Mark Lowen

Und das ist die Frage jetzt, ob die größten Straßenproteste in über einer Dekade weiter momentumieren können oder ob sie ausfüllen, als nur eine der Herausforderungen, die Präsident Erdogan übernommen oder zerstört hat.

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We've made our way through streets closed off by police and dotted with water cannon trucks to Istanbul City Hall, where for a seventh night huge crowds have gathered, chanting for democracy and against the jailing of Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

His CHP party says this is the last night they'll come here and that the protests, the biggest in Turkey in over a decade, will continue elsewhere, more of a grassroots movement. Wir sehen heute, wie Tausende von Studenten ihre Klassen beurteilt haben und in Zentral-Istanbul gefeuert haben.

Die Verbrechung hat sich in Dörfern anderer Städte verbreitet, die den Präsidenten Erdogans Autoritärenismus beurteilen. Er hat es gegründet, schrecklich. Mark Lowen in Turkey.

it's quite difficult to transcend the horror genre I think I made a film that may or may not be a horror film but the horror genre tends to overshadow what the films are actually about I think The Substance is a rare case where it kind of cuts through and I think that's why it's getting the recognition I think

I constantly have conversations with people who say they don't like horror films, and then they will say things like that their favorite films are shining. I remember speaking to somebody who said to me that they didn't like horror, but they loved Fire Walk With Me, the David Lynch film. And I said, well, that's a horror film. And they said, well, no, it's a David Lynch film.

So another example of transcending the genre. Horror is such a huge genre. And what's exciting about the substance is I think it's got a broad appeal, the substance. But also what is great about the substance getting nominated is it is a body horror, technically, which is traditionally one of the more unpalatable forms of horror.

The more palatable forms of horror, I think, are kind of psychological horror. But a body horror to cut through, I think that is a big change.

Towering over A Coruña's diminutive mayor, the two heroes of the hour looked bashful, a bit overawed even, as they were praised for their altruism.

This was Ibrahima Diak's response to his award.

The two men were the only ones to intervene in July 2021, when a young gay man called Samuel Luiz was brutally attacked outside a nightclub in Acronia. He later died of his injuries. Footage from the night showed bystanders filming the assault on their phones, while some of the attackers shouted homophobic abuse.

The two migrants also helped convict four men who were jailed for the killing last year. Akarunya's mayor, Ines Rey, said that the fact two undocumented migrants were the only people to step in to help Mr Luiz left, as she put it...

Electronic Music was a very new thing in the late 1950s. It had been pioneered in Germany, a studio in Cologne by their broadcaster. And another one in Paris, making sounds from music concrete, which is found sounds, sounds recorded from life or electronic sources.

And Daphne Oram and Desmond Briscoe at the BBC, they were studio managers of Broadcasting House, they were very interested in this stuff and felt the BBC should get involved. And the BBC wasn't really interested in electronic music, but what they were interested in was new ways of producing sound effects for, you know, radio drama on the third program.

And so that's how the Radiophonic Workshop came about, you know, creating the sounds of, well, the thoughts of a man sitting in his bath, rubbing his back with a loofah, for instance, and plays such as Private Dreams and Public Nightmares, and eventually, of course, Quatermass and Doctor Who and everything else.

Well, this is a lot of the building blocks from the original archive. The sounds that made up the stuff that we've been listening to all our lives. They've been influencing people like The Orb and Orbital and Pink Floyd and even Prince used a Radiophonic Workshop sample. It's been part of our lives for generations and this is a way of paying back. We've produced this sample library of

Mark Ayres, a current member and archivist of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

I think it's going to be a very painful moment, Olli, even though really I think a lot of people who expected it to happen, because Hamas has long alleged that the Bibas family, or at least Shiri Bibas and her two sons, who were the two youngest hostages taken on the 7th of October, were killed in an Israeli bombardment. Israel has never confirmed that.

But when the hostages started being released, the living hostages, on the 19th of January, If those two boys had been alive, everybody expected them to be in the early release groups and they haven't appeared. So I think that this is kind of the inevitable. And yet it will be extremely painful because, as you say, they have become very much the kind of icons of... Untertitelung des ZDF, 2020

Es scheint so zu sein, ja. Denn zu Beginn planten drei lebendige Flüchtlinge, die am Samstag geöffnet wurden, und das wurde doppelt. Und wir wissen, dass das von Hamas geplant ist, als ein Gedanke von guter Glauben in den Beratungen, die in Kairo wieder anfangen werden, um in die zweite Phase des Flüchtlings zu kommen.

