Part of the uk to ban plastic cotton buds. The new regulations prohibit the manufacture and sale of the items, as part of measures to reduce damaging waste. David cowan reports. Bathed in sunshine, this east lothian beach looks wonderful. Six years ago at a charity noticed the a plastic stem cotton buds washed up along the coast. They are notjust unsightly, they had been found in the stomachs ofc they had been found in the stomachs of cfish. They had been found in the stomachs of c fish. Today, a they had been found in the stomachs of cfish. Today, a new they had been found in the stomachs of c fish. Today, a new Scottish Government regulation has come into force. Well, its going to be against the law to sell these plastic cotton buds any more. So, we should start seeing paper cotton buds replacing them in shops. This is a small but significant step in the campaign against single use plastics. Scotland is the first part of the uk to bring in such a ban. And only the second country in europe to do so after italy. The ban on plastic stemmed cotton buds comes into force today. David cowan, reporting scotland, east lothian. Now on bbc news the travel show. This week on the travel show, i am in the jungles of borneo exploring malaysias biggest state. Sarawak. In the western corner of malaysia and borneo, sarawak has some of the most spectacular and diverse ecosystems. But it can be overlooked by tourists drawn to the bright lights of kl and the resorts of its neighbour state sabah. So i am 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 most difficult hikes i have done. And getting a taste of one of the worlds most remote food festivals. 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 sarawaks biggest city, kuching. And does the word kuching mean, it means something special, right . Yes, kuching is mean cat, in english, called cat. Like the city of cats . Yes, cat city. We are starting here in the state capital kuching, and we are travelling all the way up here to the kelabit highlands. Its going to be a journey. On my first stop, i am going to meet one of the states most iconic residents. And here he is. The orangutan. So much soul in their eyes. 97 of their dna is shared with humans. Thats where they get the name orangutan means man of the forest. Orangutans are native to only two islands in southeast 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. So today is saturday, so they will have 21 kg bananas, and then sweet potatoes, chicken eggs and pineapples. Oh, its heavy. Maybe 15 kilos. Ooh, 0k. Where are we at . Almost 20. We are ready, 21 kg. So emel, tell me what is special about semenggoh nature reserve . Ok, so Semenggoh Wildlife Centre actually started off as a rehab centre, so we were established back in 1975, so it is more than a0 years ago. The reserve took orangutans that had been rescued from captivity or suffered from habitat loss, and taught them 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 is very different to a zoo, there no orangutans in cages here. Yeah, totally different to a zoo. Two in the basket. Yes. Our ranger, he will. Thank you very much. Yeah. 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. Welcome to our centre. Coming here is no guarantee 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 food in the forest, so the orangutans often dont need this extra food. But lucky for us, we dont 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 careful, especially around the big males like edwin here. While these orangutans are used to people, they are 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 reserves sole dominant male. Only one orangutan dares to approach him on the platform. Seduku, rescued from captivity in the 19705, and one of the first to be rehabilitated here. Are they a thing . Yeah, in a way. We call her the great old lady, because she is the oldest female, age 48 years old. Wow and she is doing still very well. She is a8, he is 23. Yes. That is quite a big age difference there, right . Yes, but love doesnt see age as a problem. Feeding time is over, and there is edwin. Im a bit nervous. He seems so close. He is massive, so much hair. If you saw that from behind, you wouldnt 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 are just 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 . 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 ks largest piece of protected rainforest. This place is teeming with wildlife over 4,000 species of plants, 20,000 species of invertebrates, that means thousands 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 and gatherer tribes in southeast 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. I didnt expect you to do that. Plucks instrument. Laughs. Ok, with the nose. Laughs. So these are flutes, right . Blowpipe. Blowpipe . You make these . Can you show me . I see, so you drill it by hand, so many times. Speaks own language. That would be countless hours. There we go. Mike corey, blowpipe maker. Blowpipes are the penans traditional hunting weapon. They are loaded with darts, tipped with strong poison extracted from the bark of the local tajem tree. And you would use one of these big ones . Wow, its, look, iam about six feet tall, that would be 1. 8 metres. About six feet tall, ok, so we are here like this. About six feet tall, that one goes in the back. About six feet tall, armed and dangerous. About six feet tall, you first. About six feet tall, safety off. About six feet tall, sharp shooter about six feet tall, laughs. About six feet tall, i guarantee i will not. About six feet tall, like this . About six feet tall, like this. About six feet tall, and then. About six feet tall, 0k. About six feet tall, here we go. About six feet tall, hopefully, there is some beginners luck. I hit the target . laughs. Further inside the park, there is a truly unique landscape. Below ground, there are some of the Worlds 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. Theyre 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 you are sorry, we have to say you are not qualified. So if i dont 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, this is 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. Lets go. I havejust 60 minutes to make it to the mini pinnacles, the first checkpoint. You werentjoking. How is it . Steep. The checkpoint is less than a kilometre up the slope but the humidity makes it feel a lot further. Weve only just started and im already exhausted. And were here, the pinnacles not quite, right . Mini pinnacles. That is. Not a joke. Having reached the checkpoint