tonight at ten... the children needlessly dying in afghanistan, because of a broken healthcare system. hospitals and clinics have only basic equipment, with lives lost to curable diseases. we've been to hospitals and clinics all across this country. this is the worst we've seen. it's hard to believe that this is the main provincial hospital. all this despite 20 years of international help involving billions of pounds for healthcare. also tonight... is artificial intelligence a threat to humanity? a leading scientist says he now regrets some of his

own work developing ai. the nurse accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill ten others gives evidence for the first time at her trial. and wrexham's resurrection. the football club, its fans and hollywood owners, celebrate promotion to the football league in style. on newsnight. .. the on newsnight... the staff body accepts an improved path and we speak live to one of those demanding more. good evening. in afghanistan, more than 1,000 children under the age of five are dying every week, many in hospitals and clinics, and the assessment from the charity unicef is that they shouldn't be dying.

it's a staggering number of lives lost, but our team on the ground believe the true figure could be much higher. they're dying of diseases that are preventable, the majority would survive in most other parts of the world, but the country's health system is broken. foreign funding is frozen and aid agencies struggle in the face of enormous challenges, not least the fact that the taliban won't allow women as aid workers. here at bbc news, we've thought long and hard about what to include in this report from our correpsondent, yogita limaye. but her visit to one hospital on the brink of collapse is heartbreaking. there are scenes you will find distressing, including some young children in their final stages of life. but their families wanted us to record and bear witness to their tragedy, and that of a nation. baby cries every child in this room is in need of critical care.

pneumonia is ravaging their little bodies. one—year—old sajad struggles to breathe. this mother, fatima, holds an oxygen pipe near her child's nose. masks for their small faces aren't available. irfan is in the next bed. his condition worsens... ..and his mother ziara is given an extra tube. mothers filling in for what trained staff or medical equipment should do. this basic facility is the intensive care unit in ghor�*s main hospital — a province home to more than a million. room after room is full of sick children.

tayabullah, barely breathing, ill with pneumonia and malnutrition. his family wants us to see his condition. alone in a corner, his mother nigar realises her son is fading. doctors find a faint heartbeat. already defeated by a lack of resources, they're trying to revive him with the little they have. this man tells us it took eight hours, on rubble roads, to bring his grandson here. a family that can barely afford

to eat, scrape together money to pay for the ride, trying to save their little boy. idema is one of two nurses treating 60 children. she makes a final attempt. minutes later, she tells nigar her boy has died. sobbing they carry their baby home. he should be alive. every disease he had was curable. translation: i am also a mother, and when i saw the baby die, i felt | like i've lost my own child. when i saw his mother sobbing, it broke my heart. it hurt my conscience. we don't have equipment and trained staff.

there is nothing we can do but watch babies dying. barely a few moments passed before we found another child in distress. two years old, gulbadan was born with a heart defect, a condition that's not uncommon or hard to treat. "we borrowed money to take her to kabul, but we couldn't afford surgery so we had to bring her back," her grandmother told us. "please help us cure her." what gulbadan has could have been fixed with a routine operation, but this hospital isn't equipped to perform it. her father tells us his daughter had just begun to speak, forming herfirst words, calling out to him.

translation: if | had - an income, she would have never suffered this way. right now, i don't even have the money to buy a cup of tea. this hospital doesn't have any equipment to cure her. you can barely find an oxygen cylinder. when we came back later, we were told gulbadan had not survived. oxygen had run out. within hours, two children died. another crushing blow for dr ahmed samadi and his colleagues. translation: | feel | exhaustion and agony. every day, we lose one or two beloved children of ghor. we're almost accustomed it now. we need equipment, ventilators and monitors. we need oxygen and medicines.

