in syndrome. it measures blood oxygen levels in the brain, to work out whether the person wants to answer ‘yes‘ or ‘no‘. it's rise of the machines in the financial times today. it looks at how computer—based hedge funds that use algorithms have for the first time joined a list of the all—time top 20 best industry performers. it writes about how technology is challenging human investing. and hold ‘em orfold ‘em? also in the ft, an artificial intelligence system has won $1.8 million worth of chips against the world's top professional poker players. joining us is broadcaster henry bonsu. good morning. good morning! he is 49 and just 12 days into his presidency. donald trump has made this nomination and it's a lifetime position. it is. this guy could be influencing the culture. it is not

just about the law, it is about the culture of the us for the next 30 yea rs, culture of the us for the next 30 years, 30— 40 years. he doesn't seem to be as extreme as some people feared. he may not try to roll back the abortion rights, but some on the left to see him as very extreme and are calling on the democrats in the senate to vote against his nomination. it is the whole senate that will vote. it seems as if the democrats will let this one go because there are few other people over 80 in the supreme court, so possibly donald trump will get another nomination and then they might fight it more. that could be, if they are being strategic, at some democrats are being urged to bejust as obstructive to republicans as the republicans were when president

0bama was picked. 0ne republicans were when president 0bama was picked. one year ago the republican said, we can't allow this because it is the dying embers of the 0bama administration. people say that's unfair, so we are now going to do to you what you did to us and people are very concerned that this quy people are very concerned that this guy won't be progressive when it comes to appeals by states like texas and north carolina and voter suppression, because that will come up suppression, because that will come up at the supreme court. and also when it comes to finding of abortions. it is interesting. i'm just writing this article in the new york times. he is from colorado and it says he was in the same class at harvard as mr0bama. it says he was in the same class at harvard as mr 0bama. indeed. i'm not sure how politically allied they were. he holds a ph.d. from 0xford, he is the real rolls—royce in terms of his cv. and he toured the supreme

court justices, three of his cv. and he toured the supreme courtjustices, three will be very reassured. and apparently his mum was in ronald reagan's government. that's right. the president was supposed to be draining the swamp and it wasn't meant to be business as usual, but maybe he is reverting to type. many will be reassured, but i think those in the left will have to be strategic. they may try to block him or say that two 80 —year—olds will step down in the next couple of years, that's when we will have our wheel fight. now, the german papers reacting. i'm looking at die welt. reacting to various stories coming out of the us, relating to germany. this is the head of this new organisation, a national trade body, in the us and he has been talking about how the euro is an implicit deutsche mark. it is very weak and the big winner

is germany because it exports probably more than the rest of the eurozone partners. 0ne probably more than the rest of the eurozone partners. one of the reasons the euro is weak because the eurozone itself isn't seen as a very strong economic area. absolutely. by picking a fight with germany, one wonders what the senses in that. to be fair, you know, the european union, donald tusk and others, are giving it... donald tusk said in a speech yesterday, when he said a letter to all of the leaders of the european council, saying when we look at ex— essential threats to the eu we can cite china, we can cite what's going on in east with russia and now we can cite the great trading partner, the us, because it is no longer business as usual. we can't rely on the us for free trade, for defence. we have to look at them possibly as a baroque enemy. this is extraordinary. there are a lot of people who would agree with what he

has said. germany has billions of surplus. some eu countries might be scared to criticise. many world leaders have been scared criticise donald trump. at the end of the day you have to pay respect to the bigger economy. germany has a huge trade surplus with the us, but germany obviously has its own bank, but we have the european central bank which is sitting below interest rate policy, which is keeping the euro week. so it will be interesting to see what comes as a result of this fight. also interesting given that germany has an election this year. yes, but the question is whether deutsche learnt or any of the other extreme parties can dislodge angela merkel. mother merkel. but she has to bear in mind the electorate when she responds to peter navarro and others. yes. but

when they look towards angela merkel they want stability. they want certainty. there don't want extremes to the left or right. they want someone who will keep europe say. this is a fantastic story, that scientists are able to read people's minds. fantastic. people who have a certain syndrome which means they can't communicate, there could be a solution. so they say. i'm wondering whether this story from the daily telegraph has been a little bit over egged. it is non—invasive technology and they say it can interpret a nswe rs and they say it can interpret a nswers to and they say it can interpret answers to questions you can see here how it works. by detecting changes of blood oxygen levels in the brain and people can respond yes 01’ no. the brain and people can respond yes or no. it is binary at the moment. this is useful for people who can't blink their eyes, locked in syndrome, and can't respond to even

