former pakistan prime minister imran khan says he knew about a plot to kill him before he was shot during a protest march. he blames members of pakistan's current government. the facial recognition technology that's helping to identify photos of holocaust victims and survivors. this picture — i don't know if you've seen this before? does this look...? that's me, yeah. so, this it here? yes. you could tell? yeah, that's me, yeah, for sure. and americans flock to buy powerball tickets as the roll—overjackpot reaches more than $1.5 billion.

hello, welcome to the programme. elon musk has defended his decision to sack thousands of staff at twitter without warning. the world's richest man bought the social media platform last week. he tweeted that he was forced to make cuts because twitter was losing nearly $4 million a day. mr musk also attempted to allay concerns about the spread of hate speech, saying twitter�*s commitment to content moderation remained unchanged. but president biden has said the tycoon had bought an outfit that spewed lies across the world. many big firms have paused their advertising on twitter while uncertainty about its content controls remains. here's our technology editor zoe kleinman. elon musk did not speak to any of the thousands of twitter employees laid off today. instead, he was a surprise guest at this investor conference in new york. meanwhile, many twitter staff woke up locked out of their work laptops. they were later told via an email to their personal accounts that it was their last working day at the firm.

some have been told they will be paid until february next year, getting some sort of certainty after months of speculation. a mixed range of emotions. certainly upset, certainly frustration, certainly some anger but you know what? also, in some cases, some relief, right? because this was a thing that played out over the course of the majority of this year. there were, understandably, lots of emotional tweets. another said: for others, it was simply: elon musk made it clear when he bought twitter last friday that big changes were coming. twitter�*s regarded as influential but it hasn't made a profit in years and it's also failed to attract new users. twitter makes its money from adverts, and businesses are spending less on that as the financial crisis bites. there have been calls for brands to boycott twitter in protest against mr musk�*s leadership — something he addressed today.

a number of major advertisers have stopped spending on twitter, so this — but this is — this doesn't seem right because we've made no change in our operations at all. elon musk is planning to charge a monthly fee for verification, currently given out for free to high profile accounts as a badge of authenticity. he is also looking up at setting up a moderation board to oversee decisions about banned accounts. for those staff who remain, twitter under elon musk, who says he expects an extreme work ethic, will be a very different environment, and the platform itself might also start to feel like a new experience. mr musk is the world's richest man. he knows how to do business. he may well be able to turn twitter around but it will be done on his terms. zoe kleinman, bbc news. earlier, i spoke to nina trentmann, the bureau chief for the wall streetjournal. i asked her about some of the lawsuits that have been filed against the company.

yeah, there was a lawsuit on thursday that was filed where five former employees accuse the company of basically violating federal laws, as well as californian laws, that require companies to give people 60 days�* notice in cases of mass lay—offs. and these people are arguing that basically, what currently is happening at twitter is a mass lay—off and so, people should have received 60 days�* notice and would also then receive financial pay through a longer period of time than the amount, the 1—3 months that we've hears so far from the company. this is the so—called — those are the so—called warn act disclosures which are pretty important for companies to follow and, of course, given that there are more companies cutting jobs right now here in america, it is a term that comes up more often. let's talk about some of the business aspects to this. mr musk says twitter was losing $4 million a day. now, since his takeover,

several companies are boycotted the firm, pulled their advertisements. can they be enticed back by the company's new owner? well, from elon musk�*s perspective, that's what one would hope — even though, of course, the timing of these advertising clients pausing their advertising is not great for twitter, given that it is going through this period of trying to cut down on costs and restructure its business before that also it needs revenues to come in and so we've seen general mills, volkswagen, mondelez and a few other big, big spenders holding advertising and we also — you had this in your report earlier — we had mr musk today commenting at this conference today in new york, basically blaming advertisers for pulling back and pausing. so, it remains to be seen if this is just a temporary thing or if there will be a permanent drop—off in terms of advertising and advertisers withdrawing from the platform as there is uncertainty to where the platform is headed, what exactly mr musk will do with it,

