we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. a double landlocked country steeped in silk road legacy... it's like something from a 60s spy movie or something. it's incredible. ..where soviet influences... horns sound ..meet ancient traditions... this is amazing. i can't believe this. this is where arches would have stood. ..and vast landscapes... ..hide impressive relics. it's pretty astonishing that i'm able to still walk around here. for the best part of a century, this country has been off limits to many outsiders. but in recent years, that's been changing, and i'm on a journey to see what we've been missing out on.

this is uzbekistan. once part of the enormous soviet union, uzbekistan is a country of arid deserts, lush mountains and ancient cities. in its long history, it's been home to many civilisations, remnants of which can still be seen today. and now its more recent past is as much of a draw. i'm starting myjourney here in tashkent, the biggest city in the whole

of central asia. it's dynamic, full of young people — with almost half under the age of 30 — and it's booming. though wherever you look, you are reminded of its soviet past. so what's this impressive building? incredible. this is our circus. munis nur has been studying the unique blend of soviet and islamic architecture that tashkent is known for. after a massive earthquake in the 60s, the soviets rebuilt the whole city. at that time, as you know, many different architects came from the soviet union, and all the architects tried to build the ideal city here. the circus is one of the many examples of the era's modernist architecture. but back in the day, it was also a symbol of the soviet union's big ambitions. first astronauts were visiting

the space, and these ideas were also reflected in this building, because the shape of our circus is like spaceship. so this circus is almost like a tribute to space research and the futuristic idea that the soviets had? yes, yes. once the soviet union dissolved, uzbekistan became an independent country. but for almost three more decades, it was ruled by an authoritarian leader. the death of islam karimov in 2016 kick—started some huge changes, including a big tourism drive. ilkhom was once an underground theatre, but now it draws in an international audience. i think i'm just catching them in mid—rehearsal. i'll take a seat. the theatre has been around for almost 50 years. it's famous for its bold performances, and creating debate even during the soviet rule. irina bharat is the programme director here.

the audience is very different even now from the majority of our society, and it was kind of underground plays. we have very strong, our censorship here, because we know how we can offend local people. so even we are trying to say something very... ..avant—garde and progressive, we are trying to find so even we are trying to say something very... ..avant—garde and progressive, we are trying to find a solution, and the way how to say this because we want us to be heard, not just be provocative. but despite their best efforts, ilkhom's existence is precarious. this building doesn't belong to us, and they tried to kick us outjust two years ago.

but then i think they have decided they need someone who... just a symbol of democracy. and a distinctive symbol too. i get the impression uzbekistan is involved in a tug—of—war between becoming more open and progressive and respecting its past. i'm travelling an hour outside of the city to see that past in its full glory. this is parkent, known locally as quyosh, which means "the sun" in uzbek, and there's good reason for that. and there it is now. in the middle of nowhere, on a mountain — like, nothing else around it — and it's like something from a 60s spy movie or something. it's incredible. the institute of the sun is a soviet legacy. i can't believe i'm actually allowed in here.

it was once home to a top secret project, testing the capabilities of military equipment to withstand extreme heats. whoa! what an incredible view! dr shavkat nurmatov is one of the people in charge. so tell me, originally, why was this whole institute created? it was a time of race between capitalistic system and soviet system. the furnace was built to rival its french equivalent, the only other of its kind in the world. first, the main idea was about achieving high temperatures in the focal spot by cheap and fast way, and 3,000 degrees c required to test some facilities. at that time it was military

tests, the focal spot... to see how military equipment can deal with extreme temperature, yes? yes, yes. for example, a simulation of nuclear power explosion, testing of protecting material of space shuttles. it works by turning 62 mirrored panels to bounce the sun onto 10,000 tiny mirrors onto the dish—shaped building. they then focus the sun's rays onto a small furnace known as the concentrator. and you can even see for yourselfjust how powerful the sun can be when reflected off mirrors. yeah? 0k. so you hold it. oh, look at that! immediately. within two or three seconds,

this stick gets to 1,000 degrees celsius. absolutely love it. the institute has lost some of its former glory. hard to imagine, but in its heyday, there'd have been more than a thousand of the soviet union's top minds working here. today, there's less than 200 people. but they're still making scientific advances with this space race era technology. the furnace�*s focal point is located on top of a tower, and i'm granted special access to see one of the experiments being worked on today. they don't fire up the furnace every day, so i'm lucky to see this. these scientists are testing to see if the material can be used to create a new heat conductor. be careful. yeah.