for 20 years, the world put billions of dollars into afghanistan's public health care. what we've seen raises questions about how that money was spent. in ghor, the hospital wasn't made strong enough to withstand a regime change. in the one and a half years since the taliban took over and foreign funding — which propped up afghan health care — was frozen, we've been to hospitals and clinics all across this country. this is the worst we've seen. it's hard to believe that this is the main provincial hospital. even this bare minimum is being held up because humanitarian agencies are funding some of the salaries, medicines and food. it is sorely insufficient. and if that funding is reduced further, there is no doubt that the direct result of that will be more children dying.

and aid agencies have warned that donations which could help these families might be hit, because the taliban's restrictions on women violate international laws. on a hill on the edge of the town is one of the area's main burial grounds. there are no records or even a caretaker here. no way to tell who they belong to. but it's easy to distinguish big graves from small ones. from what we saw, at least half of those recently buried are children. there's evidence everywhere that the lives of afghanistan's youngest are being taken. yogita limaye, bbc news, ghor.

truly astonishing, the reality of life in afghanistan. and yogita joins us from mumbai. it is difficult to process that, but is there any hope in this darkness? the un has said today that only 6.4% of its work in afghanistan has been funded, and we are in the fifth month of the year, they are operating on the ground, the un and humanitarian agencies, they are a crucial lifeline for afghans, and this time last year there was a massive measles outbreak in the country which took the lives of hundreds, possibly thousands of children, and then a big vaccination campaign carried out by aid agencies and this year we are seeing positive results so things can be done on the ground. of course, it is more complex this year because the

taliban have banned women from working for the un and other ngos which affects notjust the delivery of assistance to women and children but the event says donors might not want to give money to a country where international laws are being violated —— the un says. the taliban says international aid should not be connected to their policies on women because they say it is internal matters for the country but it is not in the interest of any regime that would like to hold onto power to have such widespread economic instability in their country, the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, as described by the united nations, so there is a low ridge but it is a question of how the impasse between the top leadership of the taliban and the international community can be broken to be delivered for the people of afghanistan while still insisting on human rights. it is the faces of the

children in this report that people need to be remembering when making those decisions.— yogita limaye, many thanks. a leading figure in artificial intelligence has resigned from his job at google, and is warning of the growing dangers of ai. it's technology that involves computers carrying out tasks which humans used to do, such as self—driving cars. geoffrey hinton, who's spent his career researching ai, says he's now concerned there's a serious risk the technology will get out of control. zoe kleinman has the details. ai is already part of our lives, from health care options to insurance quotes, movie streaming recommendations to photo filters. but is it getting too powerful too fast? probably the most famous ai tool at the moment is chatgpt.

millions of us have used this chat bot to get humanlike answers to all sorts of questions. so i decided to ask it how to make this report for you tonight, and this is what it said. it's come back with, "remember to keep the introduction concise, clear and engaging as it sets the tone for the rest of the report." i'll do my best. first, what is it? well, artificial intelligence, or ai, is an umbrella term for computer systems trained to do the tasks that traditionally humans have done. until recently, it's been nowhere near as us at doing things, but that's all changing because it's now developing super fast. what are the benefits? the tech giants are competing like mad to try to bring out the ultimate ai product that ends up being the one we all want to use. they say ai tools will make our lives easier. the way we think about this is the technology is assistive. we don't think of it as replacing people'sjobs right now, but we do think it could take drudgery out ofjobs. we do think that it can help people get back to kind of what we would call the soul of theirjobs, the things that they like doing most. what are the concerns?

well, there are a growing number of experts who warn that we are not prepared for how rapidly ai is developing and how soon it could be smarter than us. things like gpt4 eclipses a person in the amount of general knowledge it has and eclipses them by a long way. given the rate of progress, we expect things to get better quite fast, so we need to worry about that. right now, they're not more intelligent than us, as far as i can tell, but i think they soon may be. can it be regulated? while the tech sector is busy investing lots of time and money in al, governments including the uk's are trying to figure out how to regulate it responsibly, and, of course, a lot of the firms involved are grappling with their own codes of ethics. this is technology that's being built in multiple countries around the world but will affect us all. so i think this is an area where you're going to have to see multilateral cooperation across governments and also across the key private sector actors. chatgpt suggests i end with this... "while the future of ai is uncertain, one thing is for sure, its potential to transform our world is immense."