and also then if this is still going to be a good environment for advertisers to place their product. speaking of the good environment, this idea of charging $8 for users to get verification status and a privileged pass, if you like, what's that going to do to the platform? the idea behind is to increase revenue and to also basically enable the company to have more revenue streams than just basically from advertising — because large, large amounts of the revenue that twitter generates come from advertising — and so, if you were to have more users paying for the blue tick, then that gives you more visibility into future revenues, it gives you a bit of predictability to your business, which also then hopefully would reduce your reliance on advertising spending, because with the us entering or likely entering a period of slow economic growth, advertising is, of course, amongst the things the companies would pull back on.

and in terms of other financial and debt challenges, what are some of the issues facing twitter? well, the company took on about $13 billion in debt as part of the deal and analysts are forecasting that it will spend about $1 billion a year tojust a service that debt, to pay interest on the debt, which comes at a time, of course, as the company is reviewing its business model, it is increasing its net debt to ebita ratio, which is a debt ratio, quite significantly as part of the deal and so, that's also going to be a challenge for the company going forward — not just to figure out what its future business should be but also how it's going to manage its finances, specifically its debt and interest payments. nina trentmann there. the former prime minister of pakistan imran khan has accused members of the current government of being involved in a plot to assassinate him. he made the comments from a hospital in lahore, where he spoke for the first

time since being shot in the leg during a protest march. since being ousted from office in april, mr khan has been demanding fresh elections. samira hussein reports from lahore. all chant. people took to the streets in pakistan a day after the former prime minister imran khan was shot at a protest rally. outside the hospital where he is recovering, supporters left flowers as security forces kept a watchful eye. members of his political party say the attack was an assassination attempt. and at a press conference, mr khan pointed the finger directly at members of the current government. you maintain that, in fact, it is members of the government that are responsible. what evidence do you have of that, and is this just a political ploy to gain favour? there can be no investigation if the prime minister, the interior minister and this isi guy, faisal —

major general faisal. if these three are involved, there can be no independent investigation. well, what evidence do you have that the government and the head of the — the director of the isi is involved? i think they tried to disqualify me. that failed. they've tried to, you know, put terrorism cases on me, then they — some other case by the election commission. and i think they are petrified of the long march. because they saw the crowds joining us. and they are scared that, you know, by the time we reach islamabad, they will — which i know — whenever we start — restart the march, there will be a sea of people in islamabad. so, that's when they planned this. and i have inside information. all i want is a proper investigation into this. the government has already said that it is not going to hold fresh elections. what now is the goal

of this long march? look, it is — you know, a political party, does not accept if a government says it is not going to hold an election and says "thank you very much, "we'll go home." political parties mobilise public and that's how you — that's why you are democratic. and so, the democratic thing to do is to mobilise the public and protest. and protest, they did, some throwing rocks and police throwing tear gas in return. the former prime minister has made it clear he will not back down. samira hussain, bbc news, lahore. let's get some of the day's other news. financial analysts have warned that germany is heading for recession as new figures show a slump in orders for its exports as the country also suffers from high energy costs. the news came while chancellor olaf scholz was in china, a key economic partner and a huge market for german goods.

the un says it's hopeful it can resume urgently needed aid deliveries into ethiopia's northern tigray region within days following this week's truce between the government and tigrayan officials. international agencies have in effect been blocked from sending in supplies since august, when fighting resumed. a group of tourists being held captive on an amazon cruise boat in peru for 2h hours has been released. indigenous people stopped the boat as part of a protest about their community being damaged by an oil leak from a pipeline in september. they were trying to force government officials to properly assess the impact. the russian private military company the wagner group has opened its first official headquarters in st petersburg. mercenaries employed by wagner have been accused of committing human rights abuses in ukraine and in west africa. tom brada reports. this may look like just another

