you're very welcome. we begin with a space mission that could help explain the origins of life on earth. a nasa capsule containing rock and dust from the surface of an asteroid has successfully touched down in the utah desert. it's the largest—ever sample from an asteroid that has made it to earth, and it's an achievement nearly 20 years in the making. american scientists first pitched the idea to nasa in 2004. it wasn't until their third attempt in 2011 that the project was finally approved by nasa. 5 years later in 2016, scientists launched 0siris—rex into space. on december 3, 2018, the capsule arrived at asteroid bennu. 0siris—rex collected a sample from bennu in october of 2020. then on may 10, 2021, 0siris—rex began itsjourney back to earth leading us to this weekend's events. on sunday, it successfully landed back here on earth. recovery teams are now assessing the capsule�*s condition, before transporting it to clean rooms near salt lake city. it will be disassembled there, and the samples flown to houston for analysis. scientists hope they can shed new light on how planets were formed and how life arose billions of years ago. 0ur science editor, rebecca morelle, reports. it has entered the earth's atmosphere. a first glimpse of the capsule after its epicjourney through space. we have confirmed parachute deployment. high up in the atmosphere, a parachute opens, slowing its descent. touchdown! it has touched down. a textbook landing in the middle of the utah desert. for the team who have spent decades working on the 0siris—rex mission, it's an emotional moment. how did it go? it went absolutely perfectly. perfect landing, we didn't move, we landed on nice, soft soil. the capsule looked flawless. i cried like a baby in the helicopter when i heard the parachute was open. it was an overwhelming moment for me. inside the capsule is the most precious sample, fragments of an asteroid called bennu, that could reveal the story of our solar system. the team quickly secures the craft, to prevent any contamination, and attach it to a 30—metre line slung beneath the helicopter. this is the moment that nasa has been waiting for. after seven long years, travelling billions of miles to bennu and back, the capsule is finally here. the priority now is getting out of the dusty desert environment, and into the safe and sterile clean room as quickly as possible. a quick knock to say they have arrived, and the capsule is in. the painstaking and meticulous process begins. they need to remove the layers like a russian doll, to get to the dust and rocks inside. the whole procedure will take weeks. so, why all this effort? bennu tops the list of nasa's most hazardous space rocks, so studying its make—up could help us to stop it if we ever need to. it could also reveal more about our origins. it's a perfectly preserved relic from the dawn of the solar system. it's going to keep scientists busy for a long time. one of the most important parts of a sample return mission is we take 75% of the sample and we are going to lock it away for future generations. people who haven't even been born yet, to work in laboratories that don't exist yet, and instrumentation you have not thought of yet. so it is an incredibly valuable sample we are bringing back. scientists think they have a treasure trove on their hands, one that includes extraterrestrial material unlike anything we have seen on earth before. rebecca morelle, bbc news, utah. that some more from rebecca on what the next step will be now that scientists have been reunited with 0siris—rex. such a big moment for nasa... really delighted with what they have back so far. the s in the cleanroom here, kept in a stable environment to try to keep the precious sample of bennu away from dust and grime and dirt of the desert. that is really important. the next stage of the mission involves this here. this big military cargo plane. what is going to happen? you have the capital and inside it is a canister and inside that an asteroid sample. they will remove the outer layer, the capsule layer and fill out a way. the canister will be packaged up and put on board this plane and flown to the johnson board this plane and flown to thejohnson space centre in houston, texas. there scientists are eagerly awaiting for the really exciting bit. 0pening it up to see exactly what is inside. now, properly collecting every grain is going to take some time, but the signs will start really quickly actually and scientists think they will have their first results possibly around the middle of october. i guess the big question is, why have they gone to all of this trouble? why study the asteroid known as bennu? the first reason is a big ones, the asteroid tops the list of nasa's most dangerous space rock. there is a small but significant chance of it hitting the earth in the next 300 years. if you want to find a way of stopping that the best way is to find out what the asteroid is made of, to learn about it. the second reason though, this asteroid is a relic from the earliest formation of our solar system, 4.5 formation of our solar system, 11.5 billion years ago. and change for all this time. a bit like a time cat delma capps also cited want to study this to learn about how the solar system formed and even why the earth is like it is, why it is habitable. there is a theory that perhaps abe asteroid delivered the molecules required for life on earth to start here. the only way you can answer these huge questions is to actually get your gloved hands on the sample and that is what is going to be the exciting next stage of this mission. let's hear some more about that exciting next stage of this mission. joining me now isjustin filiberto, he's nasa's branch chief of the research office within the astromaterials research and exploration science division at thejohnson space center. thank you so much forjoining us, justin. thank you so much for joining us, justin. how difficult a mission was this? all space missions are incredibly