Erinnere dich, dass es letzte Woche so aussah, dass das ganze Flüchtling von einem Strang hängte, als Hamas versuchte, alle Flüchtlinge, äh, die restlichen Flüchtlinge der Flüchtlinge, zu verlassen. Aber es wird von den regionalen Mediatoren zurückgebracht.

Und mit der Eröffnung dieser vier Böden am Donnerstag, dann die sechs lebenden Hostagen am Donnerstag und dann vier weitere Böden nächste Woche, das eröffnet die 33 Hostagen, die in der ersten Phase eröffnet werden müssen.

Die zweite Phase könnte in Theorie beginnen, aber dann wird die zweite Phase des Zerstörers den wirklich, wirklich schwierigen Thema eines israelischen Ausgleichs aus dem Gaza-Strip enthalten. Und innerhalb von Benjamin Netanyahus Kabinett auf der linken Seite, insbesondere, gibt es viel Opposition dazu, von Ministern und tatsächlich Ex-Ministern.

Sie wollen, dass Israel die Krieg in Gaza wiedergibt, sobald die Hostagen verabschiedet werden. Es gibt also keine Voraussetzung, dass sie in Phase 2 weitergehen werden. Aber die Momentum fliegt zurück, bis zu einer Art und Weise.

It is the obligation of every single health professional to treat and care for whomever comes before you. The idea that you would single out a particular group in our community and indicate you wouldn't care for them runs against every single principle in our health care system.

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It seems like a kind of an absurd proposition that one country can just say, I'm going to buy the territory next to me...

Why do you want independence?

I saw that the king of Denmark has changed the coat of arms to make the polar bear of Greenland more prominent. I mean, you know, do most Danes want to keep hold of Greenland, would you say?

What is being part of the Danish Commonwealth? What does it mean in today's Greenland?

Sunday Mass at the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in the heart of the old walled city of Bergamo. Outside, the narrow cobbled streets of Città Alta are packed with day-trippers, but inside, the old rituals still reassure the faithful.

The Sicilian filmmaker Stefano Savona spent months chronicling how people here responded to the pandemic for his award-winning documentary, The Walls of Bergamo.

In March 2020, the health system here was on its knees. You can hear it in the voice of the emergency responder. There aren't any ambulances, the hospitals don't have any oxygen, we have nothing. And the days to come are going to be even worse. Five years on, people are understandably still struggling to make sense of what happened.

Giovanni Cerasoli experienced Covid at first hand, first as a doctor and then seriously ill. as a patient. But through the suffering, he caught glimpses of a better way of being.

The summer after the first devastating wave of Covid passed, they put up a memorial to the victims in Bergamo's main cemetery. 82-year-old Giovanni Mariani Seredo took me to see it.

At 10 o'clock every evening, as the waiters wipe down the tables at the Café del Tasso in Piazza Vecchia, the bell tower across the square rings out 100 times, as it has done since 1656. It's a reminder of the days when the bells would summon people back to the safety of the city. Covid, of course, respected no curfew and paid no heed to the city's stone walls.

Tonight, the big bell sounds like it's tolling for the dead of Bergamo, for Giovanni Mariani's dead friends. and the thousands of others whose loved ones here struggle still to comprehend what happened five years ago today.

This 36 hours away from Canada, the focus is on security, deepening security partnerships with France, with the United Kingdom. I'm encouraged by the progress that's been made. Secondly, advancing the support for Ukraine is very necessary. We are taking back a lot, but we're also taking back a deepening of our core partnerships, which is the objective.

Let's bring in Victor Pinero from the Dominican Republic. Victor, the film Emilia Perez, which Zoe Saldana won the Oscar for, it's about a Mexican cartel leader who transitions into a woman. And Zoe Saldana gave quite a strong affirmation of her Dominican heritage. She said, I am the proud child of immigrant parents with dreams, dignity and hardworking hands.

So what does it mean to the Dominican Republic to have this triumph at the Oscars?