what's totally incredible is that literallyjust a metre away from me, is this saucepan size of material bubbling away. it's being tested under 3,000 degrees celsius of heat, and that's a result of all these mirrors reflecting the sun's rays. what an amazing experience. this place really is like a time capsule. things have been left just as they were during the soviet rule. but that rule was just a short blip on the timeline of this ancient country, and to journey even deeper into that past, i'm leaving the tashkent region behind. if you ever wanted a symbol for uzbekistan�*s rapid modernisation, then look no further than its high speed train line — the only one of its kind in central asia. i'm heading west to karakalpakstan, an off the beaten track autonomous region in the middle of the kyzylkum desert.

it's interesting. back in the day, this route along the old silk road from tashkent to bukhara, where we're going, would have been made at the speed of a camel. this rail network is due to be extended next year. but for now, i have to swap my mode of transport to drive six hours through some of the driest and most remote landscape i've ever seen. this has been a long, bumpy ride, but i've been promised it's worth it, and i'm going to see something spectacular very soon. this area is known as the land of fortresses.

and they were built to protect traders, going along the silk road, from marauding nomads. ayaz kala is 2,500 years old. this is where archers would have stood to fire arrows from. and do you know what? i can see why. this is a brilliant vantage point. you can see for absolutely miles. 50 fortresses like this are scattered across the desert. surprisingly, only a few have been excavated and a huge amount of work is under way to discover more about the ancient civilisations who built these impressive castles. it's unbelievable they're still intact considering not only their age, but the harsh climate and the basic materials that they're made of. karakalpakstan is located to the west of the aral sea —

a lake so huge it once straddled six countries. but it's been shrinking for decades, first because of soviet farming projects and later climate change. ok, now we've entered into the heart of karakalpakstan, which is quite a poor region. and you can also tell that maybe the infrastructure needs a bit more work, but it's all part of the charm for now. tourism is reinvigorating this community. some come here to see what's left behind of this once—magnificent sea, and others for a camping experience with a twist — to stay in traditional uzbek yurts. i'm joining azamat turklev for the day to see the craftsmanship that goes into building one.

everything in this workshop is built by hand, the skills developed over generations. how many of these do you make a week? once the parts have been made, putting it up is fairly easy. these are excellent. yeah, yeah, yeah. wow. brilliant — look at that. this is the lattices all stuck together. thank you. wow. i'm going to walk through the door so we can lift the roof. oh, wow. yes, look at this! that's brilliant. he issues command this is a proper skilled task here.

the waterproof cover comes on just in time. so, this is lucky. the rain has just got really heavy. azamat is excited about

what the future holds. it's been a bit of a journey to get here, but seeing this part of the country has really made me appreciate uzbekistan�*s more traditional culture. and my last stop is taking me even further back in time. i'm on my way to khiva, one of the most ancient cities in central asia. the old town, itchan kala, is so well preserved, it's like a film set. the sites here are all over 1500 years old. the kalta minaret, the islam khoja mosque, and even the walls themselves are just a few of the landmarks

that uzbekistan has been painstakingly restoring. and today it looks like something special is going on. uzbekistan�*s first—ever world ethnosports festival, an event designed to preserve the more traditional sports in their authentic form. teams from over 60 countries have travelled here to take part, and locals tell me this is the biggest event that khiva has ever hosted. it's great here. there's always something going on. turn any corner and you'll find some sort of action. kurash wrestling is traditional to asia, but here today, unusually, it's being practised by young women. borjon khumluva is representing uzbekistan.

it's believed that kurash dates back to a time when there was a matriarchal society in which women would test the worthiness of their groom in a match. if the man lost, the woman stayed single.

can you beat most of these boys? 0k! i'd be terrified of fighting against you, let me tell you! show me your best move. come on. yeah. and then i'd go over. yeah. thank god. thank you for not putting me over! thank you. thank you very much. thank you! there are more than 20 traditional sports being played here today, and this festival is about enticing a new generation of players to get involved. the jabborov family have been tightrope walkers for hundreds of years.

