a darkened lesion on the bark of the tree, and we can see this long diamond—shaped lesion where the fungus has grown into the tree. but, by studying these trees, researchers have discovered a very small proportion are resistant to the disease and they've now pinpointed the genes that fight off the fungus.

it does give us hope that by understanding the differences between the dna of ash trees with and without resistance to ash dieback, we'll be able to breed trees with increased resistance and those will help to safeguard future populations of ash. this disease really is transforming our woodlands. it's estimated that there are 100 million ash trees in the uk, but the rapid sweep of this deadly fungus could kill off up to 70% of them and a recent report put the cost of this loss at £15 billion. in their search for a solution, scientists have been extracting dna from ash leaves. the idea is to take the genes that are helping trees resist the disease and incorporate them into new plants through breeding. but ash isn't the only tree in trouble, so a major project has been under way to collect 15 million seeds from different woodland species.

they're stored at minus 20 in a giant freezer. it's an insurance policy against future threats. we don't know what's around the corner for our woodland. there are threats from climate change and from plant health threats, pests and diseases and land use change. but the hope is that this new research could preserve woodlands for future generations. rebecca morelle, bbc news. now on bbc news: the travel show. hello, and welcome to this look back at some of our recent adventures here on the travel show. it's been a busy few months, so here's a taste of what's coming up. it's so hot! i'm melting. totally worth it. look at this atmosphere!

0h, here we go again. oh, wow! this is beautiful. there is all that and more to come, so let's kick off with carmen's recent trip to osaka injapan. she went to get a bird's—eye view of the ancient burial mounds constructed thousands of years ago, but now located in a very modern city. we start this week in osaka, a modern city, totally rebuilt after the devastation of the second world war. but among these street crossings and skyscrapers, you can still find artefacts from its past. you might not be able to spot them from the ground. oh, i made it to the top. it's a little bit of a view, it's not bad. a lot of trees here.

not really that much to see. but to get the best view of these historical wonders, you really have to take to the sky. oh, my gosh. we're taking off. let's go. dotted across the city there are nearly 50 grassy hills, some of them built in a distinctive keyhole—shape. the japanese call them kofun, burial mounds built over 1,500 years ago. these man—made structures hold the remains of some of ancient 0sa ka's most powerful figures. and this summer, these memorials will were recognised as the city's

first unesco world heritage site. yoshizawa—san has been studying the tombs for decades and was involved in the successful unesco bid. the size and shape of the burial mounds depends on the person's status. the sites were decorated with haniwa, clay figurines that were used in the funeral ceremony.

carmen there exploring japan's past. now, rembrandt has to be one of the most famous painters in the world, and this year marks the 350th anniversary of his death. a while back, ade added back to amsterdam, where rembrandt worked and lived for most of his life, to discover a project that is restoring one of his most famous paintings. in 1631, he made this city his home. and it's here that he painted his most famous masterpieces. and you can see many of them on display at the rijksmuseum. but what i've come here to see is very special. and involves a painting that rembrandt is best known for, one of the most famous works of art in the world, the night watch. the painting is almost four centuries old, and over the years

there have been various restoration attempts. but now the museum is undertaking the most sophisticated one ever. using hi—tech methods to carry out a forensic examination of how rembrandt actually painted the picture before restoration can begin. and it's all being carried out in one of their galleries in full view of the public and live—streamed online. the machine you see there is an x—ray fluorescence scanner. and this way we get an idea of the elements present in this painting. but this is a painting which is for us to admire. why is it so important for you to know about the elements? we need to figure out... we want to know how rembrandt painted it, what his ideas were when he was painting it, how did he make this nice composition.

was it all ok on the canvas, or did he change his mind and change more things, or did he change the composition? those things we would like to know. so you're getting a real idea of what it was like to be a painter in rembrandt‘s time? yeah, we're basically on rembrandt‘s shoulder and watching him while he's painting his paintings. so we're going to photograph the painting in daylight, but we're not going to do it like one snapshot, but we're going to do a lot of photos next to each other. i think, from the top of my head, it's 11,000 photos. wow. so then we get a really high resolution. it's like you're looking through a microscope. 0ne pixel in that photo is like a blood cell, or basically it's smaller than a human hair. all of this scrutiny and all of this work for one artist — what do you think rembrandt would make of it if he was around today?

