north korea has largely been closed off to the world for decades. and gaining a window into life there is even more difficult now after the government sealed its borders at the onset of the covid—19 pandemic. since then, reports of starvation and executions suggest that the situation is the worst its been since the 1990s. our seoul correspondent jean mackenzie�*s exclusive reporting provides a peek at life inside. food supplies are so low, people have started dying. this chilling testimony comes from inside north korea. once, i didn't eat for two days. i only drank water. recently, people have been knocking on the door, asking for food, because they are so hungry.

hearing from people inside this isolated country is extremely rare. but with fears the country is on the brink of a famine, we've been secretly communicating with people who live there. we're using actors and animations to illustrate their words, and have changed their names to protect them. in our village, five people have starved to death. chan ho is a construction worker living near the chinese boarder. in one family, the wife was too ill to work, so the two children were surviving by begging. in the end, all three of them died. at first, i was afraid of dying from covid, but then i began to worry about starving to death. at the start of the pandemic, north korea completely sealed its borders. these pictures released by the regime are all

the world's been able to see. foryears, no—one has been allowed to enter the country. authorities even stopped food and medicine from crossing the border. in south korea, we began to get reports of chronic food shortages, and so we teamed up with an organisation here. daily nk has sources inside the country who were able to get our questions to people. this isji yeon, who lives in the north korean capital the months, they talk to us in secret. because it the

government knew, they would be in trouble. even here, simply —— and the wealthy north of the country, supplies are running dangerously low. i thought i was going to die my sleep at night after not eating for two days. my husband and i survived ten more days and then another ten days. my husband and i survived by thinking ten more days, and then another ten days, thinking, if something happens, we might starve, but at least we will feed our kids. there are lots of beggars now. if they are lying down, we check them and usually find they're dead. there are others who kill themselves at home or disappear into the mountains. what these people are telling us evokes memories of the devastating famine of the late 1990s, known as the arduous march, which killed as many as three million people.

for the past ten, 15 years, we rarely heard of death by starvation. that was something that happened in the late 1990s or early 2000s, but to hear it happening, again, you know, in the past two, three years, ithink, you know, it is taking us back to the arduous march, which was the most difficult period for the north korean people. when covid finally breached the country's borders, the authorities banned people from leaving their homes. during one lockdown, i know of five people that were trapped in their house for ten days. they were half dead by the time they were let out. they managed by sneaking out at night to get food. but the spectre of another famine has not stopped kim jong—un from funnelling his limited finances into building nuclear weapons. the money he spent on missile tests last year would have been enough,

according to some estimates, to ensure his entire population was properly fed. the people never wanted this endless weapons development that brings hardship to generation after generation. i want to live in a society where we don't starve, where my neighbours are alive. north koreans are more isolated than ever before. it's getting harder for them to survive, and impossible to help them. jean mackenzie, bbc news. the bbc put our findings to the north korean government, known as the dprk. here's what a representative from its embassy in london said: earlier, i spoke to our

seoul correspondent jean mackenzie about her exclusive reporting. thank you forjoining us. how common do you think these stories are in north korea? it's very hard to tell of course, we only communicated with three people, but we did our best to try and get what we felt was a representative snapshot, we spoke to three different people from three different parts of the country, varying ages who were different professions, to try and give us is fully picture as we could, and we have spoken to some of the other camps in pyongyang, those living across the border, but ultimately we only have their stories to go on but they do paint a picture, one that is more troubling than what we imagined, then we imagined, the food situation in particular is worse than i think people had realised, we had heard reports that people perhaps were starving to death in north korea but the fact that we went and spoke to three people and two of them were able to say to us that their neighbours had started out, i think shows you how serious

the situation is 0k and certainly people we have spoken to have said this probably is more serious than we realised and the food situation probably is the worst now than it has been since the famine since the late 1990s which killed so many people and is widely regarded as the most tragic time in north korea history. what has made this situation so severe right now? enclosing the border, kim jong—un not only stop people from going into the country, he quite staggeringly stopped trade and freight trains crossing the border, and that meant for a very long time vital supplies of food and medicine cannot cross into the country in north korea is a country that can't provide enough food for all of its people, so if you stock any food from entering you are automatically