and while ai is increasingly taking the wheel in some industries, for some things at least, humans do need to remain in the driving seat. zoe kleinman, bbc news. our economics editor faisal islam is here. ai is all over the place now in our lives, so how important is it to the economy? lives, so how important is it to the econom ? ~ . ., , lives, so how important is it to the econom 7~ . ., lives, so how important is it to the economy?— economy? what has long been forecasted _ economy? what has long been forecasted that _ economy? what has long been forecasted that al _ economy? what has long been forecasted that ai will - economy? what has long been i forecasted that ai will transform the economy but what is surprising is how quickly that this happened with businesses saying they are trying to rapidly deploy it to every corner of their business right now, on the upside for them is it will make existing workers more productive, so it could help a perennial british problem with low productivity but the flip side is that there are losers as well as winners and we have already heard about some multinationals diverting what they would have spent growing their workforce, instead to invest in al and the other big surprise,

for corporate leaders and some of the inventors of these new technologies, the expected use cases in robotic repetitive tasks, what they are finding it it is being used in creative industries, high—value, high wage, writing, creating images, creating music, computer programming, that is a big surprise, and we'rejust in programming, that is a big surprise, and we're just in the foothills of how powerful some of these computer programmes going to get on so that raises questions for public policy and governments were how to respond and governments were how to respond and if you like, if science fiction it turns into economic fact. faisal islam, many thanks. more than a million nhs staff in england are to get a 5% pay rise, and a one—off cash payment of at least £1600. it follows their unions accepting the government's latest pay offer. but the royal college of nursing and the unite union, which represents some ambulance and hospital staff, haven't accepted the deal, which means the possibility of more strikes could lie ahead.

a nurse accused of murdering seven babies and trying to kill ten others has told a court that she only wanted to help the children in her care. it's the first time lucy letby has given evidence at the trial. the 33—year—old cried as she told the jury that herjob at the countess of chester hospital had been her life. she denies all the charges against her relating to events in 2015 and 2016. our north of england correspondent judith moritz was one of only a few journalists allowed inside the court. in courtroom number seven, all eyes were on lucy letby. she said herself that she couldn't be accused of worse crimes. now after seven months of the case against the nurse, the time has come to hear directly from her. leading her defence, ben myers kc spent the day putting questions to the woman he calls miss letby. he'll take several days. she'll be asked about all 17 babies she's alleged to have harmed or killed. lucy letby�*s parents have been at court throughout the trial and sat in the public gallery as their daughter began her stint

in the witness box. ben myers began by asking the question at the heart of the entire case. "did you ever want to hurt any baby?", he asked. "no," said lucy letby, "that's completely against what being a nurse is. i only wanted to help and to care for them". there was complete silence in court as lucy letby spoke clearly, looking directly at the jury, and sitting just yards away from the parents of some of the babies she's accused of attacking, or murdering. the nurse is accused of killing seven babies at the countess of chester neonatal unit between june 2015 and june 2016, and of attempting to murder a further ten. she denies all the charges. she was taken off duty after doctors at the hospital raised their suspicions, but it was another two years before she was arrested and her house was searched. ben myers kc asked the nurse how she felt when she realised what she was being accused of. she started to cry in the witness

box and said, "there were times when i didn't want to live. myjob was my life, my whole world stopped." ben myers asked, "how hard is it to cope with what you're being accused of?" lucy letby answered, "everything has changed. everything about me, my hope for the future has changed." the prosecution has previously shown the jury several handwritten notes, explaining that they were found by the police when they searched lucy letby�*s house after her arrest. on one of them, she had written, "i don't know if i killed them, maybe i did." on another, her barrister picked out some phrases to show to the court. ben myers said, "it says, �*i'm evil, i did this'. why did you write that?" lucy letby replied, "i felt at the time that if i'd done something wrong, i must be such an evil, awful person. i'd somehow been incompetent and had done something wrong, which had affected those babies." lucy letby told the court