The Tour de France is not the biggest bike race on earth. It's the biggest annual sporting event on earth. And what the Tour de France showcases as well is the beauty of the place. And what better place to show that than Edinburgh? I think the helicopter shots, the motorbike shots, wherever you're going to have a camera, it's going to showcase this incredible city.

still to come. The Tour de France is not the biggest bike race on Earth. It's the biggest annual sport event on Earth. And what the Tour de France showcases as well is the beauty of a place. And what better place to show that than Edinburgh?

They understood that there is a market for this, and you can add cool casting, cool music, cool cars, cool tailoring. They have had their hands on that wheel for a long time. People will say they've been dogmatic or overprotective, but we are here still talking about Bond 64 years later, and I think they will still be looking over the back seat at who's driving.

They have had their hands on that wheel for a long time, but we are here still talking about Bond 64 years later. And I think they will still be looking over the backseat at who's driving.

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We are here on Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, a place that has become very much the focal point of the trauma that Israelis have felt since the 7th of October, those Hamas attacks which killed 1,200 people and in which 250 were taken hostage into Gaza. But the trauma, it is hoped here...

will be somewhat alleviated by the ceasefire deal that was announced last night in the Qatari capital, Doha, between Israel and Hamas, that is due to go into place on Sunday. A ceasefire deal that could also ease the pain and suffering in Gaza, where more than 46,000 people have been killed there, and which would allow the return of some of the displaced people.

to return home to rebuild what is left of their shattered lives. Now, the Israeli cabinet was due to meet to discuss and vote through that deal this morning, but it has been delayed with a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office accusing Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement to try to

to try to extract last-minute concessions, saying that the cabinet will not meet until mediators report that Hamas has accepted all the terms. There has been some pushback from Hamas on that.

Meanwhile, on the ground in Gaza, the destruction continues, and so does the killing with the Gaza civil defence forces, saying that at least 70 people were killed in the last few hours since the ceasefire deal itself was announced.

What's it been like for them being stuck up there for months, especially given the fact that they thought they were going for such a few days?

You've got to be good at small talk.

So what do we know about how they've been dealing with all those months up there?

Still to come. It's a groundbreaking exhibition in many ways because it's the first time that MI5 has collaborated with another institution to tell its history.

It's a groundbreaking exhibition in many ways because it's the first time that MI5 has collaborated with another institution to tell its history. So the aim of the exhibition is to illustrate the history of MI5 from 1909 when it was founded up to modern times.

using a selection of fascinating documents which have been transferred to us from the security service, plus never been seen before objects which they have loaned to us, which reveals some of the paraphernalia of spying.

Yes, well, that lemon incriminated a German spy called Karl Müller. He came to Britain in 1915. He was actually using the lemon for secret writing purposes, lemon juice, invisible ink. And the lemon was actually found in a dressing table drawer in his lodgings when the police and a couple of MI5 officers went round to arrest him.

He was using it to send secret messages in between the lines of an innocuous-looking business letter. A warm eye had been placed over the letter, revealing the secret writing.

Yes, indeed. In the exhibition, there's a dispatch case, which was owned by Guy Burgess, and he left that at the Reform Club in the Pall Mall in London just before he fled to Moscow.

No, they were all removed. In fact, there was another case... which another of the Cambridge spies had picked up, and he'd actually removed a number of incriminating items from that other case. Yes, I mean, it's true. Things didn't always go right for MI5. The exhibition shows the high points and also some of the low points where things didn't go so well.

It's interesting you say that. It's true that MI5 was largely male-dominated for a lot of the time, and only recently has it truly become much more diverse. However, this really interesting document in the exhibition written by Maxwell Knight, he was a legendary spymaster back in the 1930s.

He very much advocates the use of women as agents because he says women have particular qualities of intuition and guile, and they've actually got an advantage over men. And he did put it into practice with a lady called Olga Gray, who was known as Miss X. And she helped to break up the Woolwich Arsenal spy ring a Soviet-inspired thing. So it is interesting.

There is stuff in the exhibition which might confound some expectations, perhaps.

Questions continue to circle around the resilience of Europe's busiest airport, taken out of action for 18 hours by a fire at one electrical substation. Heathrow's chief executive, Thomas Waldbein, said planes could have taken off and landed yesterday, but it was not safe to do so without backup power to critical infrastructure, such as runway lights, fuel systems and air bridges.

He defended the way the crisis had been handled.

Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam has invested heavily in alternative energy supplies to act as a contingency to deal with power outages. With Heathrow recently announcing a multi-billion pound expansion plan, there are calls for it too to prioritise alternative measures to ensure its infrastructure remains robust. with vital freight goods left in limbo for a day.

