speaking to people from brazil, australia. and scotland of course. cani australia. and scotland of course. can i interrupt you for a second please? where are you from? we are from perth, scotland. not australia. have you come here tonight especially? we came down to visit my parents and we were going to come along to the party but we were a bit late so we did not make it. what are the children making of it?” late so we did not make it. what are the children making of it? i think they are enjoying it, aren't you? yes, they are really good. well they get to stay up and see in the new year? probably at granny's house, maybe. but we might come out later oi'i. maybe. but we might come out later on. we will come back for the party. which better you are looking forward to the most? fireworks, always. thank you both very much. have a lovely evening. happy new year to you when it comes. always the fireworks, and what a display as

planned here in edinburgh. it will last about eight minutes and it is set to that music by mark ronson. the organisers of those fireworks have told me that tonight they expect near—perfect conditions. great stuff, thank you very much. lorna gordon with 6.5 hours to wait for those fireworks in edinburgh. let us get the weather... it should be dry, a bit chilly though. a lot of cloud across some other parts of the uk, and that will be filling in these guys for many others. dry and cloudy sums it up, the most part. it will be called across the north—east of england and scotland. not only some cloud around, but we will find some areas of mist and fog, particularly around yorkshire and lincolnshire. towards the north—east, cloud and elsewhere, temperatures turning just above

freezing. tomorrow, a cloudy one. some brightness at times, but the sunshine will be across the north—east of scotland, but a freshening breeze here. temperatures could make double figures here in the north west of scotland, but likewise down south as well. it will be brighter as well. a windy day on thursday, some rain coming into northern ireland and the north of scotla nd northern ireland and the north of scotland will stop some rain eventually for england and wales, but drier and brighter towards the east. it will be windy, but mild everywhere. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines at 5:30: thousands of people in south—eastern australia are forced to seek refuge on the coast, after becoming trapped by advancing bushfires. lebanon says the former nissan boss, carlos ghosn, entered the country legally and will not face any legal consequences, after he fled japan, where he was awaiting trial.

thousands of iraqi militiamen attack the american embassy in baghdad, angry at us air strikes on theirforces. from today — mixed—sex couples in england and wales can finally enter into civil partnerships. new legislation comes into force tomorrow to make trains fully accessible for disabled users — but not all firms will make the deadline. sydney has welcomed in 2020 with a bang, despite calls for it to cancel its fireworks display as australia's bushfire crisis continues. now it's time for the travel show. this week on the travel show, i'm in the jungles of borneo exploring malaysia's biggest state — sarawak. in the western corner of malaysian borneo, sarawak has some of the world's most spectacular and diverse ecosystems.

but it can be overlooked by tourists drawn to the bright lights of kl or the resorts of its neighbour state sabah. so i'm going to discover for myself the sights and inhabitants of this remarkable state. along the way, i will be hanging out with these guys. climbing jagged peaks. easily one of the most beautiful and one of the most difficult hikes i have done. and getting a taste of one of the world's most remote food festivals. sucking. laughs. i have to work on my snail sucking technique. yes, i love sarawak so much. everything very unique in sarawak. we have 26 ethnic groups in sarawak. sarawak mean "surrender to you" in malay.

my trip starts here in sarawak‘s biggest city, kuching. and does the word kuching mean, it means something special, right? yes, kuching is mean cat. cat? in english, called cat. like the city of cats? yes, cat city. we're starting here in the state capital, kuching, and we're travelling all the way up here to the kelabit highlands. it's going to be a journey. on my first stop, i'm going to meet one of the state's most iconic residents. and here he is. the orangutan. so much soul in their eyes. 97% of their dna is shared with humans. and that's where they get the name —