do you want to go upstairs? no! no, thank you. but i knew that answer wasn't going to fly. however, i don't think even i was prepared for what was about to happen. i've got to say, i can't help but feel a hard hat would have been more appropriate than these fancy boots. do what you have to do. here we go. he groans with effort gracious as ever!

ugh! what am i doing?! and we're actually walking. oh, my goodness. whoa! hand on this? ok. turning around. he whispers: here we go. he laughs this is amazing. i can't believe this! any moment now, i'm surely going to fall. but, as we totter across the rug... ..it�*s like a baby walking for the first time. here we go. i'm going to make it! i'm going to make it. don't get too presumptuous! yes! check that out! thank you! he laughs he pants whoa! that was exhilarating. that is one of the most scary things i've ever done!

and i've done some stuff, and whoa! rahmat! horns blare sonorously applause

as the sun sets on khiva, it's a perfect end to my trip. i'll be honest — uzbekistan has not really been on my radar, but, in a way, that's not surprising. this country's been closed to the outside world for nigh—on a century. once at the heart of the silk road, linking the east and west, it's now looking to reconnect and wholeheartedly embrace tourism — keen to show the world its vibrant culture, ancient heritage and architectural wonders. it's forging a new identity while being just as proud of its past.

the weather has been making the headlines the wrong reasons. areas of low pressure pushing their way and west to east only to be replaced by another even more significant low has moved away we have seen a rash of showers. looking further ahead into next week, high—pressure will build we have not seen this for some time, isobars will open out, clear skies by day leading to frost and fog but a quieter story. we will see the first signs of that this weekend, largely dry some cloud around. as we go into saturday we will have some lingering cloud to the east of the pennines with a weakening with a front, quite windy to

the final clearing showers to the final clearing showers to the northern isles but a slice of finer weather with a few isolated coastal and temperatures around five — nine degrees. as we move out of saturday into sunday this high—pressure continues to build from the west it will merge with this one a cross into scandinavia. the winds were for light, early morning mist and fog could be an issue some slow to lift, that slight north—easterly across lincolnshire to east english are in the southeast a pew roadshow is for essex and kent it will feel cooler with exposure to that breeze and temperatures little bit below parfor temperatures little bit below par for the time of year. clear skies by day will lead to clear skies by day will lead to clear skies by day will lead to clear skies by night, frost and fog could be an issue notjust monday into tuesday but throughout the week especially when the windfalls light. monday morning more in the way of cloud around and chasing cloud from time to time, that north—easterly breeze especially bringing cloud to

east yorkshire east anglia and the southeast and temperatures perhaps at around three — five degrees. some brighter spells the further west. the high—pressure will drift its way steadily westwards, the wind still circulating around that high in a clockwise direction, within exposure along the east coast could be fresher but with a fresher breeze on tuesday, that should help to shift the cloud and it should more sunshine coming through on tuesday. not an especially warm day, three — five celsius, a shock to the system because we have not been temperatures like this for quite some time. the high—pressure not moving far very fast, drifting its way slowly north—west, the wind direction to more of an north—easterly, with the longer we will see more cloud from the north sea so that means cloudy skies for eastern scotland, northeast england and perhaps more sunshine through central

and southern areas. top temperatures against similar values for much of the week looking at around four — seven celsius, the high. as we move further ahead looks like high—pressure will lose its grip and allow low pressure to move in from the north and with that northerly wind starting to kick in it may get colder still, dark blues temperatures falling away that could bring some showers as well especially to the north and with temperatures below par some of those showers could be wintry in nature. 0n the whole a good deal of dry weather for the following week. enjoy.

live from london. this is bbc news. the race is on —

president biden kicks off his election campaign by accusing his predecessor of being a threat to democracy. donald trump hit back, criticising the president of fearmongering. reports of heavy shelling of palestinian settlements in parts of gaza overnight as the un reiterates its call for an immediate end to the war. police in london confirm they're investigating potential fraud offences in relation to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub—post masters by the post office. # don't give up on us, baby. # tributes are paid to the singer and actor david soul, best known for his role in the tv series starsky & hutch, who has died at the age of 80.

hello and welcome. i'm lewis vaughan jones.