Business leaders say there had been a financial and reputational impact. One described the UK as a laughingstock. The Government Commission investigation, to include the regulator Ofgem, will look at the full circumstances surrounding the shutdown and consider how the network could be improved.

Oh, yeah, that was an orange tree.

Well, I haven't worked in two years, and it seems very clear there are two things happening. One is the general reduction in production, which we've seen, and that's worldwide. And then there is also seemingly the very conscious offshoring. of production to avoid, it seems to me, avoid union work, union rights and union benefits.

I think it was very unfortunate, and I have been twice on the phone now with President Zelensky, and I told him this. We need to stick together, the United States, Ukraine, and Europe, to bring Ukraine to a durable peace. So we clearly discussed this. We really have to respect what President Trump has done so far for Ukraine. He was the one in 2019 who provided the javelins.

These are lethal weapons. And without the javelins, in 2022, when the full-scale attack started, Ukraine would have been nowhere. Of course, there was the training, particularly done by the UK and others, but it was primarily the javelins which make the table for Ukrainians to fight back. And without, they would not have stand a chance.

So I told him we really have to give Trump credit for what he did then, what America did since then, and also what America is still doing.

Listen, I've spoken for half an hour on Thursday with Donald Trump on the phone with President Trump. We are friends. We have worked for years together. I know he's committed to bring Ukraine to a durable peace. He's committed to NATO. Of course, he expects the European NATO partners in Canada to spend more and to ramp up defence production. He's right there.

You know... Let's move beyond this question because it is crucial that we stay all in this together. The US, Ukraine, Europe, that we bring Ukraine to a peace. This is exactly what President Trump is fighting for. What we all are fighting for. We have to make sure that when a deal is struck, that the deal is lasting. I think Zelensky should find a way to restore his relationship.

with President Trump. That is important going forward. But I know as a fact that the American administration is extremely invested in making sure that Ukraine gets to this durable peace.

For years, researchers into happiness have been losing wallets on purpose. And today, here in Northern Ireland, I'm going to lose some too.

Today is World Happiness Day and also sees the publication of the World Happiness Report, which this year says that places where people think strangers are generally kind, the sort of people who would return a lost wallet, well, those places tend to be happier than places where they don't believe in the kindness of strangers.

So I'm deliberately mislaying ten wallets across Belfast, each with a note asking to call my number if found. So how many of our ten wallets do you think will prompt a phone call? Are you more pessimistic than you need to be about the kindness of strangers? The academic guru of lost wallets says most people are, and that seriously damages community well-being.

Where did you find it? Wallet finders across Belfast have started calling me. Well, you're very kind. Why did you return it? You could have just taken the money.

So I dropped 10 wallets on the streets of Belfast. So how many do you think were offered back to me by kind strangers? Well, the answer is all 10. While our wallet experiment is not scientific, it does back up the evidence. Strangers are kinder than we think. So happy World Happiness Day, everyone.

I'm deliberately mislaying ten wallets across Belfast, each with a note asking to call my number if found. So how many of our ten wallets do you think will prompt a phone call?

There were reports that started to come in that Hamas said it was delivering the coffin containing the body of Shiri Bibas. We've now had confirmation from the Red Cross quoted in the Israeli media that they have received a coffin from Hamas and that they are transporting it to Israeli authorities. The Red Cross is the organisation which collects

the hostages both dead and alive over the last few weeks of the ceasefire agreement. That coffin will now be transferred to the Forensics Institute here in Israel for identification. There has not yet been a confirmation from the Israeli Defence Forces, I have to say. We are waiting for comment from Israel. They said that they are looking into the reports.

but a spokesman to the Israeli media from the Red Cross saying that they have received a coffin.

Now, for the Bibas family, the turmoil just goes on because it is just a matter of hours, really, or a space of a day, since they were told by the Israeli Forensics Authority that the body that Hamas claimed was that of Shiri Bibas, which was investigated by the forensics teams yesterday night in Israel. actually was not that of Mrs. Bibas, but indeed was an unidentified Gazan woman.

Hamas blamed what it called an unfortunate mistake for that and suggested that there had been a mix-up in remains under the rubble in Gaza. But you can imagine the kind of emotional rollercoaster and the whirlwind that the Bibas family are on, waiting to see if indeed this body, if it comes here to Israel, is confirmed to be that of Shiri Bibas.