unremarkable office block. it is, in fact, the headquarters of the wagner group, a russian militia unit notorious for brutality both on and off the battlefield. translation: the creation of such a centre was - a long time coming. the only thing is that it appeared so late. it should've been opened before the special military operation. the wagner group has been active during conflicts across africa, in syria and, most recently, in ukraine. in september, reports emerged that the group was recruiting prisoners to fight in ukraine in exchange for their sentences being reduced. translation: the biggest sin is desertion! _ no—one backs down, no—one retreats, no—one surrenders! british military intelligence says there are 1000 wagner

mercenaries deployed in ukraine and their involvement fits into a broader pattern of russian ruthlessness. ukraine says it has identified tens of thousands of possible war crimes by russian forces — something which russia denies. and on friday, president putin changed russian law. the army can now call up serious criminals who've recently left prison. many convicted murderers and drug dealers could soon be on the front lines. imagine how desperate he is as he promised to take over ukraine, the whole biggest nation by size in europe, to take it over in days. and now, after almost eight months here, to scrap for even the criminals to replenish his forces. critics say mr putin's latest decision reflects how badly russian troops are faring on the battlefield. ukrainian troops are currently pushing hard to recapture the city of kherson in the south. the wagner group used to be an organisation which traded

in secrecy and operated in the shadows. the establishment of an official wagner head office suggests russia is willing to be upfront about more underhanded tactics. tom brada, bbc news. you are watching bbc news. our top stories this our— —— hour. the american billionaire elon musk has defended his decision to sack thousands of staff at twitter without warning. mr musk has said the cuts are essential for the future of the platform. the former pakistani prime minister imran khan says he knew about a plot to kill him before he was shot during a protest march. he has blamed members of pakistan's current government. the nazi holocaust claimed the lives of 6 millionjewish people, ripping apart families and communities. photographs have helped to identify some of those killed, but many people in pictures from the time remain unidentified. now, facial recognition technology is being used to try to bring names to faces. our north america technology reporterjames clayton has the story.

as soon as my aunt heard the boots, she knew that she has to hide me. blanche fixler was a child in poland when the nazis came looking for her. germans came and they looked every little place, they looked in every corner, and i said, "you'd better not breathe "or sneeze or anything, or you'll be dead." blanche's mother and her siblings were murdered but, thanks to her aunt rose, blanche survived. today, she has few photos from her childhood. many pictures from the 1930s and �*aos do survive, though, and hundreds are on display here in the museum ofjewish heritage in new york. butjust like many other museums devoted tojewish heritage, a lot of the people in the photos here are unnamed. often, whole families were killed. no—one was left to identify people. the pictures only have numbers. software engineer daniel patt has been working to help solve

this problem using artificial intelligence and facial recognition tech. he calls the project from numbers to names. let's say, for example, you're looking for a photo of your family member. and we scan through hundreds of thousands of photos, millions of faces in seconds. using the program, daniel believes he's found a picture of blanche that she's never seen before. the algorithm only gives probabilities of matches so today, dan is going to meet blanche to see whether the picture he found, taken in france, is really her. hi! nice to meet you! so, here we go. this is a picture that i found of you. this picture — i don't know if you've seen this before. does this look...? that's me, yeah. the one here? yes. you can tell? yeah, that's me, yeah, for sure. i'll zoom in so you can get a closer look. oh, wow! 0h, some of these guys i remember. one was my boyfriend!

chuckles. and in the picture, her aunt rose — the aunt that saved her. wow, so i think to the best of my knowledge, there's only three people in this group that have been identified so far. we do know who these children are, but in hundreds of thousands of other photos, people murdered by the nazis remain nameless. the hope is this tech could help. scott miller is not part of the from numbers to names project but says trying to identify victims — even 80 years later — is vital. even just to name somebody, to give somebody a name, you're restoring some semblance of dignity to them. for blanche, the pictures bring back memories — a song that she learnt in her brief time in france. # quand j�*etais mademoiselle, mademoiselle, mademoiselle. # quand j'etais, mademoiselle, mademoiselle j'etais!

