yeah, good evening. i think so. i think projects like ours, the west—eastern divan orchestra orchestra, the academy in berlin, these projects are extremely important, especially in a situation of crisis like this one. we see a lot of polarisation, a lot of division around. almost we are the only ones that promote this idea of cooperation and mutual understanding that i think is very important. marion millican i wonder if you can describe how music like this and this orchestra brings people from different backgrounds together. the orchestra started after daniel and my late _ orchestra started after daniel and my late husband edward discovered, became _ my late husband edward discovered, became good friends and they broke barriers _ became good friends and they broke barriers and they extended it to their— barriers and they extended it to their people. and daniel made an orchestra — their people. and daniel made an orchestra out of it. the idea of the orchestra — orchestra out of it. the idea of the orchestra is — orchestra out of it. the idea of the orchestra is you do something that you are _ orchestra is you do something that you are passionate about and you do it with _ you are passionate about and you do it with the _ you are passionate about and you do it with the other, who is your enemy. _ it with the other, who is your enemy, and this combination will unsettle — enemy, and this combination will unsettle people. and this unsettling may lead _ unsettle people. and this unsettling may lead to alternative ways of thinking — may lead to alternative ways of thinking and to be able to think of a future _ thinking and to be able to think of a future together because in the end, _ a future together because in the end. this — a future together because in the end, this conflict is going to be resotved~ — end, this conflict is going to be resolved. do end, this conflict is going to be resolved. , ., , , resolved. do you genuinely believe that? i do genuinely _ resolved. do you genuinely believe that? i do genuinely believe - resolved. do you genuinely believe that? i do genuinely believe it - resolved. do you genuinely believe that? i do genuinely believe it but| that? i do genuinely believe it but we are going _ that? i do genuinely believe it but we are going through _ that? i do genuinely believe it but we are going through a _ that? i do genuinely believe it but we are going through a lot - that? i do genuinely believe it but we are going through a lot of - that? i do genuinely believe it but we are going through a lot of pain| we are going through a lot of pain and suffering, everybody, before they realise and sit at the table and and — they realise and sit at the table and and the conflict. one has to be positive _ and and the conflict. one has to be positive trut— and and the conflict. one has to be positive but the way the musicians have profited, benefited from this project _ have profited, benefited from this project is — have profited, benefited from this project is that they are learning, getting — project is that they are learning, getting an — project is that they are learning, getting an education, living together, they communicate together, they can _ together, they communicate together, they can discuss things together but in the _ they can discuss things together but in the end _ they can discuss things together but in the end they have music in commoh _ in the end they have music in common-— in the end they have music in common. ~ . ., ., i. ., in the end they have music in common. ~ . ., ., ., ., common. michael, do you have a alimmer common. michael, do you have a glimmer of— common. michael, do you have a glimmer of optimism? _ common. michael, do you have a glimmer of optimism? i - common. michael, do you have a glimmer of optimism? i wonder. common. michael, do you have a| glimmer of optimism? i wonder if that's incredibly difficult at the moment seeing what's going on in the region. moment seeing what's going on in the reuion. . . moment seeing what's going on in the reuion. , , , moment seeing what's going on in the reuion. . . . , region. optimism is indeed very difficult. the — region. optimism is indeed very difficult. the first _ region. optimism is indeed very difficult. the first thing - region. optimism is indeed very difficult. the first thing i - region. optimism is indeed very difficult. the first thing i was . difficult. the first thing i was thinking when i saw the news on the 7th of october is to think about our musicians and colleagues and our students at the academy, how they must be coping with the situation. everyone copes in a very different way and you know, we try and help and support them as much as we can in whatever way we can but of course being optimistic in this moment is a very difficult thing to do. i don't know if that's really possible. taste know if that's really possible. we don't have much time but i know you have said you are worried about the barenboim academy in the west bank. can you say why? taste barenboim academy in the west bank. can you say why?— can you say why? we have a school in the west bank— can you say why? we have a school in the west bank and _ can you say why? we have a school in the west bank and after— can you say why? we have a school in the west bank and after this - can you say why? we have a school in the west bank and after this war, - can you say why? we have a school in the west bank and after this war, we | the west bank and after this war, we don't _ the west bank and after this war, we don't know— the west bank and after this war, we don't know what is going to happen and i_ don't know what is going to happen and i am _ don't know what is going to happen and i am worried about continuing the way— and i am worried about continuing the way we — and i am worried about continuing the way we were working and producing young palestinian musicians from this school for music — musicians from this school for music but _ musicians from this school for music. but i would like to say that our musicians from the academy played _ our musicians from the academy played a — our musicians from the academy played a concert and they described, they said _ played a concert and they described, they said together, they wrote, may our music— they said together, they wrote, may our music bring us together, may it heal our music bring us together, may it heat a _ our music bring us together, may it heat a little — our music bring us together, may it heal a little piece of our hearts. at the _ heal a little piece of our hearts. at the end _ heal a little piece of our hearts. at the end of the day all we can do is hope _ at the end of the day all we can do is hope for— at the end of the day all we can do is hope for peace, freedom and the safety— is hope for peace, freedom and the safety of— is hope for peace, freedom and the safety of everyone. so they recognise i think, the musicians themselves, that in times like this it is very— themselves, that in times like this it is very hard to play a concert but in — it is very hard to play a concert but in the _ it is very hard to play a concert but in the end they managed to get together— but in the end they managed to get together and do it.