it was noticeably busier at the countess of chester neonatal unit during the year she's accused of harming babies. she said the unit seemed to have more babies with complex needs and no increased staffing to cope with it. she was asked why she'd searched for the parents of babies on facebook. she answered that it was out of curiosity and they were on her mind. the nurse will continue giving her evidence later this week. judith moritz, bbc news, manchester. the leaders of the two warring military factions in sudan have agreed a seven—day truce beginning on thursday, with both sides saying they're now prepared to attend peace talks. the united nations has warned once again of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region. more than 300,000 people in sudan are internally displaced having left their homes to escape the fighting, and the un says 100,000 more have fled the country, after more than two weeks of violence. the british government has tonight announced more evacuation flights

for uk nationals will leave port sudan tomorrow. our africa correspondent andrew harding is in saudi arabia, where many of those fleeing are continuing to arrive. andrew, a new week—long ceasefire and peace talks. what are the chances any of this will come to pass? good evening. i wish i had very positive news for you but i suspect that this is overoptimistic. remember, we've already had three three—day long ceasefires and those have not stuck remotely. a seven day ceasefire starting on thursday is what sudan and what millions of people desperately need right now. it is coming from south sudan, a neighbour with some influence, saying as well the possibility of peace talks but i think much more significant was what we heard today from a senior general in khartoum, the sudanese capital, and he said we

are in the middle of clearing the capital, pushing up paramilitary rsf forces and we will put their leadership on trial. now is simply not the moment to pause, to stop and to talk. so the war goes on. you mentioned on the humanitarian front, those british evacuation flights, the last one or two leaving tomorrow. the situation for the rest of the country, desperate, and fears this enormous african giant could end up like afghanistan or like somalia. �* . ., ~ , ., in the last hour the metropolitan police have said that a man has been arrested after allegedly throwing some items into buckingham palace grounds. robin brant is outside buckingham palace. what more can you tell us? about three hours _ what more can you tell us? about three hours ago, _ what more can you tell us? about three hours ago, just _ what more can you tell us? about three hours ago, just after - what more can you tell us? about three hours ago, just after 7pm, | three hours ago, just after 7pm, police say a man approached the gates at the front of buckingham palace, around 200 metres down

there, and he threw several items into the grounds of the palace. they have described them as being shotgun cartridges. there were no explosions, no one was injured. that man was detained. police say he had with him what they believed was a suspicious bag so they put a cordon in place and later a controlled explosion was carried out. no one was injured. the man has been detained. i understand it is not being treated as a terrorist —related incident and is being described tonight as a mental health related incident. the palace say the king and queen were not in when it happened. but we have four days to go before the coronation and there will be increased nervousness among police and security services as we approach saturday. just in front of the palace the mall is quiet because of the time but i was here yesterday and it was busy on both sides. people are free to move about and that's the environment to the organisers want but nonetheless

among the police and security services, increased vigilance, unsurprisingly. robin brant at buckingham palace, thank you. the princess royal says from her perspective a slimmed down monarchy doesn't seem like a good idea. but she added the royal family does need to discuss how to stay relevant. in an interview with the canadian public broadcaster cbc she insists the monarchy still has a lot to offer the country. our royal correspondent daniela relph has been to the netherlands to see how a slimmed down royal family operates there. it is a public holiday and a national celebration — this is king's day in the netherlands. for students, we party a lot for the king. it's great. we are free from work and we are going to celebrate. king willem—alexander and queen maxima are in rotterdam for king's day this year. forget state bentleys, they arrived by royal bus. with them, their wider family, most of whom have regular