Personally, I've been clear, the ministers behind me, I think to an individual, when asked, have been clear that we will never, ever, in any way, shape or form, be part of the United States. America is not Canada. Look at the ceremony we just had. You could not have had that ceremony in America. Look at the cabinet behind me. You do not have that cabinet in America. We are very different.

fundamentally different country. So irrespective of any issues economically, fundamentally to our core, to our identity, one reason why we have a minister of Canadian identity and culture. So before we get to the economics of it, we won't be part of it.

And when we get to the economics, and the president is a successful business person and dealmaker, we're his largest client in so many industries. And clients expect respect and working together in a proper commercial way. So the nature of Canada means we won't. The economics means we shouldn't.

And what you will see from this government is focusing on building here at home, building with different partners abroad, and that will reinforce the point. We're doing it for our own reasons, to be clear, for our own people, for the high-paying jobs. But eventually the truth will out and the Americans will understand as well. Thank you.

Also in this podcast... We will never, ever, in any way, shape or form, be part of the United States. America is not Canada.

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The three released hostages have just spent their first night of freedom in the wing just right in front of me above the door. And when I'm told that they and their families stayed here overnight, they were given a private room, living room, a private chef as well to cater to their every need.

And even though they had an initial assessment last night, the medical evaluation and the medical tests really in earnest begin today. I'm told that although it appeared that their condition is stable on the outside, of course what is happening inside after 15 months of captivity is altogether less clear.

And so there are extensive medical tests that they will undergo, as well as psychological counselling and trauma counselling.

Emily Damari, who is the British-Israeli Jewel hostage, has just posted a message on Instagram. It appears to be her first message since she was released. On a black background, she thanks God, her family, her girlfriend. She said, you broke my heart with excitement with your support.

And she said that she has returned to her beloved life and she's called herself the happiest person in the world, which is pretty extraordinary words for somebody who has... Just spent 15 months in captivity in Gaza.

The scenes that we saw last night when they were reunited with their families, Emily Damari, Romy Goenen and Doron Steinbrecher, all three of them, were, I mean, they were clearly, there was a mixture of overwhelming joy, they were weeping, there was an immense amount of relief.

But I was also struck, Jackie, by the pictures of their release in Gaza because the cars that they were travelling in were just surrounded by Hamas fighters. There was a frenzy of Hamas gunmen all around them with machine guns in the air and balaclavas.

And it was very much a clear message from Hamas that despite Benjamin Netanyahu's, Israeli Prime Minister's, stated aim of the total annihilation of Hamas... Over 15 months of war, yes, Hamas has been severely weakened, but they are still very much there. And I think that that was a very clear message from them, a kind of PR message that they are determined to have a stake in Gaza's future.

They are still the dominant part there and they have not been destroyed.

Yes, I mean, the fact that yesterday, in the end, passed off successfully after an albeit almost three-hour delay in the ceasefire coming into place, with the release of the Israeli hostages and then the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners late into the night, is the model that will now be followed every week of the first week phase of the ceasefire agreement, with three or four hostages at least every weekend.

in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners. And, you know, clearly it can work, as we saw yesterday. But it is still fragile.

And on day 16 of that first six-week phase, the two warring sides will start to negotiate the next phase of the ceasefire deal, which will be the release of the remaining living Israeli hostages and Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and discussions on Gaza's future. So those are very, very difficult issues. There will be extreme disagreement over that.

And there are fissures within the Israeli government over... the plans for Israel's complete withdrawal from Gaza. So, you know, plenty of obstacles and stumbling blocks to come, but a moment of relief and a moment of hope as the ceasefire deal got underway yesterday.

I want to ensure that France and the whole of Europe works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries, determined like you to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States. Canada is a reliable ally.

trustworthy and strong partner of France which shares our values and lives them through action during this age of economic and geopolitical crises.

What happens then? So you and the other experts put forward a dossier of what you think is the evidence. And then who decides? Is it the Van Gogh Museum who has the final say?

If it does turn out to be genuine, how significant would this be? I mean, it's quite a find, isn't it?

It was quite an adventure, Alex, I have to say. Not exactly the way that I would have liked my time in Turkey to end. I arrived in Istanbul last Sunday to cover the ongoing anti-government protests after the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, nine days ago.