difficult but usually they are 1—way we are sending robots and orbiters and landers and to other planetary bodies. in this case we had to send the spacecraft to bennu, collect samples on this very small asteroid, avoid any of the large rocks, put those samples in the canister, seal it off and bring those back and have a nearly perfect touchdown in utah earlier today. i am always amazed at what engineers make work, look so easy. absolutely. now, the next step is to get this back to you guys in houston and open it up. what in houston and open it up. what will happen _ in houston and open it up. what will happen then? _ in houston and open it up. “wriat will happen then? tomorrow, this will get on military plan, plane and come to we have a clean room dedicated for this to walk into. so our duration staff will walk it into the clean room and will decontaminate it and make sure there is no utah dust and then, onceit there is no utah dust and then, once it is clear two it will go into the specially built clean room for the 0siris rex collection. 0nce room for the 0siris rex collection. once it is up there it has different glove boxes that decorators can work on and start peeling back the canister. they can start collecting the sample that is inside. , , , , inside. this is the biggest sam - le inside. this is the biggest sample ever _ inside. this is the biggest sample ever collected - inside. this is the biggest| sample ever collected and inside. this is the biggest - sample ever collected and the third one only ever return to earth. what are you hoping to find, what could it tell us about the origins of life? 50. about the origins of life? so, we know _ about the origins of life? so, we know that _ about the origins of life? so, we know that there - about the origins of life? srr, we know that there is about the origins of life? s57, we know that there is organics, we know that there is organics, we know that there is organics, we know there is water, so the question is what types of organic? what types of material are there? what types of building blocks of life? what minerals are there? what is the water validating, could that be similar to the water that ended up similar to the water that ended up helping make our oceans. those other pieces we will be pulling apart as we go forward and start picking apart every grain in the sample. find and start picking apart every grain in the sample. and how lona grain in the sample. and how long could — grain in the sample. and how long could it _ grain in the sample. and how long could it take _ grain in the sample. and how long could it take to - grain in the sample. and how long could it take to find - grain in the sample. and how long could it take to find the | long could it take to find the answers to some of those very profound questions?— answers to some of those very profound questions? well, we're auoin to profound questions? well, we're going to start— profound questions? well, we're going to start as _ profound questions? well, we're going to start as soon _ profound questions? well, we're going to start as soon as - profound questions? well, we're going to start as soon as we - going to start as soon as we can and we will be looking at these samples for decades. if we go back to the apollo collections, they were collected well before my lifetime and we are still picking apart those samples and learning new things. these will be studied for decades to come. and, as we heard in rebecca's reported earlier, some of these samples will be stored away and technologies that have not even been invented yet will be used on them. ., . .,, been invented yet will be used on them. ., . ., on them. correct. so as part of our duration _ on them. correct. so as part of our duration in _ on them. correct. so as part of our duration in terms _ on them. correct. so as part of our duration in terms too - our duration in terms too johnson space centre, some of the samples are kept separate and it is the pristine samples that are kept under nitrogen purged to make sure that our atmosphere and our humidity and our temperature in houston do not interact with the rocks and we keep them as pristine as possible for future generations. possible for future uenerations. ., , ., , generations. could there be any livin: generations. could there be any living organisms _ generations. could there be any living organisms on _ generations. could there be any living organisms on this - living organisms on this sample?— living organisms on this sample? living organisms on this samle? ., ~' , , sample? not likely. the sample, bennu, is small— sample? not likely. the sample, bennu, is small and _ sample? not likely. the sample, bennu, is small and dust - sample? not likely. the sample, bennu, is small and dust with . bennu, is small and dust with radiation and does not have an atmosphere. so there is no chance for life to surface. the asteroid that _ chance for life to surface. the asteroid that the _ chance for life to surface. the asteroid that the sample was taken from, as you say, bennu, passes close to the earth every six years or so. what is the likelihood of it ever hitting this planet? it likelihood of it ever hitting this planet?— this planet? it is classified as a potential _ this planet? it is classified as a potential hazardous i as a potential hazardous asteroid and is one of the reasons we went to investigate it. the chances small it is not zero. so it is one on nasa's radar that we track to either make that chance zero or investigate what that chance really is. if investigate what that chance reall is. . , ., really is. if the asteroid were to hit earth, _ really is. if the asteroid were to hit earth, what _ really is. if the asteroid were to hit earth, what with - really is. if the asteroid were to hit earth, what with the i to hit earth, what with the impact be there, because it is relatively small, i believe. it relatively small, i believe. it depends on where it hits, but, yes, it is small so that will help it not because anything too drastic. we are not looking at a depth of the dinosaurs type of asteroid impact. well, that is good — type of asteroid impact. well, that is good to _ type of asteroid impact. well, that is good to know. - type of asteroid impact. well, that is good to know. what i type of asteroid impact. well, l that is good to know. what next for the main part of the osiris-rex for the main part of the 0siris—rex spacecraft? what is its next mission? osiris-rex spacecraft? what is its next mission?