jobs and a private life, but turn out for this event. you get close to the people, that's important, to be close to public? i think it is, yeah. the king can only be in one spot and luckily it is a largerfamily and we can say hello. because all these people stand here, i think they've been here for hours and hours waiting, so it's always nice to say hello, to get close, to make a picture. what really strikes you, watching the dutch royal family here on king's day, is their relaxed approach. yes, there is of course the wealth and privilege of royalty, but this king and queen seem to have stripped back much of the formality. this is a couple who party. the royal diary is built around them. they do the majority of engagements. they are the public face of dutch royalty. but other european royals have gone further. in denmark, queen margrethe has

slimmed down the monarchy, removing the titles from four of her grandchildren. it's caused a family fallout. this is our conversation with princess anne. we're unlikely to see anything as drastic in the uk. during an interview for canadian tv, princess anne voiced her scepticism. i think the slim down was said on a day when there were a few more people around, to make it seem like a justifiable comment. the world changes a bit. it changes a bit. it doesn't sound like a good idea from where i'm standing, i must say. not quite sure what else we can do. all royal families are grappling with popularity, cost, and dealing with their colonial past. in the netherlands, a sense of public accessibility and a tight focus on the king and queen is their approach to modern monarchy. daniela relph, bbc news, rotterdam.

thousands of people have taken to the streets of wrexham to celebrate their football team winning promotion back to the english football league. wrexham afc is the oldest football club in wales, with the team and the town achieving global fame after being bought by the hollywood actors ryan reynolds and rob mcelhenney. theyjoined the players this evening for the victory parade, as our wales correspsondent hywel griffith now reports. cheering after a journey that took 15 years to complete, a promotion party they will remember for decades. 15,000 supporters lined wrexham's streets for a glimpse of the players and their celebrity owners, too. after so long in the football doldrums you have to savour success. it is the best day ever. 15 years of hurt. we have turned it around and we are going up, up, up. look what it means. the whole town is behind the boys.

it is cracking, brilliant. wrexham! it is great for them to see the achievements of wrexham and they were mascots for the final home game of the season, as well, so for them to see the ending and the final victory parade, it needed to be seen. this may be lower league football but ryan reynolds and rob mcelhenney series welcome to wrexham has propelled this club to another level. streaming globally, it brought new international fans. many find a way here to the turf wanting to meet one of the stars of the show, wayne, the landlord. it is bizarre. there are 40, 50 americans coming through the door every single day. like i say, maybe in five, ten years, i will look back and think, that was a bonkers couple of years. cheering. hollywood money may have helped to secure wrexham's success but don't discount the emotional investment of these supporters. just over a decade ago it was their cash which helped

to save the club from insolvency and stopped it from being wiped off the football map completely. so, where next? the owners are ambitious and would like another party like this at the end of next season. of course our goal is to get to the premier league. why wouldn't it be? if we can do that, whether it takes five years, whether it takes 20 years, that's the goal. that's the mission. and, not surprisingly, it's one these fans are fully signed up to. 0h, aye, straight through league 2, no problem. you are confident? without a doubt, yeah. we will hammerthem. play—offs at the very least. before that, the next stop on wrexham's journey is an american tour where they will face chelsea and manchester united. a mismatch on the pitch, but as a footballing brand, wrexham believe they can compete. hywel griffith, bbc news, wrexham. time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes.

it's been a dry day for most of us thanks to an area of high pressure and around areas of high pressure that brought us guys like these the wind circulated clockwise bringing big temperature contrasts across the uk. northerly winds coming across the cool north sea kept temperatures backin the cool north sea kept temperatures back in the north and east where is across western areas we had temperatures as high as 18 or 19, feeling pleasant in the sunshine. similar kinds of contrasts over the next couple of days with the wind direction all important. overnight tonight, england and wales with clear spells of a living, the thickest cloud in the north—west with the odd spit offering for northern ireland and western scotland. mild in the west but temperatures in the east, 2—4, a chilly start to the day on wednesday. more sunshine to go round across england and wales through the day, brightening up in northern ireland after a cloudy start with the thickest cloud still in scotland threatening patches of rain particularly in the north and west

and continuing to feel cool into northern scotland and around some eastern coasts of england. highest temperatures in the west with