orangutan means "man of the forest." orangutans are native to only two islands in south—east asia. some live on sumatra, but the vast majority live here in borneo. i have come to the semenggoh nature reserve, where the rangers are preparing for the morning feed. it looks like they eat quite well because there is a whole buffet here, and it seems like every day there is a different meal plan. yeah. today is saturday, so they will have about 21 kilo bananas, and then sweet potatoes, chicken eggs and pineapples. oh, it's heavy. maybe 15 kilos. ooh, 0k. so, where are we at? almost there. almost 20. we are ready, 21kg. so emel, tell me what is special about semenggoh nature reserve? ok, so semenggoh wildlife centre actually started off

as a rehabitation centre, so we were established back in 1975, so it's more than a0 years ago. the reserve took orangutans that had been rescued from captivity or suffered from habitat loss, and taught them how to live wild in the surrounding forest. since then, the rehabilitation programme has been moved elsewhere, but the forest is still home to 33 orangutans, and tourists have a chance to glimpse those tempted back by a free meal. it's very different to a zoo, then, there's no orangutans in cages here. yeah, totally different to a zoo. two ? yes. in the basket. yes. our ranger, he will... ok, so thank you very much. yeah. no problem. enjoy. he will bring the food to the main feeding area. when the tourists arrive, a ranger heads to the feeding platform to call the apes. calling.

so, welcome to our centre. coming here is no guarantee that you must see the orangutan. if you happen to see one, consider yourself very lucky already. in the rainy season between november and march there is an abundance of fruit in the forest, so the orangutans often don't need this extra food. but lucky for us, we don't have to wait long for a sighting. this is edwin, one of the biggest males in the park. and like the ranger said, this is not a zoo. the orangutans can come from any direction at any time, so you have to be a bit careful, especially around the big males like edwin here. while these orangutans are used to people, they're still unpredictable, so tourists are kept at a safe distance.

edwin is 23 years old, born in 1996, and he was the first male offspring born in semenggoh. now fully grown, edwin is competing to become the reserve's sole dominant male. only one orangutan dares to approach him on the platform. seduku, rescued from captivity in the 1970s, and one of the first orangutans to be rehabilitated here. are they a thing? yeah, in a way. we call her the great old lady, because she's the oldest female, aged 48 years old. and she is doing still very well. she is a8, he is 23. that is quite a big age difference there, right? yes, but love doesn't see age as a problem, though.

well, feeding time is over, there is no more, and here's edwin. i'm a bit nervous to see him so close. he's massive, so much hair. if you saw that from behind, you wouldn't know what it was. sadly, despite conservation efforts, orangutans face an uncertain future. over a 16—year period, the numbers in borneo fell by more than 100,000. a decline blamed on hunting and deforestation. it is now estimated that there arejust over 100,000 orangutans left on the island. and so, the facility here, how does it help? by having a centre like semenggoh, people get a sense of seeing the wild orangutan, and not disturb the orangutan in their

natural habitat. and i guess the more people come here, the more they learn, and that also helps as well? oh yeah, definitely. the feeling, the excitement of seeing wild orangutan, bring you closer to conservation efforts, and to be able to share it with people out there, it really means something. next up i am crossing the state to reach gunung mulu national park, sarawa k‘s largest piece of protected rainforest. this place is teeming with wildlife — over 4,000 species of plants, 20,000 species of invertebrates, that means hundreds of different kinds of spiders, beetles and butterflies, but no orangutans, though, not here.

mulu is also home to groups of penan, one of the last remaining hunter—gatherer tribes in south—east asia. a lot of their traditional tribal land has been lost to deforestation, so the vast majority now stay in settlements like this one. plucks instrument laughs ididn't expect you to do that. plucks and plays instrument laughs ok, with the nose... so these are flutes, right? whistles blowpipe. blowpipes? you make these? can you show me? ah, i see, so you drill it by hand, so many times... speaks own language

that would be countless hours. like that? oh, yes, there we go. mike corey, blowpipe maker. blowpipes are the penan‘s traditional hunting weapon. they are loaded with darts, tipped with a strong poison extracted from the bark of the local tajem tree. speaks own language and you'd use one of these big ones? wow, it's, look, i'm about six feet tall, that would be about 1.8 metres. ok, so we're here like this... and that one goes in the back. armed and dangerous.