i would personally think that he would think we are crazy. yeah, yeah. ade there in amsterdam. now it's time for a slice of living history. the fete des vignerons is a huge wine festival that's been taking place in switzerland since 1797. usually, it's once every 25 years, and this year lucy went along to take part. as well as being home to unesco—protected lavaux vineyards, vevey is known for its living tradition — the fete des vignerons. a three—week long celebration of wine that transforms the town. while switzerland might not spring to mind when you think of wine, they actually produce 100 million

litres of wine per year, only exporting 2% of it. it's said that, during the fete des vignerons, visitors unsuspectingly work their way through — are you ready? — over half a million bottles of wine. and the festival itself began as a one—day feast hosted by an ancient brotherhood as a way to reward the best winemaker in the region. and it clearly takes the locals a while to recover as the festival only takes place once every 20—25 years. the fete des vignerons began in 1797 as a small parade through the streets of vevey. but because of unrest in the region over the next couple of decades, the next event wasn't organised for another 22 years. a cycle that has remained ever since. today the climax of the celebration is a daily show that takes place

in a specially built stadium and features over 5,000 volunteers. and this year, the show‘s been created by the man behind cirque du soleil. i'm loving the vibe back here, themed costumes, props everywhere. so with 5,000 people in your show, do you think you've got room for one more? do this with your hands, dance with your hands. dance with my hands? does that mean i'm in? you are in! talk me through what i'm going to be doing. you are going to be a dancer, a starling dancer. the idea is that your upper body is completely separated from your lower body and your arms feel like wings that you can fly with. you make that look really easy. so i've got my moves,

now it's time to get my costume. these are huge. how do i look? am i working it? you're amazing. then the three—hour extravaganza began. the sun is blazing, it's so hot! i'm melting. totally worth it. look at this atmosphere! the choreography wasn't as important in the end, everyone was freestyling, but it looked really good. and what an honour to take part in something that only happens once every 20 years. i ain't going to to be this limber in 20 years, i'll tell you that now! lucy and about 30,000 other people at the stadium in switzerland back in august. well, stay with us, because coming up...

every year, groups of very lucky people get to go aboard and actually rowjust like ancient athenians did. we get a break every so often. "caution: a high degree of physical fitness is required past this point." breathes heavily they weren'tjoking! well, we're always up for a challenge here on the travel show, but mike raised the bar recently when he went to malaysia and tackled a climb that was a real test of endurance. but the reward was spectacular views. i'm in gunung mulu national park in malaysia's biggest state, sarawak. it's home to some of the world's largest caves, formed from limestone and shaped by millions of years

of ground and rainwater. this process also created a bizarre collection of stone spires above the ground. at almost 50 metres tall, the pinnacles are an imposing spectacle. but to get there, sightseers face a long, brutal trek through the rainforest. "caution, a high degree of physical fitness is required past this point." "eight hours round trip." intense! yeah. lead the way! let's go! panting you weren'tjoking! how is it? steep! chuckles we've only just started, and i'm already pretty exhausted.

breathes heavily it's another kilometre before i reach the most treacherous stage. this is the first ladder, mike. 0k. right, larry. helmets on, right? all right. and who's first? after you, mike. after me. 0k, one down, 17 more to go. the beautiful limestone cliffs are sharp, but at least there's lots of places to grab onto. looks like it is raining down there. you think it's going to rain? yeah, it will be heavy rains. breathes heavily

500 metres to go. 100 metres to go. hope we get there before rain. what ladder‘s this? last ladder. the last ladder? this looks like the summit. is it it? yeah, the summit‘s here. we are here, guys. oh, wow! yeah! and there's so many of them! 0h! this is beautiful! yep! just daggersjutting out of the forest canopy. thanks. yeah.

yeah, it really is spectacular, right? yep. mike taking on the pinnacles there in malaysia. now, rwanda might be one of africa's smallest nations, but it's becoming increasingly well known for its wildlife, especially its gorillas. recently, lucy headed there, hoping to meet some of these magnificent creatures. the walk is pretty tough, i'm not going to lie. the higher we get, the higher the altitude, my breath is getting a bit shorter. three hours and 4,000 metres above sea level, and i was beginning to fear i might not everfind a gorilla.

oh, my god. i look scared, but they are so big! i grabbed francis like my life depended on it. we've really, really lucked out here. so you've got a mother cradling her baby. we've got blackbacks. and we've got the mother of all gorillas, the silverback there. he'sjust watching us, watching him. i can't believe we're this close. my mind is just absolutely blown. they are so beautiful.

and when you think we share 98% of our dna with these great apes, you understand why they too are curious about us. rwanda, in collaboration with international conservation partners, has achieved remarkable success in not only protecting, but growing the mountain gorilla population. in fact, there's now 1,000 mountain gorillas here in the wild — up from 200 just two decades ago, when they were on the brink of extension. this is primarily down to the decrease in poaching when the gorillas were hunted for meat. but in an effort to protect the gorillas, poachers were trained to become mountain guides and porters here, further supporting tourism. so, talk to me about the poaching here. and so there is no problem, but there is no problem, because we keep avoiding it not happen by involving them in the communities and hiring the poachers to porterfor us. yeah.

but you can't say it is done, so we keep on. but, of course, more gorillas means they need more space. the government has now pledged to expand the forest by 23%, adding almost 4,000 hectares to its current 16,000. you just hear little grunts just in the distance. at the minute, i think it's quite hard to tell if it's aggressive or playful grunts. wow. how did you feel when the gorilla came out of nowhere and jumped out at you? scared! just being able to watch them eating, interacting and even communicating with us in their natural habitat is, hands down, one of the best experiences that i've ever had the pleasure of having while being on my travels. i highly recommend it.