the former us president donald trump has strongly hinted that he may run for the white house again in 202a. at a rally in iowa, mr trump said he would "very, very, very probably do it again". americans are heading to the polls next week to vote in the country's midterm elections. and a key group which could make an impact is the new christian right — with a growing number of pastors and politicians urging voters to take back the country for god. barbara plett usher has this report. in this divided nation, the christian right has found a new voice. this country belongs to god almighty. this is not a church service. hundreds of people are being baptised after a rally in pennsylvania. some overwhelmed by their experience of god. thousands have turned out because they believe their christian values are under attack and that god belongs in government. you cannot separate

god from politics. you can't take him out of our government. these events tap into people's anger about covid lockdowns and donald trump's election loss. eric trump! the man himself dialled in while his son was on stage. donald trump on phone: we love you all and we will bring this - country back because our country has never been in such bad shape. they are reframing american conservative politics as spiritual warfare against a radical left. chris and bobby foley have travelled here from north carolina. they took away the bible, they took awayjesus and everything so now we are being run by devils, we are being run by satan, because it is a spiritual war. some call this rise of the religious right christian nationalism — the belief that america was founded as a christian nation and should remain one. it's taken on a new intensity in this fractured political world. breaking cover during the storming of the capitol were christian symbols,

and prayers were on display. greg locke was one of many pastors at the capitol that day. he has millions of followers online and preaches to hundreds every week. you ain't seen the insurrection yet. he's managed to weave his political views into an apocalyptic worldview laced with conspiracy theories. you god—hating communist americans, you will find out what an insurrection is, because we ain't playing your garbage. you're calling fellow americans evil and putting it in the context of an apocalyptic battle between good and evil. there is an apocalyptic battle between good and evil. and that is the kind of language that could be used to incite violence against such people. that is not my responsibility. you don't see that is your responsibility to stay away from possibly inciting violence? i'm not inciting violence. i'm preaching the bible. but many christians are fighting back against this interpretation of the bible. pastor kevin riggs is a community activist. he believes scripture

teaches that god cares most about social justice. my concern with the religious right has been that they are damaging the reputation of the church. i have had friends who were pastors of churches and because they spoke out against the religious right or against president trump, then they were asked to leave their church. next week's election will be the first test of this vocal minority at the polls. if the republicans win big, it could become a powerful force pushing the party further to the right. barbara plett usher, bbc news, pennsylvania. lottery players in the us have their fingers crossed for an enormous cash prize after the powerball jackpot grew to a record—breaking 1.6 billion dollars. no ticket had the winning numbers on wednesday during the draw and the jackpot has rolled over to saturday — in fact it hasn't been won in more than three months. earlier, i spoke to drew svitko, executive directior of pennsylvania lottery and asked him if the cost of living crisis will impact

the chances of finding a winner. over time and throughout history lottery sales are affected negatively by negative influences in the economy. but in general, i think, there is a lot of value in a $2 powerball ticket and the ability to dream about what you would do with all that money. that is the question. this is a life changing amount of money, $1.6 billion. what have previous winners spent it on? we do not keep track of our previous winners. occasionally we hear and they can vary from helping their friends and family with lots of charitable work and establishing clinics, respiratory clinics and all kinds of great things to help the community with their newfound riches and i think that is a wonderful thing about such a hugejackpot. imagine the number of people you could help with that money. different countries with different national

well if you do happen to win powerball on saturday, this could be the perfect opportunity to spend some of that cash. the autumn auction season is kicking off in new york and geneva, with the major houses expecting record—breaking sales. emer mccarthy reports. how would this louche and forward look hanging in your lounge room? or perhaps a picasso was more your scene? they just two picasso was more your scene? theyjust two pieces up picasso was more your scene? they just two pieces up for auction is at christies week. the collection from the estate of all alan also includes works by georgia o'keeffe and paul cezanne. the late microsoft coast founder's collection includes more than 150 pieces spanning 500 years. paul allen lasma spanning 500 years. paul allen plasma collection _ spanning 500 years. paul allen plasma collection is _ spanning 500 years. paul allen plasma collection is truly - plasma collection is truly singular. it is a collection thatis singular. it is a collection that is made up of extraordinary quality and