you first. safety off. sharp shooter! laughs i guarantee i will not... like this? like this. and then... 0k. here we go. hopefully there's some beginner's luck. i hit the target?! laughs further inside the park, there is a truly unique landscape. below ground, there are 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.

they're called the pinnacles, and i have come all the way up river to base camp 5 to see them. at almost 50 metres tall, the pinnacles are an imposing spectacle. but to get there, sightseers face a three day round trip and a long, brutal trek through the rainforest. so the guides have some rules in place to make sure tourists are up to it. the first 60 minutes, so this is considered as a check—in point. if you make it more than 60 minutes, you are considered a slow climber. we are sorry, we have to say you are not qualified. so if i don't make the first checkpoint in 60 minutes, you turn me around and say sorry, you are going back home? yeah, this is the rule here. ok, we are just about to head to bed

for the big hike tomorrow. this is bed tonight, actually, underneath this mosquito net. that's a bee, by the way, that just flew away. this is coming with me tomorrow... person: shh. there are some people sleeping, ijust got shushed. i am a little bit nervous for the hike tomorrow, it is supposed to be quite hard, a lot of very, very steep inclines, so i am going to get a full eight hours tonight. i will see you in the morning and we will see if we can make it to the top. "caution, a high degree of physical fitness is required past this point." eight hours round—trip. lead the way. let's go. i havejust 60 minutes to make it

to the mini pinnacles, the first checkpoint. you weren'tjoking. what was that? how is it? steep. the checkpoint is less than a kilometre up the slope, but the humidity makes it feel a lot further. panting we've onlyjust started and i'm already pretty exhausted. and we're here, the pinnacles! not quite, right? mini pinnacle. that is...not a joke. having reached the checkpoint within the time limit, it's another kilometre before i reach the most treacherous stage. this is the first ladder, mike. ok.

right, larry, helmets on, right? alright. who's first? after you. after me? ok, one down, 70 more to go. beautiful limestone cliffs are sharp, but at least lots of places to grab onto. it looks like it's rained down there. think it's going to rain? yeah, it will be heavy rain. 500 metres to go, 100 metres to go. hope we get there before the rain. what ladder‘s this? last ladder. the last ladder?

this looks like the summit. isn't it? the summit, yes. we are here, guys. oh, wow, yeah. and there are so many of them. this is beautiful. yep! just daggersjutting out of the forest canopy. really is spectacular, right? yep.

the final stop in myjourney across sarawak is bario, in the kelapit highlands, home to one of the world's most remote food festivals. well, it is definitely living up to its reputation. it is taking us one hour in a small little plane, and six hours by 4x4 to get there. it is not exactly a smooth road, it's like being a greased up piece of popcorn in the back seat, but it's a lot of fun. i'm quite an adventurous eater, i will try everything. once — at least once. if it is not so good, then only once. but often when you come to these far—away places, you will find some pretty far—out food, and i'm hoping we'll find some very interesting stuff. bumped around and a little

bruised from the journey, i get there to find the festival in full swing. we're catching the eye of a lot of locals, because there's not that many foreigners, surprise, surprise, in this part of the world. i don't know half of the foods here today and that is quite exciting for me. a local farmer called dayang offers to show me around. would you like to try our dure? i don't know what dure is... one of the local exotic vegetable found here in bario. it is a plant that lives in the jungle? yes. i can eat that all day. that's delicious! but it's got, like, i was thinking it would taste like spinach, but it doesn't taste like spinach at all. ok... it tastes, like, much heartier than spinach would. would you like to try the akep?

yeah, we can try akep. so akep looks like to be boiled snails. yeah, found in the paddy field here. it smells like boiled snails too. this is how we do it. this lives in the jungle as well, you suck it out? sucking there you are. just like that. so you bite — you hit it first? yeah, just a bit. not too much. it's stuck on my teeth. and you suck it? ok. yes. once. sucking there we go. laughs how do you find it? the taste must be fantastic? laughs i wouldn't use that word, but it's not bad, it's very chewy. this is classic traditional kelabit food, sourced from the surrounding area.