— together and do it. thank you very much. we appreciate _ together and do it. thank you very much. we appreciate your- together and do it. thank you very much. we appreciate your time. i together and do it. thank you very - much. we appreciate your time. thank you for talking to our british viewers. that is all from us tonight. kirsty�*s here tomorrow. till then, goodbye. breaking news from around the world 24 breaking news from around the world 2a hours a day — this is bbc news. started deporting undocumented foreigners and dismantling their houses on wednesday, even before the midnight deadline. more than 1.7 million are at risk of being forced to leave — according to the government's own figures — many of them afghans. our pakistan correspondent, caroline davies, reports from peshawar. another life, a different world. on the afghan side of the border, new arrivals register and wait for what will happen next. in pakistan yesterday, lorries laden with life and lives queue. abdullah brought 22 of his family on board this truck from punjab. 20, he says, were born in pakistan. translation: i am translation: | am | very angry and upset. i initially came here when the russian war started. i used to work in a brick kiln as a labourer. there are fewerjob opportunities in afghanistan. abdullah pulls out a bag of his entire family's id cards. these are recognised as official documents. the government is telling us to just leave, and they raided my house, arresting my sons. his family watched the road amongst the firewood and furniture. translation: "we didn't do anything wrong," abdullah's wife tells me. "we're poor, we don't have anything." right away, the family is packed out their entire lives. you can see beds, cooling, machine, stove, firewood, machine, stove, firewood — everything they have. and that one of the ladies here said that she hasn't been in afghanistan for over 20 years and they don't know what the life there is going rahim — not his real name — worked for afghan forces and says he was beaten before he left for pakistan. translation: ifi go back to afghanistan, | our lives are in danger, - both myself and my family. there is a certain risk of death. there'll be nothing else, only death. i at the moment, the situation is like it was in afghanistan. we live in uncertainty. many, like rahim, say they face delays, getting official documents. the pakistan government says the deportations have started, but that they are looking after the vulnerable. there will be no human crisis. we will handle them politely, the women especially, and the children and the elderly. so there'll be no human crisis. we are just focusing to strengthen our borders. the queue for the border kept growing as the sun set. on either side, none know how their lives may be about to change. caroline davis, bbc news, peshawar. can now bring you that report tent back to that report about a former top uk civil servant has told the covid inquiry that there wasn't one closed, empty, little moving but the escalators — those bleak memories of 2020. a virus at first distant, then quickly frightening, and a government that was vastly unprepared, as this then senior civil servant told downing street at the time. what she said then, read out today by the lawyer questioning her. "i have come through here, to the prime minister's office, "to tell you all i think we are absolutel "i think this country is heading for a disaster. "i think we're going to kill thousands of people." is it right that that's an accurate account? yes. it's very striking. yes. no doubt you can still remember that moment of realisation? yes, it was horrible. helen macnamara was herself fined for notjust turning up at a leaving do in westminster when leaving dos were banned, but turning up with a karaoke machine. she reckons in downing street the covid rules were broken nearly all the time. i would find it hard to pick one day when the regulations were followed the regulations were followed properly inside that building. and i know that because, as i've said in my statement, there was one meeting where we absolutely adhered to the guidance, to the letter, and that was the cabinet meeting, and everybody moaned about it. at the inquiry yesterday, a whatsapp message from dominic cummings, borisjohnson�*s most senior adviser, about helen macnamara, was read out by a lawyer. today, this reaction from her. it's disappointing to me that the prime minister didn't pick him up on the use of some of that violent and misogynistic language. she added that a toxic, macho culture led to blind spots she added that a toxic macho culture led to blind spots on covid policies related to themes such as childcare and domestic abuse. the fact that there were no women contributing to the policy discussions, problem in itself, because there were some expert women who weren't being listened to. and also, women were being looked over. helen macnamara added that the then health secretary, matt hancock, among others, had nuclear levels of confidence, and he regularly told colleagues things which later turned out to be untrue. mr hancock is expected here to give his own evidence in the coming weeks. chris mason, bbc news. the world's richest man elon musk says he believes artificial intelligence is one of the biggest threats to humanity. he was speaking at the start of a two day global conference on the fast—developing technology that's being hosted by the british prime minister at bletchley park — home of the world war two codebreakers. the focus is on how to minimize some of the risks posed by ai. here's our technology editor zoe kleinman. here's our technology editor zoe kleinman. historic bletchley park