unbelievable breadth and depth of the collection.— of the collection. meantime at sotheby's _ of the collection. meantime at sotheby's it — of the collection. meantime at sotheby's it is _ of the collection. meantime at sotheby's it is all _ of the collection. meantime at sotheby's it is all about - sotheby's it is all about antiques. sotheby's it is all about antiqua— sotheby's it is all about antiuues. , ., antiques. this is anti-war hole's white _ antiques. this is anti-war hole's white disaster - antiques. this is anti-war| hole's white disaster from 1963. it is one of very few death and disaster paintings that he did in the early 60s that he did in the early 60s that epitomises is practice at this pivotal point in his work. not only the monumental scale when you stand before it is so powerful but the image repeated in such stark clarity 19 times across the expanse of the canvas really gives it an immense visual power that characterises warhol's greatest contributions to pop art. it is estimated — contributions to pop art. it is estimated to _ contributions to pop art. it is estimated to sell _ contributions to pop art. it is estimated to sell in - contributions to pop art. it is estimated to sell in excess of $80 million. at sotheby's in switzerland you could find yourself sitting around in local schumacher�*s ferrari. if you have a spare $9.4 million, that is. so whether you are in the market for cars or art there is certainly something for everyone, if you can afford

to splash the cash that is. emma mccarthy, bbc news. just time before we go to show you these pictures of a tiny pony whose owner is hoping for an entry in the guinness book of records. this is pumuckel. he's only 50 centimetres tall, that's under 20 inches, and he lives with his owner in germany. he weighs in at 35 kilos, about 75 pounds — roughly the same as a human child. his owner has had him for 2.5 years and he's barely grown in that time. but he won't be eligible for the record books until he's at least four years old you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston hello there. a ridge of high pressure on friday brought a cold and frosty start, but a beautiful day right across the country, hardly a cloud in the sky for many. and temperatures did recover to highs ofjust under 14 degrees in swanage in dorset. there's the clear skies. but it is all change as we move into the weekend, there's the clear skies. but it is all change

as we move into the weekend, the satellite picture showing this area of low pressure, the isobars tightly squeezed around it, and it is going to throw yet more cloud, wind and rain in our direction. ahead of it we will see those temperatures falling away, but as the night progresses, cloud will continue to build and the rain arrives so here not quite as cold. but it does mean sheltered, rural parts of eastern scotland once again could see a touch of frost and low single figures across eastern areas. that is where the best of the morning sunshine is likely to be on saturday. but the cloud, wind and rain will continue to push in from the west, and that is going to gradually spread its way steadily eastward. by the middle part of afternoon, it will be sitting across scotland, down through the spine of the country and it will weaken a little bit, but it's certainly going to be cloudy with outbreaks of rain around. blustery winds as that rain pushes through. the best of the brighter weather through northern ireland, northern england and the bulk of scotland. in terms of the feel of the weather, similar temperatures to the last couple of days, about where

they should be for the time of year, 10—14 degrees. but it does mean if you have plans for bonfire night, if we draw a line really from, let's say south—east england through the wash, down to the isle of wight, anywhere south and east of that could be rather cloudy with outbreaks of light, patchy rain. and we could see that the rain pep up through the south—east into the early hours of sunday morning and lingerfor a time. but whatever happens on sunday, low pressure not too far away, and it will throw in bands of rain or showers which may well merge together for longer spells of rain for a time on sunday. so be prepared for a little bit of everything for the second half of the weekend. there will be some drier, brighter interludes and those temperatures similar values, 11—14 celsius. now as we move out of sunday into monday and tuesday, it stays blustery with plenty of showers around. but the winds turning more southerly so it will be just a degree or so milder. that's it — whatever you're doing, have a lovely weekend.

minister, imran khan, this is bbc news. the headlines: the american billionaire elon musk has defended his decision to sack thousands of staff at twitter. mr musk says the cuts are "essential" for the financial stability of the social media platform. advertisers have expressed concerns about what the layoffs might mean for regulating hate speech.

pakistan's former prime