according to exit polls. on hearing of his victory he said he would "firmly deal with" threats from north korea. thousands of people have attended the latest demonstration in malta to call forjustice for the murdered journalist, daphne caruana galizia. the writer, who denounced political corruption and organised crime, was killed in a car bomb attack on monday. the government has offered a large reward to help find her killer. a major research project has concluded that all marine life will be affected by increasing acidification of the world's oceans. an 8—year study by german scientists says that while some species may benefit, most creatures will be adversely affected because of deteriorating food supplies. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to our tour, on stephen

sako, make welcome to our tour, on stephen sa ko, make yesterday welcome to our tour, on stephen sako, make yesterday is one of the biggest fiction writers of all time. dan brown. his 2003 novel the da vinci code sparked outrage in the vatican and he hasjust vinci code sparked outrage in the vatican and he has just published another epic tale, this time around man's quest for the origins of life. is there still a public appetite for dan brown's high—5 —— high—fibre blockbusters. dan brown, welcomed a hardtalk. thank you very much. the phrase that

follows your name is usually best selling author. but actually, in refuse of the latest offals you've written, 0rigin, one critic came up with a new moniker which is novelist of ideas. i like that, i've heard many things that i like that one. of ideas. i like that, i've heard many things that i like that onelj looked many things that i like that one.” looked at it and i thought hang on, i haven't heard that before but now iam thinking i haven't heard that before but now i am thinking about it, it is thought of what you're about.” i am thinking about it, it is thought of what you're about. i like to write about the grey area between right and wrong and the ethical questions, the idea of all god survive science, is what i thought of tackled in 0rigin survive science, is what i thought of tackled in origin and it was a lot of fun to write about. in some ways, it would seem hard to package that into a genre that maybe you don't like this word but most people would regard as a thriller.” don't like this word but most people would regard as a thriller. i love that word, i write books what to read, thrillers are fun to read but i also like to learn, what i tried to do, and it's intentional, is to create a book that is a lot of fun

to read but that you also learn something along the way. which is more in porters, entertainment or learning? they go hand in hand. they have to be intertwined or else the style doesn't work. it like a travel journal or a very empty thriller and i want to create something that tastes like ice cream but you are getting your vegetables. most kids would say that their mums thought that forced them to eat too many vegetables. do you ever think do you know what, i'm putting too much into this, i'm trying to be too didactic, i making it to dance? all the time. but the editing comes in, for every page in 0rigin there were ten that fell to the floor. but think about the substance of this, as you say a big idea at the heart of the latest book and that is the balance, when it comes to us human beings trying to explain what we've come from and what life is, the balance between religious take an explanation and a scientific explanation. and you're

struggling with this sort of central idea that maybe psion is replaced god? -- science. historically it has, the ancient at a whole pantheon of gods and goddesses to explain everything they didn't understand from the rising tides to love. it is to be when the tide is moved, it was poseidon, his moods were shifting, and then science come along and says actually it has to do with moon and gravity and poseidon fell as a god so gravity and poseidon fell as a god so in the novel, we think i win a to think that history will not repeat itself? the gods of will survive? and historically, they will not. am i right and historically, they will not. am iright in and historically, they will not. am i right in thinking this is personal? your background is interesting in that your family life involved a mother who was quite religious. involved with her church. and a father who was a rationalist and a mathematics teacher. and a mathematics book author. a crop with

one foot in each world and i was co mforta ble one foot in each world and i was comfortable with the paradoxical existence until i was about nine. butland about adam and eve and genesis and i went to the boston museum of science and suddenly found out about evolution and i went to my priest and said which story is true? and this man said nice boys don't ask that question. and that was the moment for me that i realised i was really coming to be asking a of questions. is it a moment when you can say to yourself now that began the journey away from religion for me? it absolutely dead and i moved away towards the solid foundations of science, i found the further i went in science the mushy at the ground started to get as far as thinking in concrete science and physics becomes metaphysics, numbers become imaginary numbers, it is a whole big circle back into the world of philosophy and religion. are you antireligious? no, religion does an enormous amount of good in the world. at the moment with the

priest, symbolic perhaps, but it's a moment when actually he made you very uncomfortable. a nice boy. surely, the extension of that is that religion became something that made you feel uncomfortable. that's absolutely true. i became uncomfortable with, i realised later, it wasn't religion, it was the banner of religion being waved as some kind of immunity from having to ensure rationalism. don't tell me i can't ask a question. i don't think religion does itself any favours with young people today by saying to participate in it to turn off the rational part of your brain that wants to ask questions. the story of adam and eve, i can now read as the beautiful morality tale, a fable, as an important part of understanding where we came from. but it is amazing to me in the year 2017 that we in my country have congressmen who will stand up and say the 36,000 years old. but the