lucy there in rwanda on what must have been an incredible trip. and as for me, well, the powers that be at the travel show decided i had a different kind of experience in store — a boat trip up the coast of greece. sounds dreamy and relaxing. but as i discovered, not so much. i have come a short distance outside of the athens city centre to what has become known as the athens riviera. there are plenty of cool cafes, ritzy new hotels and, of course, plenty of luxury yachts. moored close to the modern yachts, a different kind of ship is ready to go out to sea. the trireme 0lympias — the only life—size replica in the world of the athenian battleships which dominated the naval wars from the fifth century bc until early christian times.

this amazing looking galley belongs to the greek navy, and every year, groups of very lucky people get to go aboard and actually row just like ancient athenians did. this year, i'm one of those lucky people, so i'd better get ready. i think it's going to be quite hard work. well, my fellow rowers are starting to arrive now, so i've picked a plum spot right in the middle of the action. 0oh! 0ar. ready for ramming speed. coxswain speaks in greek reaching speeds of about nine knots, or 17km/h, this boat was considered pretty quick in its time. coxswain shouts in greek

and its manoeuvrability won athens some decisive victories at sea. the bronze ram served as the main weapon to puncture the hulls of enemy ships and to sink them. coxswain speaks in greek we get a break every so often. coxswain speaks in greek 0oh, here we go again! coxswain shouts in greek looking around, it's almost impossible to imagine

what this must have been like for the people who originally rowed these kinds of boats. i mean, to be in battle, three layers of different people all sweating and trying to ram another boat in the open sea, i mean, it's unimaginable, given how pleasant and lovely this is today. fortu nately, this trireme is now being used for less ferocious purposes. for now, the 0lympias is going back to the port for some pampering. it will spend the winter there before being spruced up for a new set of visitors in 2020. well, that's all we have time for on this week's programme. but don't forget to sign up to our social media feeds. you can see what we're up to and share your travel stories with us and the rest of the world. for now from me, christa larwood, and the rest of the travel show team, it's goodbye.

hello there. the largely dry and sunny conditions of the next few days will be very welcome across much of the country, particularly for england and wales which have seen so much rainfall over the past few weeks. this morning we're starting off on a cold, frosty note with some fog around. some of it could be quite dense. it looks like it will stay sunny for many areas through the day. a ridge of high pressure bringing these fine, settled conditions. this weather front pushing into western areas means that temperatures will be starting on such a cold note, as they will be further north and east. perhaps —9 or —10 degrees in one or two spots in scotland and around —5, —6 for northern england, so a bitterly cold start of the day

with a hard frost across the country. dense fog patches through the midlands into southern england, wales, could cause some issues through the morning. they'll tend to lift into low cloud, perhaps drift northwards into parts of lincolnshire and yorkshire, spoiling the sunshine a little bit here. but for most, it should be cold and sunny. this weather front bringing outbreaks of rain into parts of northern ireland, western fringes of wales and into the south—west of england where there it will be less cold here, but it's going to be another chilly day for all. 0n into tuesday night, picking up more of breeze from the south, so although it starts off cold, by the end of the night, it looks like rural frost will be limited more towards scotland and the north—east of england. but still quite a chilly start for wednesday. variable amounts of cloud with spells of sunshine too. this weather front across the west will be producing further rain for northern ireland, perhaps western wales and in towards the south—west of england. but most places should be dry. temperatures reaching 10 degrees, belfast, plymouth, but still single values elsewhere.

now, into thursday, subtle change as this area of low pressure, this weather front, just wiggles a bit further eastwards. it could introduce outbreaks of rain through thursday to western parts of england, wales, northern ireland, perhaps into south—west scotland too. could see just one or two showers moving up the east coast affecting the north—east of scotland. these will be wintry on the high ground. a breezy day with the wind blowing up from the south—east. again, temperatures reaching double figures across the south, maybe 11 or 12 in plymouth. single figure values elsewhere will remain fairly chilly and dry and bright with sunshine. as we head into the latter part of the week and into the weekend, low pressure skirts by southern parts of britain, heads on into the central mediterranean, but another low—pressure system will push into western parts of the country through the weekend, perhaps into the start of next week, bringing very mild air to our shores but also could push some rainfall across more central and eastern parts of the country as well, so turning a bit more unsettled into the weekend.

sarawak.

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: in hong kong, just 100 activists remain inside the university campus stand—off — with supplies of food and drink running out. we will use whatever means to continue to persuade and arrange for these remaining protesters to leave these remaining protesters to leave the campus as soon as possible. the trump administration reverses four decades of us policy — saying israeli settlements in the occupied west bank aren't illegal. prince andrew loses sponsorship from a major internationalfirm — following revelations about his relationship with sex offender, jeffrey epstein.