we are live in hollywood assessing the impact of this right, and what could happen next. also on the programme... for the benjamin mendy is cleared of charges of rape and attempted rape. —— the footballer benjamin mendy. three, two, one, zero... india launches a mission to the moon aiming to become a leading player on space exploration. and djokovic secures a place in his ninth wimbledon final. you know what it means if the nazis have a bomb. and we talk to director christopher nolan about his latest film about the scientist described as the father of the atomic bomb.

i newsnight tonight, we look into new gas and opportunities for a new green industry. already under way by writers, is expected to bring the us film and television industry to a halt. the union the screen actors guild wants film studios and streaming giants to give its members a better share of profits — as well as assurances about the use of artificial intelligence. in a moment we'll look at the impact that al is already having on film—making — but first our los angeles correspondent sophie long has the latest on the strikes. horns blare actors from bit part players to hollywood's biggest stars have joined those who write their lines on the picket lines.

they say they are fighting an existential threat. it's pretty clear to me just on a very primitive level that if you can take my face, and my body and my voice and make me say or do something that i have no a choice about, it's not a good thing. the studio say they walked away from their historic offer on pay and ground—breaking proposal, protecting them from the use of artificial intelligence. that ground—breaking ai proposal, they proposed that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day's pay and their company should own that scan, their image, their likeness, and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation. some of hollywood's biggest releases have already been affected. production for the next avatar film is now in doubt. season two of hbo's house of the dragon, the game of thrones prequel,

it is also likely to be delayed. and for films already in the can, like disney's haunted mansion, premieres and promotions will be halted. they changed their business model without changing how they compensate the artist. the writers are like, "well, if you are going to stream our shows now, then you have to pay us as if, like usual. and they are like, "no, no, this is new media." we're like, "no, it's no longer new media, it's how we consume television. it's how we consume film. it's through amazon, it's through sony, it's what we do." but some streaming services have yet to turn a profit after spending billions on programming only to watch subscriptions fall. the ceo of disney, bob iger, says the unions have unrealistic expectations and that the strike is very disturbing to him. it will also be disturbing to the californian economy, costing millions of dollars every day and to many thousands of workers in adjacent industries still recovering from the pandemic. they chant

this is the first time the writers and actors have been on strike together in six decades which effectively shuts down the hole industry. there are two main sticking points, what rules should govern the future use of ai, and what share of the profits from the entertainment industry should go to those who create the content? on those who create the content? on those big issues the two sides are nowhere near reaching agreement. this strike could go on for some time. as we've heard, actors are worried about the impact that artificial intelligence will have on their work and livelihoods — and there are similar concerns in other industries. our technology reporterjames clayton explains what's at stake. music plays this isn't tom cruise, it's a deepfake, a very good one at that — made possible with al. artificial intelligence is changing the way

hollywood works, from de—ageing actors like harrison ford in the latest indiana jones film... i'm retired. ..to entirely replacing them. like this, a deepfake of bruce willis in a russian advert speaking russian. he speaks russian but how much money should an actor be paid when an ai version of themselves is used, and who has the artistic rights over how it is used? that technology is so new, it's not entirely clear. we all remember the winter... this short film, the frost, released recently, is entirely generative ai. no actors were used. but the firm behind the movie say that without ai, the film wouldn't have been made at all. there is no way, right, that our team is going to have the budget to go out to antarctica and shoot this, so i think that it does open up a lot of possibilities, you know, in that sense, it's kind of reminiscent of cgi and things that wouldn't have been possible or would have

taken an enormous budget to do in a previous era. not as an expert, but as a concerned citizen... and then there are voice clones, generative ai has made it incredibly easy to copy or mimic a celebrity's voice. i believe that mankind has looked at climate change in that same way, as if it were a fiction. finally, writers worry that programmes like chatgpt could be used to write scripts. productions may need fewer writers in the future. it's not better than what we have been doing, it's not magical. there is nothing magical about it. it is to save people money. that's it. the driving force behind generative ai is greed. chanting: shut it down! acting isn't the only industry that al is threatening. get used to more protests like this in the future. james clayton, bbc