fossil record was put there by god to test our faith. this is where danger comes from religion. it's inevitable that people, when they listen to this sort of conversation, how mindful that you are, dan brown of the da vinci code, the period after you wrote it in 2003 where the catholic church in particular i held onto you accuse you of egregious falsehoods, of frankly undermining the key tenants of the faith in a way that they said was purely false. now, is that, in the last 1a years, encouraged you to want to take on religion more? perhaps. it interesting and this will sound naive when the da vinci code came out i had no idea it was going to be so controversial. i was asking a hypothetical question. for those who haven't read it, and there were not many, you posit, it is an extremely

complex story but at the heart of it was the notion that there was and is a conspiracy at the heart of christianity to hide the true story ofjesus christ. christianity to hide the true story of jesus christ. he was a mortal prophet, not literally the son of god, sure. a hypothetical boult and you tell me you didn't realise it would be...? if yourface is shaken to the core on a thriller? you need to the core on a thriller? you need to look at your face. and what happened with the book, the reason it was so controversial i guess is the only word is that for a lot of people, the story i told in the novel made more rational sense than the story they heard in sunday school and certainly for me the story i told in the da vinci code makes more logical sense to be in the story i learned in sunday school and that's what was so dangerous. if i'd sold ten copies no one would worry about it. it sold hundreds of millions in the end and it has been translated all around the world but one of the problem is that those

defending the christian story had with the book was they felt you melded for infection in way that com pletely melded for infection in way that completely unreasonable and that many readers will lead to be deeply confused about where the lines between fact and fiction really were. that's precisely what i do, it's intentional with these books, and that is to blend the lines. what i try very hard to do is to take real documents, real art and history, and interweave actual characters discussing it and they have their own ideas and they debate these topics. but your authorial voices telling us, i think, maybe you could correct me if you feel i'm wrong, but in the da vinci code telling us you believed in certain things like the secretive movement, the priory of sign—on in france where in the book, it becomes a movement that is, and you know, trying to sort of the liver into power descendants of jesus trying to sort of the liver into power descendants ofjesus christ in a very secretive way. the feeling

one gets from the book is that you believe it would true. and i do, i spent a long time researching the book. but you know have has been thoroughly debunked. this is the thing, any time you write a book we do challenge historical — i mean if you challenge religion, or... history as we know it is not accurate is the premise of the books are of course you will get a story saying it is not accurate. but this is so germane to the times we live in. you're suggesting what is true and what is not isn't always, or maybe even ever truly decipherable. but it is beyond doubt, is it not, but this idea of the secretive priory of sign—on was a hoax developed by a french bloke in the 19505, developed by a french bloke in the 1950s, you know, the research is in. it was a hoax and you may be hoaxed by it but isn't it time for you to say yes, i got it wrong? speaking about my belief that the story of

jesus christ and how i believed to tell the story is a creative art, i can pull what i want from history, is real, some isn't, and i don't know enough about the priority at this point from everything that's been published on both sides to save for a fact it is true or a hoax, i have no idea. at the time i wrote the book i believed it was true. have your ideas about it and further resort changed your mind?m have your ideas about it and further resort changed your mind? it hasn't, moved on from that story. i've left behind. it is important to remember these books, i'm trying to convince anyone of an idea. i'm trying to write an enjoyable book that its people talking. and if people decide to believe the story in the da vinci code, great. if they say it is a thriller and crazy talk, that's great. it is intended to get people thinking about why they believe, what they believe. and the idea are fa ke what they believe. and the idea are fake news now is absolutely germane to the conversation. how do you know

what is true and what is false? but do you or do you not believe there is truth and falsehood and we human beings have a duty to differentiate between the two? we do have a duty, as historians, as creative novelist, i think we have the duty to get people to go and ask questions and find their own sources. see, it will be back to the latest work, to 0rigin, but it is —— at its heart is a figure which is perhaps an allergist to some of the great or is about time, elon musk, jeff bezos, whatever, kirch, and he believes he has, he has unlocked the secret to how life began. it is the essence of what we are. and in the end, if i'm reading the book correctly, your conclusion seems to be that the is a