within the time limit, its another kilometre before i reach the most treacherous stage. This is the first ladder, mike. 0k. Helmets on, right . All right. Whos 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 its rained down there. Think its going to rain . Yeah, heavy rain. 500 metres to go, 100 metres to go. Hope we get there before the rain. What ladders this . Last ladder. This looks like the summit. Is that it . The summit, yes. We are here, guys. Wow, yeah. And there are so many of them. This is beautiful. Just daggersjutting out of the forest canopy. Really is spectacular, right . The final stop in myjourney across sarawak is bario, in the kelapit highlands, home to one of the worlds most remote food festivals. It is not exactly a smooth road, its like being a greased up piece of popcorn in the back seat, but its a lot of fun. Im quite an adventurous eater, i will try everything. At least once, it is not good, only once. But often when you come to these places will find some pretty far out food and im hoping well find some very interesting stuff. Bumped around and a little bruised from the journey, i get there to find the festival in full swing. Were catching the eye of a lot of locals, because theres not that many foreigners, surprise surprise, in this part of the world. I dont know half of the foods here today and thats quite exciting for me. A local farmer called dayang offers to show me around. Would you like to try our dure. I dont 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 is delicious. But its got, like, i was thinking it would taste like spinach, but it doesnt taste like spinach at all. 0k. It has like a heartier than spinach would. Would you like to try the akep . Yeah, we can try akep. This looks 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, you suck it out . Sucking. There you are. Just like that. You bit it first . Its stuck on my teeth. 0k. And you suck it out . Sucking. There we go. How do you find. The taste must be fantastic . I wouldnt use that word, but its not bad, its 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. Its cool, because each plant has one pineapple . Yes, but it will take about one year to ripen. But this looks ripe. This yellow one. Look at the colour, its golden yellow. How do we. How do we pick one . You can pluck it. Im going to have puncture wounds after this but its ok. That was easy. Yes, because its golden ripe pineapple, is very sweet. Look at this, my first pineapple. Back at the festival, locally grown pineapples have been made into jams, juices and even pineapple cider. Down the hatch. A little chunky. How many do you have to drink to have a really good day . Im not sure. Shall we find out . 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 down. Its my turn. So. Slowly from the bottom. Freestyle . Here we go. As the games continue, my form doesnt really improve. It was by a feather that we lost. Applause. A game that im not bad at, i think its my height advantage. Lets watch. Thats way farther than mine. I guess you might think that coming so far away you wouldnt be able to make friends, or that it might be a strange tourist experience. But i always find its some of the best ones, when you come to these places, theres not many foreign tourists, so people are so accepting and grateful that you are here, and will share everything with you. The fairly changeable theme to the autumn weather is set to continue over the next week or so. Low pressures in charge. This was the picture taken saturday afternoon in northumberland. Sunshine around here and there. I think it will be in shorter supply on sunday for the north east of england. Heavy rain at times but dry and sunny weather coming in later on in the day. Bit of a mixed story for sundays weather. Quite a few weather fronts on the map as you can see. Low pressure driving things setting out towards the west. We start with brightness around, dry weather initially across the far south east of england and east anglia but quickly the rain will sweep in here and lots of rain across most of england and wales, moving north eastwards. Scotland and Northern Ireland start with mist and fog patches and perhaps a touch of frost for rural eastern scotland. The rain will move in from the south affecting many eastern parts of Northern Ireland, southern and eastern scotland. Sunshine returning towards southern scotland and england and wales. The wind is less of a feature than could have been but it will be breezy across central and southern england, behind the area of rain. Temperatures 11 to 16 degrees. The rain will clear away towards the north sea through sunday night, so a bit of a quieter picture overnight into monday. Most places looking frost free but just a touch of frost for the prone spots across northern scotland. Mist and fog possible first thing monday morning. We start the new working week once again with low pressure in charge. We have got this weather front sitting close to the south east of england on monday. Some uncertainty about the exact positioning of any rain but we could have heavy, possibly thundery downpours across southern england as well. Rain for Northern Ireland into pembrokeshire and also cornwall, but elsewhere quite a lot of dry weather. Sunny spells for northern england, eastern scotland as well. Those temperatures will be 12 to 16, typical for this time of year. Things are set to stay unsettled as well for tuesday. Rain, especially for north east england and scotland and it does look like it should clear away quickly on tuesday. Not a bad day. Lighter winds, just a few showers. Respite after the recent rain in the south during the day on tuesday. 12 to 16 degrees, the top temperatures but more rain waiting in the wings towards the west and that sets us up for an unsettled picture through wednesday. Into thursday, sunny spells, blustery showers surround around, and temperatures generally in the mid teens. Goodbye for now. Good morning, welcome to breakfast with sally nugent and ben thompson. Our headlines today breaking her silence. The wife of a us diplomat says shes devastated by the death of british teenager harry dunn, as the uk government reveals shes no longer protected by diplomatic immunity. At least 10 people are dead and dozens more are missing as a devastating typhoon sweeps across japan. It brought over a metre of rain and wind speeds in excess of 110 mph, but now typhoon hagibis is pulling north and eastwards. Well look at the forecast in the next half an hour. Scotlands crucial world cup match against japan is on at the yokohama stadium