On Wednesday afternoon, the phone in the room rang and it was the hotel receptionist saying, Mr. Lowen, we would like to discuss something urgently with you in person, could you please come down? Und als ich hergekommen bin, habe ich drei verabschiedete Polizisten getroffen, die mich auf die Polizeistation in Istanbul, der Hauptstadt, wo ich für sieben Stunden gehalten wurde, getroffen.

Ich war ermöglicht, ein paar meiner Kollegen dort zu haben. Und ich war ermöglicht, Lawyer zu treffen und ein bisschen Kommunikation mit dem Außenwelt zu haben. Dort war die Atmosphäre relativ kordial. Ein paar der Polizisten haben mich geholfen und gesagt, ich bin sorry, das ist der Staat, der das tut. Wir glauben nicht in das und du bist ein guter Mann, wir wollen, dass du frei bist.

Und dann, nach sieben Stunden, wurden meine Kollegen ausgeführt und ich wurde zu den zweiten von drei Plätzen genommen, dem Foreigner-Custody-Departement der Istanbuler Polizei.

wo ich für fünf Stunden gehalten wurde und dort wurde die Attitüde ein wenig verärgert und ich wurde fingergeprintet und dann ein Papier gegeben, um 2.30 Uhr morgens nach zwölf Stunden, zu sagen, dass ich ein Threat zur öffentlichen Ordnung war und dass ich verabschiedet werden würde.

Und dann wurde ich zu einer dritten Location genommen, das war die Foreigner-Custody-Unit im Flughafen, für noch fünf Stunden und um 8 Uhr morgens wurde ein Deportationsflug zurück nach London verabschiedet.

Genau. In der Tat habe ich jemanden gesprochen, der den Tag bevor ich verhaftet wurde, der sagte, dass sie alle ihre Gesichter auf einer Universitätssitzung-Proteste beobachten. Und ich sagte zu ihnen, warum beobachtest du deine Gesichter?

Und sie sagten, weil die Polizei zu unseren Häusern kommt, um sechs Uhr morgens, ohne Warnung und verhaftet uns und versucht herauszufinden, wer in diesen Protesten teilnimmt. Und sicher genug, am nächsten Tag, das ist, was sie mir gemacht haben, obwohl es nicht um sechs Uhr morgens war. Und ich muss sagen, ich wurde nie verletzt, auch wenn die ganze Erfahrung relativ unglücklich war.

Ich habe einen Blick auf das, was so viele in der Stadt durchgehen. Als ich in Türkei als BBC Istanbul-Korrespondent zwischen 2014 und 2019 lebte, It was the world's biggest jailer of journalists. Turkey ranks 158th of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index of the Watchdog Reporters Without Borders. There has been a progressive clampdown on the media, free speech and other tenets of democracy.

I had the full support of the BBC behind me, the British Consulate, but so many others don't. And in the protests alone over the last nine days, almost 1,900 people have been detained, including 11 journalists. So this was very much a taste of what many others in the country are experiencing, albeit in a much more dramatic way.

What is the Turkey that you want? Democracy, like pure democracy, as everyone wants. Do you feel that this time it could be different?

It is galvanising the side of Turkey that feels stifled by President Erdogan's authoritarian rule. And they say they are not going to leave these streets until Imamoglu is out of jail and Erdogan is out of power.

It's a little bit unclear at the moment just because H&M has admitted that it's not totally sure itself. You know, this is sort of uncharted territory. They admit that they don't have all the details worked out yet. What they do say is that they partnered directly with a number of models and their agencies.

They essentially took a lot of photographs of the models to capture their bodies down to like birthmarks, that sort of thing, as well as their movement patterns. And from that, they're able to use those digital twins, as they call them, to generate AI imagery featuring a realistic image of the model in it.

And... The AI is getting so good that it's become really hard to distinguish between an AI-generated image and a real photo.

Yeah. I mean, if you look at history, when companies have a chance to save money through automation and technology, typically they will do it. We've seen that over and over. H&M says that this is not the main priority. So according to the company, they keep an eye on technology. They see that AI is coming.

And they were trying to think about how they can use AI while protecting the rights of the models. Because in In theory, you know, we've seen other examples of this, like you could just generate images of models without having to involve them. Not necessarily like an exact replica of a human model, but just something that looks like a regular human model, not based on any actual person.