news, san francisco. the footballer benjamin mendy has been cleared of rape, following a three week trial at chester crown court. the footballer benjamin mendy has been cleared of rape, following a three week trial at chester crown court. the former manchester city player had been accused of raping one young woman and the attempted rape of another. he was found not guilty on both counts, as laura trant reports. benjamin mendy left court today after breaking down in tears as the not guilty verdicts were read out. this is the second time that mr mendy has been tried and found not guilty by the jury. he is delighted that both juries reached the correct verdict. the french international footballer and world cup winner would have faced a lengthyjail sentence if convicted, but after a three—week trial at chester crown courts, the jury took three hours and 15 minutes before reaching their conclusion. the 28—year—old was accused of attacking a 24—year—old

woman at his £4 million home in mottram st andrew in cheshire in october 2020. he was also accused of attacking a 29—year—old woman who said he also molested her at his home two years before. benjamin mendy told the jury of six women and six men that any sexual activity was consensual. the footballer, whose contract with manchester city expired this month, was cleared at the earlier trial injanuary of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault relating to four young women are teenagers. his lawyer today said he now wanted to ask for his privacy to be respected so he can begin rebuilding his life. laura trant, bbc news. the wife of a vulnerable disabled man and his carer have been sent to prison, after keeping him in squalid conditions for four years. in what's thought to be the first prosecution of its kind,

sarah somerset—how and george webb were convicted of holding a man in slavery and sentenced to 11 years. tom somerset—how, who has cerebral palsy, was in court to see the pair sentenced. duncan kennedy has this report. tom somerset how was determined to be incorrect to watch his tormentors being sentenced. they wear his own wife, sarah, and his character, george webb. the pair of them became lovers and, in effect, tom's jailers. speaking to the bbc, tom, who has cerebral palsy, and is nearly blind, said he can never forgive them. there is no retribution that will ever equalise what they have done to me. as far as george goes, because he was a carer, he should never, ever have the opportunity to do this to anybody again.

tom's ordeal took place in this bungalow in chichester. his wife sarah and george webb gradually taking complete control of his life. they took away his electronic devices, to limit his contact with the outside world. they left them stranded in his bed, on one occasion, for more than a month. he wasn't able to showerfor weeks on end and couldn't brush his teeth for more than a year. tom couldn't escape the squalor, his food on this day, a box of sliced bread. there was one point, for example, where i didn't get showered in five weeks. i looked as bad as i felt. in terms of the toll it's taken, it's completely and utterly destroyed me. sussex police discovered the filthy conditions tom was held in after he finally managed to alert a friend. today, sarah somerset and george webb were both jailed for 11 years, convicted under the highly unusual

charge of holding a person in slavery or servitude. detectives believe it is the first time the law has been used in this way. when it was looked at the amount of time that tom had been there, how he was contained in the room and how everything was just taken away from him, so that's why it came to this more serious case rather than a neglect case. it was unique? yes, yes, very unique. what is your reaction to the verdict? i couldn't ask for a better verdict, all things considered, justice has finally been served. times as he is now rebuilding his life away from those who exploited his vulnerability behind the walls of his own home. the international criminal court has begun an investigation into evidence of war crimes in sudan. three months of fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary group has plunged the country into chaos. thousands of people have been killed and about three million driven from their homes. the capital, khartoum,

has seen much of the fighting, but the focus of the war crimes investigation is the western region of darfur, where there is evidence of atrocities including the massacre of civilians and the use of rape as a weapon of war. our correspondent barbara plett usher reports. killed in their own home, 11 members of one family, including a child. this video was posted by the health ministry two weeks ago, the an air on a neighbourhood near khartoum. the war has blocked endless misery and death are the people of sudan. as fighting continues, reports of abuses amount. many of the victims are women and girls. more and more are women and girls. more and more are being sexually assaulted. most have said that rapists belong to the

paramilitary rsf which is fighting the army. this woman heads the government unit monitoring violence against women. government unit monitoring violence against women-— against women. what is happening is... the rsf denies it sanctions rate. it promotes itself as a protector of women. in slickly produced videos that show it aiding civilians. the prosecutor of the international criminal court told the bbc that he is taking on the case. find criminal court told the bbc that he is taking on the case.— is taking on the case. and i will not hesitate _ is taking on the case. and i will not hesitate to _ is taking on the case. and i will not hesitate to make _ is taking on the case. and i will. not hesitate to make applications is taking on the case. and i will- not hesitate to make applications to the judge of the icc if i not hesitate to make applications to thejudge of the icc if i am satisfied that we have a strong, reliable case, and that is a realistic prospect of conviction because i am not going to move in line with the chorus of noise or