going to end up with a shortfall so that is one of the main reasons and the other is if you look at how the economy works, there is this huge informal economy that has grown up over the years, so people essentially cross the river into china, across the border, sneak out at night and sneak back in with things to buy and sell and they sell these things at local market prices and this is how the majority of north koreans make their money, it's thought that around 80% of north koreans rely on this informal markets trade, so by sealing the border and making it incredibly difficult for people to cross, it's also cut off this unofficial sort of smuggling trade making it very hard for people to get what they need and very hard to make a living, so people operating with much less money than they normally would have, there is much less food in the markets anyway, so therefore that situation has built up to what it is. tell us about your reporting. how did you gain access to these three voices? it's impossible to talk directly to people in north korea so we had to work

with an organisation that has a network of sources inside the country, and these sources were able to find sources and we got the questions to people and then relayed the answers, but it was a painstaking process that took many months, because we had to drip feed the information, it was sent back in hundreds of different instalments because it was too risky to even send one complete answer at a time and we have taken so much care to make sure that we keep these people safe and we do not reveal their identity, so taking our time and making sure we did it very slowly was part of that process thank you so much for sharing your report with us. a major search—and—rescue operation is under way off the coast of greece after a migrant boat capsized. almost 80 people are known to have drowned. the real number could be much higher. the government has declared three days of mourning. the boat is reported to have been heading to italy from the libyan port of tobruk, when it began taking on water late on tuesday.

more than a hundred people have been rescued and taken to the greek port of kalamata.the greek coastguard says the search operation has been hampered by strong winds. it's thought the vessel may have been carrying up to 400 people. earlier yiorgos michaelidis, a spokesperson for greece's migration ministry, told the bbc that 104 people had been rescued but he could not verify reports that several hundred people were still missing. it is a very bad incident, a tragedy actually, one of the biggest tragedies ever happen in greece, as far as migration is concerned. we have 79 dead people found and 104 people found alive and they are right now being taken care of and the greek authorities are right now searching for more and more people in the sea. 0ur europe correspondent nick beake is in athens and has this update.

we don't know the scale of this disaster tonight, but it's clear it is bad. more than 100 people have been rescued, but survivors are saying that up to 700 people, they believe, were on board this fishing boat. it set off reportedly from libya and was heading to italy. an image has emerged showing the vessel packed with people in the deepest part of the mediterranean. no—one, it would seem, had a life jacket on. the greek authorities have said tonight that they went towards the vessel and that no—one wanted help when they offered it. but that has been challenged by an organisation which provides an emergency phone number for people at sea, and it says, in fact, the authorities waited hours before they approached the vessel. they also said that, in terms of anyone refusing the offer of support, that was

because of the so—called pushback policy that greece pursues — in other words, pushing people out of greek waters. that is a policy which athens says doesn't exist. it repeatedly and strenuously has denied that it uses this sort of tactic. so, where are we tonight? well, the families of the dead are grieving. for hundreds more families, they face an unbearable wait to try and find out what has happened, and european leaders are talking once again about trying to find a solution to all of this. but the reality is so far this year, more than 70,000 people have arrived in europe, mainly in four different countries in the south of the continent. and with us going further into the summer, with the weather being good, the fear is that many more people will attempt this perilous crossing. tens of thousands of people have been evacuated in india and pakistan, as the countries prepare for a severe cyclone to hit on thursday evening. the cyclone is forecast

to make landfall in kutch, in the western indian state of gujarat and on the coast of pakistan's sindh provinc including parts of karachi city. in india, trains in the region have been suspended — while two of the countries largest ports have stopped operations. meanwhile authorities in pakistan say they are evacuating nearly 100,000 people. the country is still recovering from devastating floods last year. we have correspondents in both countries. iamon i am on the seaside of karachi right now where the evacuation process of the residence continues as the city braces itself for the cyclone. 0n continues as the city braces itself for the cyclone. on my way to the seaside, huge billboards have been removed by the administration. city admin has also said 500 buildings across karachi are completely dilapidated and sensitive to heavy rain. also, the minister of climate change also held a press conference and has confirmed around 64,000 people have been evacuated from the coastal belt of the province and also said more evacuations