They decided that the best approach, according to them, would be to actually involve the models and to give them rights over their digital twins. So they actually own their digital twin and can decide when they want to use it.

And so according to them, it's a way to try to find sort of a path forward in this new age of AI that allows you to use AI while respecting the rights and jobs of the models.

It does. And even the models themselves. I spoke to the first model who H&M created a digital twin for, and she described it as a little bit bizarre. scary, actually, to look at a picture of herself that wasn't really her. I think the thing that's worth noting is that the AI is getting so good that it's become really hard to distinguish between an AI-generated image and a real photo.

And so in some cases, consumers might look at these things and not even realize they're looking at an AI image. In fact, H&M has said it plans to watermark the images for now to be transparent, to make clear when you're looking at AI.

Windrush has been obviously the big issue as America and the rest of the world has grappled with inflation. Obviously, we had hugely high inflation post the Russian invasion of Ukraine, energy bill spikes, that sort of thing, which makes life very painful for everyone. So I think Donald Trump, they're looking for... some help, really.

If interest rates were to come down, that would help everyone in their pockets. That would help businesses as well. It makes money cheaper to borrow as well. But the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, has always been very circumspect on this. He's very careful with the language he uses. He won't want to stoke any inflationary issues. I think he also reflected there

He was a bit worried about the size of these tariffs, even took them by surprise. So I think, yeah, as ever, Donald Trump wants fast-moving responses, but Jerome Powell, the sort of polar opposite, really. It's slow and steady. They will take all the data, analyse it and work out the path from there.

Well, pretty much as soon as Donald Trump got his massive card out with his tariff menu, there was a fall in US stocks. That continued. We had a massive drop off on all stocks on Wall Street yesterday. Overnight, Asian indexes lost ground, European indexes as well. I mean, the FTSE, for example, the 100 biggest companies in London, now trading at lows not seen for over a year.

So we're not in what you might call crash territory. But certainly in America, a massive sharp decline again on the opening bell this afternoon. The Nasdaq now trading at its lowest point since last May. It's 20% below its December peak, which technically now puts us in what we call bear territory. Donald Trump's message, though, has been this is a short-term pain.

He says it's not a crash, it's a correction. It's these big companies getting used to this new world order. And he is sending out that message loud and clear to Americans that, yes, we could have some short-term pain here, even possibly the R word being raised, recession. We could expect that even potentially. But that will lead to what he sees as a level trading playing field across the world.

creation of better jobs in America, better wages. But I think there's no doubt in the short term, consumers are bracing themselves, like markets, like investors, like governments, for what's to come over the next few days.

Look, in terms of trade tariffs, we haven't seen anything like this since probably the 1930s. An escalating scale of universal tariffs, anything from 10%, for the ones that got off most lightly, up to 50% or so. And this all depends on what Donald Trump sees as the level of trade deficit. In his words, how much America's been ripped off over the years. He wants to level that playing field.

I think the feeling now, the hope among some countries, is Donald Trump has had his big showman moment. He wanted that moment with the big ledger in the Rose Garden. So now the work begins behind the scenes to kind of mitigate the situation to improve those trade terms really for as many countries as possible.

Well, I think, yeah, a day of volatility, to put it lightly. It started out in the Far East, spread across to Europe. And then from the opening bell, really, in America, all the major indices were down. The Nasdaq, very tech-heavy, that one, down 5.5% at one point. Now, I believe 10% is what they call a correction, 20% a bear market. We don't really talk about crashes.

And there is that mantra, isn't it? Shut your eyes. Over time, the stock market will recover. So I think on days like this, the likes of Apple, Amazon, Dell, HP, Nike, Tesla, who saw billions wiped off their values. I think investors, individual and pension funds, will just sort of grit their teeth and hope for the best.

In terms of this wider global recession, I mean, Donald Trump is convinced this short-term pain is going to lead to long-term gain. He said today on his socials that the patient has survived. It will get stronger. So I think his feeling is this has been a successful day. Of course, we do await the retaliation now. from the likes of the EU, the likes of China.

They've promised strong responses to this. In the UK, they've talked about a calm and considered approach, but even here they've published this afternoon this 417-page list of US goods. Potentially they could put tariffs on, so strengthening of their position there. But as I say, they are going to try and hope they can come up with a deal. Mark Ashdown.