truly scientific explanation for life. it's out there. somebody has got the secret. so science wins, really, in your view. it's funny, every religion has a creation story that involves a supernatural power of some sort. so, to basically say hey, what is whatjust happened? that is enormous in locations for religion. if we don't need a creator. but i'm driving at, and let you through this passage or question, it's what you believe? are you able to tell me what you believe about, for example, where life began? sure, coming through the process of writing this book and talking to physicist and microbiologist and reading a lot about what is happening right now, literally in the past two years in this field, i personally believe the laws of physics are enough to create life. there is no god? i didn't say

that. i said the laws of physics enough are at enough to create life. i will presume enough to say there is no god and if you ask what i specifically believe, i do believe in the god of my childhood, some ditty that sent his son down to be crucified for my sins but i will tell you that if i lie out under a starlit sky, i feel like their recent being a lot bigger than us, i don't know what it is and i don't have a word for it and i would never presume to try to describe it in a concrete architecture, it is inevitable, and it's very hard to ta ke inevitable, and it's very hard to take the step into a the giz and, i am certainly moving in that direction but for me in my life, it's still hard. it is getting easier. i considered

writing the trump code but it was too unbelievable, even for me. it is easy to smile but it is easy to be concerned today.” it is easy to smile but it is easy to be concerned today. i am. one of the challenges that religion is ready metaphor as fact. that is a big danger of religion. to take metaphors, a story like adam and eve, as absolute fact. not only are you not allowed to ridicule it, we have a debate on whether or not to teach our children. am thinking about other elements or aspects of the public debate where people increasingly have questioned the validity of expert opinion. climate change. in donald trump's america, the heart of government, the top of government, are people who are deeply sceptical about what appears

to be the consensus of science on climate change. do you see that as a trend which could take us human beings into a very dangerous place? i do. beings into a very dangerous place? ido.i beings into a very dangerous place? i do. i think it has less to do with science and more to do with politics. i think if the politics favoured global warming taking place, it would be suddenly taking place. i personally entirely believe that global warming is a major issue for all humanity and it is astonishing to me that there is still? against it. and other theme in this book is artificial intelligence. in some ways you appear to be close to believing that the next phase of evolution will involve human beings somehow transforming with the help of

machines. i am not close to believing it, i believe it. we all carry little computers with us. it went belong before they are part of us. we can't function without our little machines. hearing aids will be implanted. scientists really disagree as to whether this is a good or bad team. some believe the power of ai will solve global issues of scarcity and over population. 0thers believe it will kill us, that we asa 0thers believe it will kill us, that we as a species have never created a weapon, rather, a technology that we haven't weaponised fire that cooked our food eventually went on and burnt villages. nuclear power was turned into weapons. we are naive to believe they won't be a dark side. i am an optimist and i think there is more love and hate and more

creativity than destructive power and that we will learn to use ai for good. you, unlike some extraordinary successful thriller writers, do not churn out novel after novel after novel. we know some writers have assista nts novel. we know some writers have assistants who helped them develop the novel and then the master craftsman polishes it up and every year there is a new one. you are not like that at all. no. between 4-6 yea rs, like that at all. no. between 4-6 years, there is a pause. there is no pause, a working the whole time. i went researching into tokyo about 1.5 years ago, read everything i could about al, creationism, darwinism, spain, modern art. and after that i could go and have intelligent conversations to these areas. these books are intricate and

i want to make sure they are done right. i write scenes from many points of view and figure out how the scene is affecting each character. it is a pretty lonely life. it is. we were joking that i spent years alone in the dark and then suddenly you are out and there isa then suddenly you are out and there is a spotlight in your face and they say, "go, be fascinating! this is your moment in the spotlight. exactly. in a funny sort of way, that makes you public property and a very public figure but someone who is hardly ever around. even in this conversation, you have said really fascinating things about science, about your concerns about your own country, about your concerns about

where humanity is taking itself, and yet, for yea rs where humanity is taking itself, and yet, for years on end, you are entirely silent. i am putting it all into an —— and novel to share. i don't want to be influenced to formulate my ideas in public before they are really formed.” formulate my ideas in public before they are really formed. i am not assuming anything about your politics but given what we see in american politics today, don't you ever feel like playing a american politics today, don't you everfeel like playing a more prominent role in being a public voice? may be some sort of conscience. , using your platform to talk openly about what you see in front of you? i think these books reach an enormous level. i don't presume i have the answers. if i have created even dinnertime conversations about important topics, i have done myjob. i am