condemnation, we have to have evidence. is condemnation, we have to have evidence. , , ., condemnation, we have to have evidence-— condemnation, we have to have evidence. , , ., . , evidence. is focusing on the western re . ion evidence. is focusing on the western reuion of evidence. is focusing on the western region of darfur, _ evidence. is focusing on the western region of darfur, but _ evidence. is focusing on the western region of darfur, but many _ evidence. is focusing on the western | region of darfur, but many witnesses across the border into chad, leaving across the border into chad, leaving a wave of beatings, burnings and killings, blaming arab militias linked to the rsf. in this town black african resident said arab fighters attacked in may. the rsf claims it is not involved in tribal conflicts. investigators say otherwise. conflicts. investigators say otherwise-— conflicts. investigators say otherwise. ~ ,. , ,, otherwise. we describe the rsf in full uniform _ otherwise. we describe the rsf in full uniform securing _ otherwise. we describe the rsf in full uniform securing access - otherwise. we describe the rsf in full uniform securing access to - full uniform securing access to neighbourhoods, working in tandem with arab militias in that attack in groups of five, ten, 15 soldiers. the people of darfur are victims of a new conflict that is embedded in old ethnic tension was that unless there is accountability, it will continue. now a look at some other stories making the news today. the actor kevin spacey has denied

using his power as a hollywood star to get people into bed, as he continued to give evidence in his trial over sexual assault allegations. he told the jury at southwark crown court he could have had sex "all the time" but his fame made it hard to trust people and that made him feel "lonely" on occasion. he denies all the charges. london could be at risk of a serious measles outbreak, according to the uk health security agency. low rates of vaccination compared with other parts of britain, and compounded by the pandemic, may mean up to 160,000 measles cases. parents are being urged to check their children are up to date with theirjabs. nearly 1,000 workers at london's gatwick airport will go on strike towards the end of this month and again in august amid a pay dispute between the unite union and four employers. the timing means the busy summer holiday season will be affected. tenants, young people and single

parents are among the people being hardest hit by the rising cost of living, according to new analysis by the office for national statistics. our business correspondent marc ashdown has been looking at the details. the ons spoke to 15,000 people in england, scotland and wales between february and may. they asked questions like whether they could afford a sudden one—off expense of £850, had they been unable to save, had they upped their borrowing, and were energy bills a struggle. a quarter of adults said yes to three or more of those, so they're considered financially vulnerable. but certain groups appear to be struggling more than others. when it comes to housing costs, 43% of tenants said they had difficulty affording to pay their rent. butjust 28% of mortgage holders are struggling with their repayments.

for food, there are some worrying findings. one in 20 adults, that's 5%, said they had run out of food in the past two weeks. that rose to 28% for a parent living on their own with at least one child and to 45% for those receiving help from a charity. this survey shows that age and ethnicity are both factors too. younger people aged between 2a and 35 and the most likely to be struggling with bills. so too are people from black, african, asian, and caribbean backgrounds. almost everyone surveyed said their cost of living was rising, but this shines a light on just how much more difficult some people are finding it to afford their bills. the bbc website has a section called tackling it together, with plenty of advice and money saving tips. next week sees a by—election in three westminster seats — all constituencies currently held by the conservatives. voting will take place on thursday

for new mps in the southwestern seat of somerton and frome, in west london, in borisjohnson's old seat of uxbridge and south ruislip, and in the constituency of selby and ainsty. our political editor, chris mason, will report for us from each contest, beginning in north yorkshire. this contest in north yorkshire will be a measure of how well or not labour are doing and how badly or not the conservatives are doing. the tories have won here with big, even whopping majorities over the last decade, but this race feels really competitive between westminster�*s two big parties and plenty of others are standing, too. the by—election is happening because the former mp,