welcome to bario. dayang takes me to herfarm, where she grows one very important ingredient. it's cool, because each plant has one pineapple? yes, so it will take about one year to ripen. but this one looks ripe. this yellow one. yes. look at the colour, it's golden yellow. so how do we...can we pick one? how do we pick one? sure, you can just pluck it. i'm going to have puncture wounds after this, but it's ok. yes. that was easy. yes, because it's golden, ripe pineapple, it's very sweet. look at this, my very first pineapple. back at the festival, locally—grown pineapples have been made into jams, juices and even pineapple cider.

down the hatch. it's a little chunky, how many of these do i have to drink to have a really good day? i'm not sure. shall we find out? i'm joking! since it started in 2006, the festival has celebrated both the cuisine and the culture of the highlands. up top there are some bags with soda pop, cookies, the point is to climb up to the top, grab your prize and climb back down. that means it's my turn. ok, you can go. give him a big clap! so... slowly from the bottom. freestyle ? yeah. ok, here we go. come on!

as the games continue, my form doesn't really improve. it was by a feather that we lost. applause. a game that i'm not bad at, i think it's my height advantage. everyone gets a shot or...? hang on, let's watch. that's way farther than mine. i guess you might think that coming so far away, you wouldn't be able to make friends, or that it might be a strange tourist experience. but i always find it's some of the best ones, when you come to these remote places, there's not many foreign tourists, so people are so accepting and grateful that you are here,

and will share everything with you. hello there, the first part of the day looks quite chilly. some sunshine today, especially across scotla nd sunshine today, especially across scotland and northern england, although we are starting to see some cloud arriving. that cloud is moving on from the south, where it has been

quite dull, and quite misty in some cases as well. is that cloud advances northwards, we may well find some dense patches of fog forming across parts of lincolnshire and yorkshire. if you are out celebrating, this is the story. generally a dry one, a lot of cloud around, but some breaks of cloud in the north—east of scotland, where it is going to be cold enough for a touch of frost. but a fairly quiet evening, watch out for some mist and fog patches. strengthening winds will come across, a drizzle in the south—west that should be moving away. it looks like a cloudy day through wednesday, there may be some brightness again, but the best chance will be for the north—east of scotland, with a bit more shelter from that freshening breeze. milder in the north west of scotland, a little chilly in today across eastern parts of england. we will be

tapping into some milder air by thursday. that milder air is ahead of these weather front here, tumbling down from the north—west and bringing a change for thursday. some outbreaks of rain across northern ireland and heading into scotland. it could be quite heavy across the western hills of scotland is that there is rain band moves across england and wales in the afternoon. elsewhere, dry, some sunshine. there mild for the time of year, windy, typical temperatures 11 01’ year, windy, typical temperatures 11 or 12 degrees. beyond that, those weather fronts will tumble down from the north—west, taking any remaining rain into england and wales. the wind direction will then change, during dance and cooler air. on friday, still some cloud left over for southern england, the channel islands may have a little rain. elsewhere, that the north will pick up elsewhere, that the north will pick up some showers. showers quite frequent, quite windy still as well.

temperature seven or 8 degrees. the airwill bea temperature seven or 8 degrees. the air will be a little colder, but still double figures in the south for a while. quite tonight. a bit chilly in the north—east though. some patches of mist and fog forming.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 6pm... thousands of people in south—eastern australia are forced to seek refuge on the coast after becoming trapped by advancing bushfires. lebanon says the former nissan boss carlos ghosn entered the country legally and will not face any legal consequences after he fled japan where he was awaiting trial. thousands of iraqi militiamen attack the american embassy in baghdad, angry at us air strikes on theirforces. this is the scene live in baghdad tonight, where the us embassy in on fire. where the us embassy is on fire. the us says it will deploy extra troops to secure the building. sydney welcomes in 2020 with a bang, despite calls for it to cancel its fireworks display as australia's bushfire