was once home to the world war ii codebreakers. no doubt they'd have been very interested in what happened in their workplace today. delegates from around the world, including a member of the chinese government and, yup, elon musk, had agreed on one thing by lunchtime — keeping ai safe was the urgent priority. and here we are for the first time, really, in human history with something that's going to be far more intelligent than us. so, it's not clear to me we can actually control such a thing, but i think we can aspire to guide it in a direction that's beneficial to humanity. the prime minister wants the uk to be a global referee in making sure the tech is developed responsibly. is there a sense, though, that these big us tech giants who have their own commercial agenda are already exerting too much influence over these discussions? i think that's why it's important that countries are the ones in the driving seat. not only are we taking the lead, we really are developing the capability that we need to do all that testing of what these companies are doing so we can then make sure that people are kept safe. very simply, artificial intelligence is computers working things out in a similar way to the human brain. these tools aren't conscious like we are, but, like us, they're excellent at spotting patterns. it can be fed huge amounts of information about a particular subject — more books than a human could ever read, more than there are in this entire library. and it doesn't have to be words. it could be x—rays or data about the weather. then they're able to identify at lightning speed what should come next when prompted, like the answer to a question. generative ai is the type of the tech that produces content, like text, pictures, music and video, and makes me look like this. some delegates today feared the ai summit had the wrong focus. i think it's important - to also ask who is talking about this existential threat. about this existential threat, - because people who actually work with people in communities are not concerned about that. _ we're more concerned about whether ai will. deny people pensions. demis hassabis, founder of one of the uk's leading ai businesses, google deepmind, says the sector should remain cautious. i don't think we should move fast and break things, the typical silicon valley mantra, in this case. i think that has been extraordinarily successful to build massive companies and provide us with lots of great services and applications, but al's too important a technology, i would say, too transformative a technology, to do it in that way. this time last year, few people had even heard of the ai chat bot chatgpt. there'll be more dramatic milestones to come. time will tell if the bletchley crowd got it right. zoe kleinman, bbc news. scientists believe they may have discovered the remnants of another planet, known as theia, which collided with earth about four and a half billion years ago. an international team of scientists used computer simulations to recreate the ancient collision and calculate the effects of the impact. geophysicists have long—known about two, dense, massive blobs of material concealed deep below the earth's crust. they suggest that earth may have absorbed about 10% of theia, with vast amounts of rocky debris ejected to form the moon. thatisit that is it for the programme. hello there. we've got more heavy rain, more strong winds as we head into thursday, all due, of course, to storm ciaran. that's been tracking its way right the way across the atlantic, heading over the southwest of england. now, it will move eastwards towards east anglia. it will bring more heavy rain. it will bring more heavy rain and given how wet it's been in october, that could lead to some flooding. the winds also could potentially be dangerous and hazardous, bringing some disruption. this is where we've got the amber wind warnings from the met office. the winds already picking up in the southwest, those stronger winds will transfer through the english channel to affect coastal areas in the south east of england. the winds are likely to be even stronger for a while in the channel islands. for a while in the channel islands — gusts of over 90 mph, already had gusts of 100 mph along the coast of brittany. so, some really strong winds across the far south of the uk. could be quite windy in other areas, and around the storm, around that low pressure, we've got these showers of longer spells of rain. as the wind picks up in scotland, it will get wetter here. we may miss the worst of the wet weather in northern ireland. temperature—wise, well, of course, nothing to write home about — a cool 10—12 degrees. but at least during the afternoon, the winds in the southwest will start to ease and that's because the storm is going to be tracking away, and at the same time, it will be weakening. so, as we get into friday, the area of low pressure, what was the storm, is going to be sitting out in the north sea. so, it's not going to be as windy on friday, it's not going to be as wet. there'll be some sunshine, but also some showers blown in, and there'll still be some blustery winds. the windiest weather, perhaps the wettest weather will be across eastern scotland and the north east of england. and those temperatures may be a degree or so higher, but still only 12—13 degrees at best. now, as we head into the weekend, we see that area of low pressure continuing to fade away in the north sea. another one coming in from the atlantic, not expecting this one to be named because the winds aren't going to be as strong. the strong winds will still be through the english channel. through the english channel, but we've got more rain to come across southern parts of the uk, into wales, in the midlands, followed by some showers. further north, there'll be some sunshine and perhaps a few showers as well. a few showers as well, and those temperatures not really changing a great deal. so, after all this very wet and very windy weather, we've got some more rain on saturday for the southern half of the uk and then we're all in the same boat on sunday — sunshine and showers and not as windy. this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines at the top of the hour as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. the victorians coined the phrase "the mother of parliaments" to boast that the westminster parliament was a model for the world. would anyone make such a claim today?