a conservative and a friend of borisjohnson's, packed it in when he did. and it now means that politicians of every colour have some persuading to do. it's the honesty in politics, i think. we need the honesty and i think people are upset by that. i think maybe people are not voting like they used to do because of that, because i don't think they feel that their vote matters any more, because there's just no truth in politics, so what's the point? years ago, i couldn't wait to get to a polling station to cast my vote. now i'm thinking, well, who do i vote for? i know what they're saying, but what are they going to do? it's all bunkum, really, to be quite honest, isn't it? privately, labour acknowledge this isn't a part of the world they've campaigned in much in recent years, such has been the conservative lead. but they reckon the tory vote might be crumbling. the tories, for their part, hope that keir starmer isn't the voter magnet that labour hope that he might be. so will those who've often voted conservative in the past not vote at all or switch directly to labour? and what will be the issues

that determine how or whether people vote? it'll probably affect young people, to be fair. because there's nothing around here for them. nhs — it's like we were at the hospital the other night and we were waiting for ages to get seen. so there's not really much being put into anything. i think we need more representative in the north. there's too much happens in london. is it, then, that even though politicians fall over themselves to talk about the north of england, that perhaps those folk in london still don't really get it? no, they don't. you know, i've got an nhs dentist, but i've got friends in the area that have spent years trying to get onto a list. people are suffering, you know. sometimes i'll go round my neighbour's and she's got really bad toothache and i'm like, "go to a dentist", but she can't. given how things are economically, are there grounds for you to be optimistic about the future? yeah, i think i can. i mean, at the moment, when you're looking back in history, there's always ups and downs. the only way is up from now.

for labour to win a general election, they have to do astonishingly well. and yet they could win that election without winning seats like this. so little wonder an increasing number of conservatives are rather gloomy. if they manage to hold on here, it would raise their spirit. for labour, victory here would be a colossal achievement. chris mason there, and we'll have reports from each area where there's a byelection over the coming days. india has launched its third mission to the moon, aiming to land a craft on the lunar surface and to establish itself as a leading player in space exploration. the lander is due to reach the moon around 23rd august. our india correspondent arunoday mukharji watched blast off from the island of sri harikota in the bay of bengal. india, aiming for the moon a third time.

chandrayaan—3, an unmanned mission, is to land on the lunar surface and create history. this mission is also india's attempt to launch itself into an elite orbit of nations. if indian scientists do manage to achieve that soft landing on the lunar surface, india will become only the fourth nation in the world to have achieved that feat, up there with the likes of the us, china and russia. success or failure, we won't know till late august, when the landing is scheduled. but for now, scientists are optimistic. congratulations, india. we have already put chandrayaan—3 craft into the precise orbit around earth... four years ago, a setback in the moon mission had dented india's space ambitions. prime minister narendra modi consoled indian scientists after a vehicle crash—landed on the lunar surface. and those risks remain even today.

anything can happen for the failures, from software to communication to the temperatures there. because the landing itself is being tried where the sun is not there, where all the batteries, where all the equipment have to operate in very, very adverse conditions. but the challenges up in space haven't dampened spirits on ground. translation: we were not deterred by our past failure. _ we moved on and have proved to the world that we don't need to depend on any other country. the mission to the moon is notjust carrying india's space ambitions, but also the hopes of millions of its people. arunoday mukherjee, bbc news, the sriharikota launching facility, tennis, and novak djokovic is through to his ninth wimbledon singles final. on sunday, he will face spain's carlos alcaraz, who's in his first. andy swiss reports.

smiling into another final. yet for novak djokovic, it was a triumph not without tension. he took the first set againstjannik sinner. but then... well, just listen carefully. he grunts. hindrance! the umpire thought djokovic's grunt had put off his opponent and he was docked a point. he still won the second set, and in the third, after saving break points, one fan who'd annoyed him got this response. but for all the theatrics, the win was emphatic. game, set and match djokovic... djokovic now has the chance to equal roger federer�*s eight titles here. at the age of 36, still seemingly unstoppable. i try not to look at the age as as a hindrance. ifeel, yeah. 36 is the new 26, i guess, you know, it feels good.