will take place before the cyclone hits. it's likely the effects of this cyclone will be felt more severely in the indian gujarat.— felt more severely in the indian gu'arat. . , :: 11:11: indian gujarat. nearly 50,000 people evacuated _ indian gujarat. nearly 50,000 people evacuated from - indian gujarat. nearly 50,000 people evacuated from the - people evacuated from the coastal belt of the western indian state of gujarat and taken to indian state of gujarat and ta ken to safer indian state of gujarat and taken to safer areas. we are currently at the port which is the location whether cyclone is expected to make landfall thursday evening company by wind speeds nearly 90 miles per hour and also heavy rainfall. conditions which will be remaining in this area for at least two days according to the indian met department. this place is usually bustling with activity, predominantly inhabited by the fishing community but also evacuated from this area. relief teams are over here in prepositioning various areas, and when we speak to people, there is a sense of resilience and resignation. we've seen that kind of situation pay—out and it also brings back memories of the cyclone that hit the same region in 1998 which led to the

loss of nearly 10,000 lives. this is however going to be one of the strongest cyclones to hit the state of gujarat in the last 25 years. it also happens to be the indian prime minister's home state of the state machinery is really being put to test. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bringing you different stories from across the uk. manish shah is a boy with a big plan to help the environment. i’m help the environment. i'm hoinu help the environment. i'm heping to _ help the environment. in hoping to continue this throughout my entire life. he has been _ throughout my entire life. he has been raising money, but he wants to pick up the pace to fund solar panels for the school. i fund solar panels for the school. , ., �* ., ., school. i 'ust don't want our school. i just don't want our school to — school. i just don't want our school to just _ school. i just don't want our school to just create - school. i just don't want our school to just create carbon | school to just create carbon dioxide. school to 'ust create carbon dioxide. ., ., dioxide. today, as part of the big green _ dioxide. today, as part of the big green week, _ dioxide. today, as part of the big green week, he _ dioxide. today, as part of the big green week, he got - dioxide. today, as part of the big green week, he got the l big green week, he got the support of bbc actor and radio host, kel spelman, who spoke at a special school assembly. fine

a special school assembly. one of my greatest _ a special school assembly. one of my greatest joys _ a special school assembly. one of my greatest joys in all the work— of my greatest joys in all the work i — of my greatest joys in all the work i have done around the planet — work i have done around the planet is_ work i have done around the planet is working with young peorrle. _ planet is working with young people, and they really are my biggest — people, and they really are my biggest source of hope and inspiration.— biggest source of hope and inspiration. the boy has the su ort inspiration. the boy has the sunport of _ inspiration. the boy has the sunport of his _ inspiration. the boy has the support of his mates - inspiration. the boy has the support of his mates who i inspiration. the boy has the - support of his mates who make up support of his mates who make up the school's first eco committee. together they have planted a wild flower committee. together they have planted a wildflower meadow, apple trees and a whole school recycling project is under way. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you are watching bbc news. members of the european parliament have approved a draft voluntary code of conduct, to regulate artificial intelligence. the rules are designed to limit risks to individuals' rights and critical infrastructure, while fostering innovation, in everything from self—driving cars to chatbots. eu lawmakers hope to have legislation in place by the end of the year. the law now heads to the european council, for approval by members states' governments. if enacted, it could set the standard for worldwide regulation of ai. the law would regulate ai

according to the level of risk — riskier uses of ai would have stronger regulations around them. the proposed high—risk list includes areas like education, hr, migration and infrastructure. ai in the highest—risk categories would be assessed on its poentital to harm health, safety, human rights and the environment. so—called generative ai technologies, like chatgpt, which write words or code, or create art, would have special requirements. in particular, they must have a way of informing users that a machine, not a human, produced the content. earlier, i spoke with marietje schaake, a former member of the european parliament who now heads the stanford university institute for human—centered ai. thank you again forjoining us on bbc news. the eu parliament has passed the ai act. how important do you think these regulations are? i important do you think these regulations are?— regulations are? i think it's very important. _ regulations are? i think it's very important. the - regulations are? i think it's very important. the eu -