the most basic questions. if this is true it's a real start and maybe people can respond to more sophisticated and details questions, but they claim it's a major breakthrough. now, machines are doing it better than humans. i'm not surprised. the ft, for the first time some computer—based hedge funds have made it into the top 20 of the best performers when it comes to knowing where to put our money for the best return. you are business journalists are you know much more about hedge funds and consumer capitalism, but apparently they go well beyond the human guesswork... are not surprised. 0f well beyond the human guesswork... are not surprised. of course it gets rid of all of the emotion in the investment decisions. algorithms, when to put it in, when the bullet out. -- pull it out. i'm not sure

about this alternative intelligence. wasn't it partly responsible for the crash last year? i'm blaming alternative intelligence! listen, look into my eyes. this is what poker is all about. bluff. ican tell you are the real deal, so i fold. how can a computer make that call? is computed dahmer computer has won $1.6 million worth of chips. this is a 20 day marathon against human competitors. but chess is a mathematical game. poker is not. because you need to read someone‘s face. you need to work out the maps but it is about the person you are playing. this is what a professor calls" the last frontier". he says

it could be used in business negotiations, military strategy and trading. but we shouldn't give machines too much power. if they are not think as they might even install somebody as president of a particular country. i'll tell you what, the eu... where am i going with this? let me bring it back to reality. the eu was looking at whether it should be giving computers certain rights and whether there should be an off switch, because at the end of the day everybody knows computers will be everywhere and doing in that we may not necessarily agree with.|j everywhere and doing in that we may not necessarily agree with. i don't see it being a sustainable developer to goal. no way. thank you very much indeed. we really appreciate it. the machines are taking over! see you soon. goodbye. it is really soggy outside right now, especially in eastern areas of the uk. many of us had the worst of the rain hours ago, but through the early hours of wednesday it is just going to stay damp wherever

you are across the uk. talking a little bit about the future, we'll see more storms forming across the atlantic, coming out of the us and moving across the atlantic and heading in our direction. lots of cloud, lots happening and i think towards the end of the week that's when we are a little bit concerned that there is some severe weather heading our way. in the short term we have the rain across eastern areas, so this is 6am—8am. notice how some northern and western areas brighten up a little bit later in the afternoon and then it will probably go downhill again, a second time, across the south—west and wales. but in southampton, 0xfordshire, around here, birmingham, into manchester, the north—west, a little bit of sunshine. the far east again cloudy again, with rain. little bits and pieces of rain in northern ireland and then brighter, a little bit drier and brighter, across scotland. so a real messy picture across the uk on wednesday. be prepared for sunshine, well, be prepared for the rain, but expect a little bit of sunshine.

how is the rest of europe doing compared to us? well, it will turn very unsettled from spain, into france and the uk. all these weather systems will be piling into western parts of europe, quieter across the mediterranean and certainly quieter across central parts of europe, the east as well. here is a closer look at the nasty weather system. this will probably bring windy weather to ireland and western parts of the uk. southern coasts have gales in many areas and some outbreaks of rain. so a blustery, wet day. this is the first big low. quite mild, but it won't feel like it in the wind. once the big low starts pulling away, another smaller but more intense weather system is going to develop. this one could do one of two things. it could either be quite nasty still and move into france. this will probably be less severe for us. and the other scenario is that this

will probably affect south—western areas and track towards the north. this is the more likely one, colours are there to distinguish between the two tracks. right now this is what it looks like. rain and severe gales in the south—western areas, but stay tuned to weather updates on this one. hello, this is breakfast, with louise minchin and dan walker. rail passengers are promised an overhaul of what train operators admit is a "baffling" ticketing system. they're promising an end to complex ticketing prices, and say they'll make it easier to find the cheapest seats every time. good morning, it's wednesday, february 1st. also this morning: president trump makes one of the most significant decisions of his presidency, appointing a new judge to the supreme court — the most powerful arm

of americanjustice. democrats say they have "serious doubts" about his nominee. mps prepare to vote on whether the government can start the process of taking the uk out of europe.