well, remarkably, novak djokovic hasn't lost a match here on centre court for more than a decade. but to maintain that record on sunday, he'll have to beat the sport's new sensation. carlos alcaraz is only 20, but he is the world number one. and daniil medvedev found out why — alcaraz sealing a straight—sets win with one of the points of these championships. unbelievable finish! and while it's djokovic next, he's ready. it's a final, it's not time to be afraid, it's no time to be tired. i will go for it and let's see what happen. it is some final — the prodigy against the legend, and sporting greatness awaits. andy swiss, bbc news, wimbledon.

with that actors' strike in the us likely to halt productions, let's turn to one film that is about to be released — oppenheimer, the story of the scientist often described as the father of the atomic bomb. it's directed by christopher nolan, who's told us he won't write another screenplay until the dispute is resolved. he's been speaking to our culture editor, katie razzall. archive: the first test of the atomic bomb - in the new mexico desert. the test in 1945 was codenamed trinity — an atomic bomb created by scientists working for the us government and used, controversially, to end world war ii. the world will remember this day. now, one of the world's most renowned film directors, christopher nolan, is telling the story of] robert oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist behind the bomb and that test. are we saying there's a chance that when we push that button, we destroy the world? the chances are near zero. "near zero" ?

i became reakenlly interested in exploring that moment, taking the audience to that moment when they made that incredible decision. what do you want from theory alone? zero would be nice. how could you take that on yourself? you know there is a possibility that when you push that button, you might destroy the entire world, and yet they went ahead and pushed it. oppenheimer beliwed they were were in a race with the nazis to create the bomb. making it was a triumph of human ingenuity and science but could also have led to the end of civilisation. here's oppenheimer quoting from hindu scripture in 1965. "now i am become death, the destroyer of worlds." i suppose we all thought that, one way or another. he never apologised for hiroshima and nagasaki, he never expressed individual shame about that. all of his actions post—19115, to me, are the actions of somebody racked by guilt. the film's stars appeared

at the premiere in london last night, but as the news came that actors would be joining writers on the picket lines, they left before the film started. nolan, who writes his own movies, is already on strike. so you will not be writing another film while this strike is on? no, absolutely. and this is not about me, this is aboutjobbing actors, about staff writers on tv programmes trying to raise a family, trying to be able to, you know, keep food on the table. these companies have not yet accommodated how they're going to, in this new world of streaming, pay appropriately. any delay from nolan is a loss to cinema. from a director behind critically acclaimed blockbusters like inception and epics including the second world war drama dunkirk, oppenheimer is his latest movie to take on big themes, and with the film focused on the nuclear arms race, what does he think of the other existential threat to humankind, ai? when you talk to leaders in the field of ai, as i do from time to time, they see this moment right now

as their oppenheimer moment. they're looking to his story to say, "ok, what are our responsibilities?" "how can we deal with the potential of unintended consequences?" if we detonate an atomic device, we might start a chain reaction that...destroys the world. there are ethical lessons for the future in this timely film about a scientific genius whose actions irrevocably changed life on earth. katie razzall, bbc news. time for a look at the weather, here's darren bett. look and feel much like summer at and thun feel and staying on the cool and thun feel much aying on the cool and thun feel much like; on the cool and thun feel much like summer:ool and thun feel much like summer at>l the moment here in the uk, it may the moment here in the uk, it may not be _ not be _ the moment here in the uk, it may no. , ., ., ' the moment here in the uk, it may no. , ., ., ' the moment here in the uk, it may “0! , ., ., ' ., , the moment here in the uk, it may noi , ., ., ' ., , , the moment here in the uk, it may noi , ., ., ' ., , , not be an awful lot better this weekend. _ not be an awful lot better this not be an awful lot better this weekend. _ not be an awful lot better this weekend, because _ not be an awful lot better this weekend, because it - not be an awful lot better this weekend, because it is - not be an awful lot better this weekend, because it is going | not be an awful lot better this l weekend, because _ not be an awful lot better this weekend, because it - not be an awful lot better this weekend, because it is - not be an awful lot better this weekend, because it is going | not be an awful lot better this l weekend, because it is going to not be an awful lot better this - weekend, because it is going to be unusually windy for this time of weekend, because it is going to not be an awful lot better this - weekend, because it is going to be unusually windy for this time of year, and the rain could be heavy year, and the rain could be heavy and thundery and staying on the cool and thundery and staying on the cool

side as well, side as well, chilly today, strongest winds in the south—west, and in cornwall more rain today than