:00:09. > :00:22.From here in the World Newsroom, we send out correspondents to bring
:00:23. > :00:24.you the best stories from across the globe.
:00:25. > :00:27.In this week's programme, on the front line in the war
:00:28. > :00:31.Alastair Leithead joins the rangers in central Africa,
:00:32. > :00:36.fighting to save the elephants from the ivory traffickers.
:00:37. > :00:38.30,000 to 40,000 elephants are being killed in Africa every
:00:39. > :00:42.year, and with only around 400,000 left, it's not going to be long,
:00:43. > :00:49.As Saudi Arabia stages what it says is the largest ever military
:00:50. > :00:53.exercise in the region, Frank Gardner is given rare access
:00:54. > :00:58.This airbase in northern Saudi Arabia is currently playing
:00:59. > :01:01.host to a whole variety of war planes from different Muslim
:01:02. > :01:05.nations, and it's the first test of the Saudi-led Islamic coalition.
:01:06. > :01:13.The Iron Lady of Germany's metal is tested.
:01:14. > :01:16.And man versus machine - as a champion player is beaten
:01:17. > :01:18.by a computer, Rory Cellan-Jones asks how concerned we should be
:01:19. > :01:20.about the future of artificial intelligence.
:01:21. > :01:23.This is not about the rise of machines - it is about
:01:24. > :01:27.It's a deadly trade that thrives on Asia's insatiable
:01:28. > :01:33.Every year, 30,000 to 40,000 African elephants are killed
:01:34. > :01:38.for their tusks, and now fewer than half a million are left.
:01:39. > :01:42.Rangers are now virtually fighting a war against the traffickers.
:01:43. > :01:45.The situation is worst in a number of African countries,
:01:46. > :01:49.with the Democratic Republic of Congo amongst the most dangerous.
:01:50. > :01:51.Alastair Leithead joined Rangers in the country's
:01:52. > :01:54.Garamba National Park, on the front line in the battle
:01:55. > :02:02.It's tough terrain in Garamba National Park,
:02:03. > :02:06.where less than 100 Rangers are trying to protect the last
:02:07. > :02:12.of the elephants, across thousands of square miles of grassland.
:02:13. > :02:16.We joined one of their foot patrols, to a place where the poachers last
:02:17. > :02:25.The grass is so high the only way to see a carcass is from the air,
:02:26. > :02:34.Well, this elephant was clearly killed by a poacher.
:02:35. > :02:43.There are another four of these carcasses spread all around
:02:44. > :02:47.They arrived too late to catch the poachers,
:02:48. > :02:51.30,000 to 40,000 elephants are being killed in Africa,
:02:52. > :02:55.and with only around 400,000 left, it's not going to be long at this
:02:56. > :03:06.There are perhaps 1300 elephants left here.
:03:07. > :03:09.Garamba was one of Africa's first national parks,
:03:10. > :03:12.and a World Heritage site, originally set up to protect
:03:13. > :03:16.the northern white rhino, but that has already been wiped
:03:17. > :03:24.Now they are fighting to save the elephants that are left,
:03:25. > :03:30.in a place surrounded by civil war and heavily armed militia.
:03:31. > :03:38.And that's why African Parks, the group managing Garamba,
:03:39. > :03:55.You must just feel like you're fighting a war against poachers?
:03:56. > :03:58.I think Garamba is probably today the forefront of conservation
:03:59. > :04:02.I just don't think there are many other places which have quite
:04:03. > :04:04.so many threats to one park as we have here.
:04:05. > :04:14.This local man was arrested after a tip-off, and ivory recovered.
:04:15. > :04:16.Then reports came in of another attack.
:04:17. > :04:18.And there are the carcasses, just down there by the river.
:04:19. > :04:22.Five of them, one of them a baby, and six we have just spotted
:04:23. > :04:24.a little bit further up the river there.
:04:25. > :04:27.It is hard to make out from here, but you can see that their faces
:04:28. > :04:29.have been cut off and the tusks have been taken.
:04:30. > :04:31.They need hundreds more rangers to protect Garamba.
:04:32. > :04:34.On the front line of the poaching war, the elephants
:04:35. > :04:39.Alastair Leithead, BBC News, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
:04:40. > :04:42.Saudi Arabia has been accused of not doing enough to help the US confront
:04:43. > :04:45.Islamic terrorism in the Middle East.
:04:46. > :04:48.But the kingdom has been staging what it says is the largest ever
:04:49. > :04:53.20 Islamic countries have been taking part,
:04:54. > :04:57.with thousands of troops, tanks and warplanes deployed
:04:58. > :05:02.Saudi Arabia says it is currently facing two threats.
:05:03. > :05:05.From the so-called Islamic State in the north, and from Yemeni rebels
:05:06. > :05:09.to the south, reportedly backed by Iran.
:05:10. > :05:12.Frank Gardner has secured rare access to the Saudi air force's
:05:13. > :05:19.operation centre, and this is his exclusive report.
:05:20. > :05:24.Saudi special forces on a desert exercise close to the Iraqi border.