conversations about important topics, i have done myjob. iam not looking to influence the way people think that at least start thinking. the real danger is where people believe something without really asking themselves why they believe it. the second we asked, "why do we believe this?" when you really articulate it, you realise you don't believe it at all and that is the process that is most gratifying for me. do you have a lot of strong release? it is hard to read these books and know where you stand. i try to be fair and argue both sides of the question. i feel like try to be fair and argue both sides of the question. ifeel like i have thrown off the shackles and the character, the main character, he was able to say, we are at a dangerous time in human evolution. and religion is playing a dangerous role. a positive role also, but a dangerous role. the idea of having

to shut down rational thought in order to be religious is extremely dangerous and i was able to just come out and articulate that. interesting that you are so fascinated by the role of religion and you can see its dangers and yet you always, one has say into books, —— in the books, you focus on christianity. given the way the world works today and some of the other dangers we see a rising out of some forms of religious belief, why are you not addressing other religions? they share a gospel, islam, judaism and christianity. —— state if you learnt the same critical eye to islam as you did for christianity... it hasn't occurred to me because it is something that i wouldn't do. i write these books to

ask myself these questions. christianity is my experience, it is the world that affects me most because these are my core values so i really write these books for myself, in many ways, to explore these ideas. that is why i continually choose christianity. you mentioned robert langdon and how he is cutting loose, to some extent. would it be right to say that professor robert langdon with his love of travel and his brilliant code breaking and everything else, is the guy you would love to be? exactly. here's more daring, he is a lot more intelligent. everything he says, you have to think of. i pointed out that when robert langdon sees a painting, he says it takes in three days. people around the world wa nt to three days. people around the world want to know. langdon is still out

there cracking codes and travelling there cracking codes and travelling the world. how long can he go on?|§ have some pretty bad situations. you are now so known for this series. —— can you see yourself as still a young writer, going into a different genre, writing something so left—field that your stable audience would be surprised by it?” left—field that your stable audience would be surprised by it? i have ideas i can't put out there in public. between you, me and them.” have books that would shock everyone. it is so far out of the

realm. it would be fun to write. hopefully we will sit in a room this is spectacular and talk about it. hello there. after a weekend of being battered by brian you'll probably be relieved to see what remains of that low is slipping into the north sea and very innocuous indeed. another big low to the west of us in the atlantic. that will be driving our weather for the week ahead. nothing like the week we just had but we will be feeling weather fronts our way and that's what we have first thing today. grey and gloomy prospects with outbreaks of rain in the west. clearer skies in the east, quite a chilly start first thing but the cloud will move in and the breeze will pick up and that will lift the temperatures.

a grey beginning to the new week for scotland and northern ireland too, although brightness quickly following. cloudy to get the day under way across wales, the midlands and the south—west. quite a bit of cloud although a dry start to east anglia and the south—east. in a couple of hours you will see the rain move through quickly. the murky across the hills first thing with low cloud. northern ireland brightens nicely through the morning and by the time we get to the afternoon, you see brighter skies sweeping across scotland into northern england, wales and the midlands. southern and eastern counties, however, could be stuck with persistent cloud through the second half of the day but it should be mild, reaching 17 degrees in the south east. good deal milder than it was to finish the weekend. 0vernight monday into tuesday, low pressure still swirling away in the atlantic, throwing bits and pieces of fronts our way. a lot of cloud and rain across england and wales, heavier rain for wales and the north—west of england for a time. brightest on tuesday to northern scotland, albeit with showers. to the south, some drier weather but gloomy conditions, 18 in london. milder air to the south of this waving front. it will try and battle its way north

throughout the middle part of this week. to the north, always clear and bright but always cooler. some warm air coming up from the south could shift temperature and a little bit of brightness to the south of the front, even up intto the low 20s before the week is out. wednesday the front will sit southward and actually a good part of the northern half the uk will be bright. pushing north, gloomy weather on thursday but also bear in mind mild weather as well. a few breaks in that cloud could send those temperatures up to the high teens or a low 20. that is the outlook for the week ahead. still changeable with rain around times but considerably lighter winds than the week we just had. warm weather to come as well. news. my name is gavin grey and. our top stories: —— my name is ben

bland. it looks like a resounding victory for shinzo abe as the japanese pm declares victory in the snap election. he's promised to focus on "strong diplomacy". demonstrators in malta demand justice for journalist daphne ca ruana galizia who was murdered last week. the un seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in pledges to support rohingya moslems who've fled myanmar. and i'm jamie robertson. a green light notjust for abe but for abenomics. his election win means that japanese prime minister shinzo abe can continue his economic reform programme. and will londoners be able to breath a little easier? today sees the introduction of a £10 a day charge for the most polluting vehicles driving in the capital.