regulations are? i think it's very important. the eu is l regulations are? i think it's. very important. the eu is an important economic and political bloc, and it is the first of really advanced ai laws in the democratic world, so i think the world is watching how the eu is going to manage this rapidly evolving technology, with generative ai as its latest, deeply impactful technology, so, yes, ithink the law, once it is in force and enforced will be a game changer. and enforced will be a game chanaer. ., , changer. how will this legislation _ changer. how will this legislation regulate i changer. how will this - legislation regulate generative ai, like chatgpt, like you just mentioned? 50 ai, like chatgpt, like you 'ust mentioned?i mentioned? so the european parliament — mentioned? so the european parliament had _ mentioned? so the european parliament had the _ mentioned? so the european l parliament had the opportunity to update the draft that was presented to incorporate the underlying models on which generative ai is trained, and to put obligations on the companies to make sure that those are in line with the risk—based approach that the eu takes. so, for example, there are regulations for seeing through this law that prevents the most risky impact of ai, including generative ai come on people's lives. so, for example, if there is an impact

on people's freedom, like on recidivism or people's freedom, or someone has access to social benefits or employment, this is considered high risk, and in the case of generative ai, that could be considered high risk for example when it is used by social media companies to steer people in their behaviour, when it comes to advertising and online purchases. so it comes to advertising and online purchases.— it comes to advertising and online purchases. so this will have some — online purchases. so this will have some serious _ online purchases. so this will. have some serious implications for companies that are using generative ai, like google, microsoft, 0penai, that is the company behind chatgpt, and in may, the 0penai ceo sam altmann had initially made the threat to leave the eu if it becomes too hard to comply with the eu rules. he has since walked that back but you think these companies will comply with these rules?— companies will comply with these rules? , ., ., these rules? they will have to. i don't think— these rules? they will have to. i don't think companies - these rules? they will have to. i don't think companies always | i don't think companies always do so with a big smile, but it is very normalfor do so with a big smile, but it is very normal for companies to be bound by laws, and i expect that these big tech companies that these big tech companies that we already know, you mention microsoft, google,

matter, of course, because otherwise they won't have access to the eu markets, even if it might have sounded tough on the part of sam altmann. what you think it will take to set global standards beyond the eu, especially with countries like china also developing europe —— developing ai and using facial recognition software?— using facial recognition software? . ., software? that is a great example _ software? that is a great example of— software? that is a great example of where - software? that is a great example of where the . software? that is a great - example of where the european approach, which seems to —— seeks to limit and even do away with facial recognition and these types of artificial intelligence is completely different where it is actually used by the state to have maximum control over people in the society. so i don't think we can expect all countries in the world to agree. it would be hugely appointed —— important for like—minded countries to agree. there are discussions going on in the g7 but at the same time i think more

countries in the global south should be included for this to be legitimate and truly carrying a global impact. pare carrying a global impact. are ou carrying a global impact. are you concerned _ carrying a global impact. are you concerned how bad non—state bad actors might use this technology? {iii bad actors might use this technology?— bad actors might use this technology? bad actors might use this technolo: ? , , ., technology? of course we should be concerned _ technology? of course we should be concerned how— technology? of course we should be concerned how non-state - be concerned how non—state actors use this, on the one hand there is the non—governmental powerful non—state actors but other than that, terrorist groups, criminal organisations are always using technologies in smart ways to achieve their political or criminal goals, and we should expect them to use the technologies that are available to them, and we've seen for example that it is more easy to write convincing e—mails that may persuade people to click on a link, for example, that contains bad scripts to defraud people, or mislead them otherwise. in the same worry exists about disinformation, in the context of democratic integrity, where it would be so much easier to present all kinds of content in

a convincing way, in a diverse way, so it is not coffee based on very obvious that it is a botnet, with the help of generative ai, which could seriously undermine trust in democracy, in what we see with our own eyes, because you probably already seen synthetically generated photos that are quite convincing. the same can be done with text and soon voice. and so we have a really unprecedented situation, where even people in company say they worry about the survival of democracy. and yet they continue to build the very technologies and push them out into the market that could actually exacerbate this threat to democracy.— to democracy. final question, there is a _ to democracy. final question, there is a study _ to democracy. final question, there is a study from - to democracy. final question, | there is a study from mckinsey global institute out, that predicts that generative artificial intelligence will add up to $4.4 trillion of value to the global economy every year. do you think we are focusing too much on the risks of ai, and not enough on the benefits that it could provide? arc this to me sounds a bit