:05:25. > :05:27.It is called Northern Thunder, and brings together forces from 20
:05:28. > :05:33.It is part of a new assertive Saudi policy in the region,
:05:34. > :05:36.but can Saudi Arabia fight two campaigns in two countries
:05:37. > :05:46.I know it is exhausting in terms of resources and people.
:05:47. > :05:51.Today we face challenges in the south and our force
:05:52. > :05:54.is stretched in the north, deployed since 2014.
:05:55. > :06:00.We feel our national security is in danger.
:06:01. > :06:03.Saudi air force jets, like this F-15, have been carrying
:06:04. > :06:07.out airstrikes in both Yemen and Syria, supported by their allies
:06:08. > :06:10.like Jordan and Bahrain, that have also sent warplanes
:06:11. > :06:15.This airbase in northern Saudi Arabia is currently playing
:06:16. > :06:19.host to a whole variety of warplanes from different Muslim nations,
:06:20. > :06:22.and it is the first test of the Saudi-led Islamic coalition
:06:23. > :06:29.The Saudis tell us it has two aims - to confront terrorism and to combat
:06:30. > :06:33.what they see as Iranian expansionism in the Middle East.
:06:34. > :06:37.Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen's Houthi rebels,
:06:38. > :06:41.widely reported to be backed by Iran, have also killed civilians,
:06:42. > :07:07.Stunned by growing international opposition to the air strikes
:07:08. > :07:10.in Yemen, the Saudis agreed to show me their operation centre,
:07:11. > :07:14.This is what they term the no strike list, a map of buildings
:07:15. > :07:18.Of all the pictures you see on the map, they represent
:07:19. > :07:21.the theatre of operation, and if we go to a smaller picture
:07:22. > :07:23.that will give the restrictions for those targets, which go along
:07:24. > :07:25.with the law of armed conflict, like the medical services,
:07:26. > :07:27.certain places, schools, diplomatic quarters...
:07:28. > :07:29.Saudi Arabia denies its warplanes have ever deliberately targeted
:07:30. > :07:31.civilians, though it admits there have been mistakes.
:07:32. > :07:48.The manoeuvres hint at a wider strategic interest than Yemen alone.
:07:49. > :07:52.The Saudi government want to send a message to the region that it has
:07:53. > :07:55.the money and the muscle to lead an Islamic coalition against what it
:07:56. > :08:06.Frank Gardner, BBC News, in the northern Saudi desert.
:08:07. > :08:09.Finally, it was seen as the ultimate battle between man and machine
:08:10. > :08:11.and it seems the machine won, this time anyway.
:08:12. > :08:13.A computer programme designed by Google comprehensively beat
:08:14. > :08:15.a human champion of the ancient Chinese game of Go.
:08:16. > :08:17.Winning the match by four games to one.
:08:18. > :08:19.As Rory Selin Jones explained, this raises new questions
:08:20. > :08:22.about the power of artificial intelligence over human beings --
:08:23. > :08:25.An epic contest between man and machine, against an artificial
:08:26. > :08:27.intelligence programme that teaches itself to play ever better.
:08:28. > :08:30.At the end of the final game, his face told the story.
:08:31. > :08:32.Although he had fought hard and even won once,
:08:33. > :08:34.the machine, Alpha Go, came out on top.
:08:35. > :08:38.No triumphalism from the designer behind it but instead
:08:39. > :08:43.As with all powerful technologies, they bring opportunities
:08:44. > :08:47.and challenges, and we have to make sure that as developers of these
:08:48. > :08:50.kind of systems, all AI developers around the world,
:08:51. > :09:25.The technology is finding lots of practical uses.
:09:26. > :09:26.Better voice recognition software is one.
:09:27. > :09:29.Cambridge is one of the world's leading centres in the development
:09:30. > :09:31.At Microsoft's Cambridge research lab,
:09:32. > :09:37.Scientists here are using this game to test how AI programmes operate
:09:38. > :09:46.The idea is to teach the AI how to interact with people and objects.
:09:47. > :09:48.The researchers here insist it is all about collaboration,
:09:49. > :09:53.We are in control of the technology and can choose different futures.
:09:54. > :09:56.I think we should avoid that dystopian future of machines
:09:57. > :09:59.versus humans but I think we should make a conscious decision to create
:10:00. > :10:01.AI at the deep partnership between humans and machines
:10:02. > :10:04.This is not about the rise of machines.
:10:05. > :10:08.One of Britain's leading scientists says the sheer pace of change means
:10:09. > :10:13.There is a balance between science and science fiction, and we do not
:10:14. > :10:15.know quite where that lies, but certainly some people
:10:16. > :10:17.are raising concerns that a computer, as it were,
:10:18. > :10:20.might go rogue, and if we have the internet of things,
:10:21. > :10:23.the computer could act with the real world by bypassing human agency,
:10:24. > :10:32.and obviously if that happened, that could potentially be highly risky.
:10:33. > :10:35.It was thought a computer would take another ten years to be
:10:36. > :10:38.AI has brought its potential and risks into focus.
:10:39. > :10:40.That is all from Reporters this week.
:10:41. > :11:08.From me, Philippa Thomas, goodbye for now.
:11:09. > :11:09.Hello again we are still expecting Ouija changes in the Eastern