like a spreadsheet exercise, because there are other studies that really worry about job displacements, and if you take a long horizon, you can sort of glance over what happens in the interim, and if there is a period of significantjob loss, insecurity, threats to the livelihood of artists, for example, then i think we should notjust go with a macro sum of trillions added to the economy, we should really not see this as an economic story only but very much as a human story, and there is a lot of uncertainty and job displacement that is actually predicted, so obviously i hope the pie will get bigger but there is a real concern about how it will be divided, and i think it is important from a political point of view and also from a democratic survival point of view that concerns are taken seriously. it is good to be cautious. we have learned the painful lessons in responding far too late to the threats and harms of social media, and those mistakes should not be repeated when it comes to dealing with artificial intelligence.- dealing with artificial intelligence. dealing with artificial intelliaence. ., ~ , ., , intelligence. thank you very much for — intelligence. thank you very much forjoining _ intelligence. thank you very

much forjoining us. - in other news, just hours after appearing in federal court, former us president donald trump raised roughly two million dollars — sources tell cbs news. the trump campaign announced it raised $6.6 million since the news of his federal indictment broke last week. trump faces 37 felony charges for allegedly keeping and mishandling classified files after he left the white house. in the uk, the conclusion of an investigation on whetherformer prime minister borisjohnson deliberately misled members of parliament on covid guidelines is expected on thursday. johnson is accused of attempting to undermine the privileges committee, just before it publishes its ruling. he claimed another member of parliament also broken he claimed another member of parliament also broke lockdown rules and called for his resignation, a last—ditch "desperate" attempt, sources say. and in the us, a coalition of 17 music publishers is suing twitter. the groups say the platform enables copyright violations

by allowing users to post music without a license, and claims that the problem has only worsened under elon musk�*s leadership. the group is seeking over $250 million in damages. thank you for watching bbc news. hello. the warm weather is set to continue, but you might be thinking more about the rainfall by now. it's notjust our parks and gardens that are desperate for the rain, but, of course, our wildlife, and there is some rain on the horizon. if i show you what's going to be happening over the weekend, well, this low pressure here will continue to push warm air in our direction, but also a lot of moisture, and perhaps more widespread storm clouds than of late. but, again, not everybody�*s going to get the rainfall. hopefully, it will be a little more widespread, and, hopefully, it'll fall at the right time, and not on your barbecue. anyway, let's have a look at the forecast for the short term. so, a lot of clear weather,

first thing in the morning. temperatures will be around the mid—teens at 7am on thursday, and then, basically, it's blue skies, steady as she goes, through the course of the morning and into the afternoon. now, fairweather clouds will be bubbling up, and some of them will form, locally, at least, into a few storm clouds, and we could see some thunderstorms developing around the north and the west highlands. temperatures in glasgow up to 26 celsius, a warm day for northern ireland, too. also, perhaps, one ortwo showers, and the odd rumble of thunder, maybe across wales, maybe the midlands, and also in the southwest of the country, but the vast majority of us are in for another very warm and sunny day, with highs approaching the high 20s. now, here's the weather map for thursday into friday — low pressure to the west and southwest of us is nudging in. it's pushing that energy in, that moisture, those clouds, but you can see there's not too much rainfall, at all. in fact, we'll see a few maybe reaching parts of northern ireland and western areas of the uk. but, again, many of us are in for a dry and very warm day on friday, with temperatures typically in the mid—20s, and noticejust how much warmer it's also getting, because of a change

in the shift in the wind direction, across the north sea coast. now, here's the weekend. that low pressure is much closer to us, but look at that — some storm clouds coming in from the south — and this could bring some appreciable rain, to at least some parts of the country. it's not guaranteed, but i think quite a few of us will get the rainfall, so we'll have to wait till saturday, some of us sunday, and into next week. but in the very short term, it remains very warm, and, of course, very sunny. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. very few actors alive today have has had as remarkable a career as a man about to meet. is gone from working—class dundee and then film and television stardom. brian cox is featured another 100 movies

and played stage roles great acclaim.