— its next mission? osiris-rex is now called _ its next mission? osiris-rex is now called osiris-rex - its next mission? osiris-rex is| now called osiris-rex impacts. now called 0siris—rex impacts. it is off to another asteroid. the asteroid named up office which is another potentially hazardous asteroid and so it is planning to arrive at that asteroid in 2029 to do an investigation with the instruments on board the spacecraft. instruments on board the spacecraft-— instruments on board the spacecraft. instruments on board the sacecraft. �* ., , , spacecraft. and would they be an expectation _ spacecraft. and would they be an expectation to _ spacecraft. and would they be an expectation to get - spacecraft. and would they be an expectation to get a - spacecraft. and would they be | an expectation to get a sample from that went back to earth as well? ~ ., , , ., ., well? we only brought one samle well? we only brought one sample canister— well? we only brought one sample canister back - well? we only brought one sample canister back with l well? we only brought one i sample canister back with us when we went and that one has the samples with it on earth now. it the samples with it on earth now. . , , the samples with it on earth now. ., , , , now. it has been used, well len now. it has been used, well plenty of — now. it has been used, well plenty of investigations - now. it has been used, well plenty of investigations to l plenty of investigations to come and plenty of interesting discoveries no doubt still ahead. thank you so much for joining us. it's sunday evening here in washington, normally a quiet time in the halls of power, but not tonight. 0n capitol hill, lawmakers are in crunch talks to avoid a government shutdown, due to happen injust seven days' time. that is a live shock of the capital where the late night oil is surely burning. ——shot the republicans, who hold a slim majority in the house of representatives, are at a deadlock, with members on the right of the party demanding wide—ranging spending cuts. time appears to have run out to pass all the bills necessary in time for the start of the new fiscal year, on october 1. the question now is whether lawmakers can pass a stopgap measure to buy more time. if they don't succeed, all non—essential functions of the federal govenrment would shut down, with nonessential workers placed on furlough. the last shutdown, between december 2018 and january 2019, lastest 35 days, the longest ever in us history. republican house speaker kevin mccarthy, has not ruled out avoiding the shutdown by making a deal with democratic lawmakers. but conservative republicans have threatened to oust him as speaker if he does so. the biden administration has been attacking republicans over the looming shutdown. here's secretary of transportation, pete buttigieg, speaking to cnn earlier. a shutdown would include just in the transportation side alone, shutting down air traffic control trainers. that is what example of a shutdown that would mean servicemembers would not get paid, coming back to transportation, the air traffic controllers who would be working on the tales would not be getting paid. they are under enough stress as it is doing thejob under enough stress as it is doing the job without having to come into the two work with the added stress of not receiving a paycheck. the senate is ready to go, the administration ready to go, the administration ready to go, the administration ready to go, house republicans need to go, house republicans need to come to their senses and keep the government running. and in the next hour, i'll be speaking with a republican lawmaker who says there is, quote, no doubt in his mind that the us is heading for a shutdown. president emmanuel macron says france will end its military presence in niger, removing its 1,500 troops stationed there by the end of this year. in a televised interview, macron announced plans to withdraw the french ambassador and several other diplomats from niger within hours, followed by its military contingent in the coming months. it comes in the wake of a military coup injuly, that saw the ousting of the country's pro—paris president. macon has refused to recognise the junta as niger's legitimate authority but said paris would coordinate the troop withdrawal with the coup leaders. translation: france has decided to brin: translation: france has decided to bring back _ translation: france has decided to bring back its _ translation: france has decided to bring back its ambassador- to bring back its ambassador and so coming hours, alabaster, and so coming hours, alabaster, and several diplomats, will return to france and we are lending our ability to cooperation to the effect of authorities to niger because they no longer want to fight against terrorism. for more on what the french withdrawal means for international counter—terror operations in the sahel region, the bbc spoke to dr michael amoah. he's a senior visiting fellow at the london school of economics, and a specialist in west african security and politics. it means that henceforth niger will be co—operating more with mali and burkina faso, and perhaps the rest of the ecowas countries. we have seen ecowas meeting to plan how they could set up... now is the time for ecowas to converge and co—operate, collaborate with the rest of the countries in west africa, to deal with counterterrorism. we are actually aware that, in some respects, the french troops were not too happy with niger's generals co—operating in counterterrorism with mali and burkina faso, and that was causing friction between the nigerien troops and the french troops. but this is going to be a big blow to france, because it appears to be one step ahead in terms of the gradual unravelling of french influence in the subregion and for the french influence in africa as well. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news: a second ship with ukrainian wheat reached turkey, despite russia's withdrawal from the un—backed grain deal. the bulk carrier, carring more than 17,000 tonnes of wheat, left the port city of chornomorsk in ukraine on friday, bound for egypt. it comes as ukraine is testing a new sea route, avoiding international waters, and using those controlled by nato members bulgaria and romania. the philippines has accused china of installing a floating barrier to stop fishing boats from entering a disputed area in the south china sea. coast guards say the 300 metre or 1,000 foot obstacle is preventing fishermen from working in a lagoon in the scarborough shoal. china claims more than 90% of the south china sea as its own territory. at least 16 people have died in a coal mine fire in southern china. the blaze broke out at the shanjiaoshu coal mine about 3,600 kilometres southwest of the capital, beijing. you're live with bbc news. the amernian government said late on sunday that over 1,000 ethnic armenian refugees from nagorno—karabakh have arrived in armenia. azeri forces retook the disputed territory last week in a military operation. this comes as azerbaijan said it would reintegrate karabakh armenians, while local media in the enclave predicted a mass exodus of them. nagorno—karabakh is a territory in the mountainous south caucasus of eastern europe and asia, between the black sea and the caspian sea. it's recognised internationally as part of azerbaijan, but large areas of it have been controlled by ethnic armenians for decades. this week, after azerbaijan launched a military offensive in nagorno—karabakh, a ceasefire was declared. the agreement was that karabakh's military forces would be completely disarmed and disbanded, but now there are concerns over the fate of ethnic armenians living in the area who say that aid has not been getting through to them. our correspondent nataliya zotova is in the armenian border town of goris, and she sent this update. the town of goris is the closest to the border. this is where all the international observers and people from red cross are accumulating but they do not have much luck getting into karabakh. several ambulances left and expected to return with the window. meanwhile, a few people were led through the border to armenia and put into refugee camps but for now they are only letting through women and children and not letting in any manner. we came across 19 tracts of humanitarian aid here in goris, the drivers to others they had waited two months on they had waited two months on the border trying to get the aid through to the karabakh people. the drivers accused the azerbaijan authorities of deliberately stabbing the people of karabakh. the driver did not want to talk on camera but were eager to show us the content of the drugs so no—one would accuse them of trying to smuggle arms. they were food, and first—aid educator for are practising demanding the humanitarian corridor to be open for anyone who wants to leave and that is what all people in armenia are waiting for but it does not happened yet. in london, a large number of metropolitan police officers handed in their firearms, after an armed officer was charged with the murder of chris kaba, a 24—year—old who was shot and killed in south london last year. now, the ministry of defence has confirmed to the bbc that it will provide the support of armed soldiers to the metropolitan police. the met commissioner is calling for reform of the way armed police officers are held to account, as ellie price reports. you'd only expect to see the army on the streets of london after a terror attack. but following the decision of more than 100 met police officers to hand in their permit to carry a firearm, military personnel are on standby in case of an emergency. earlier, suella braverman called for a review into armed policing. her intervention was welcomed by the metropolitan police commissioner sir mark rowley. in a letter, he said improvements at the met police were being undermined by "a system not set up to help officers succeed," identifying police pursuits and the use of force as areas of "the most glaring unfairness." he said, "officers need sufficient legal protection to do theirjob and keep the public safe." it all comes after a met police officer was charged on thursday with the murder of unarmed chris kaba last year. he was fatally shot while in a borrowed car in south london, a car the police say was linked to an incident involving a gun. the met police has been keen to stress tonight that military personnel will not be involved in armed patrols across the streets of london. that work will be done by police officers, the majority of which, i am told, will be from the met, so their numbers will be bulked out with officers from other forces from across the country. it is understood, though, that some officers from those other forces have refused to work in the capital in solidarity with their met colleagues. the home secretary said she ordered the review to ensure armed officers have the confidence to do theirjob. the big question is whether that instils confidence in the communities they serve. ellie price, bbc news. a story in spain has seen an outpouring of anger and outrage this week. in a small town of 30,000 people, naked images of school girls have been circulating. they are fake and it's believed they've been created using artificial intelligence, with the faces of real teenagers. the police there are investigating. our spain correspondent guy hedgecoe has been following the story. almendralejo is a small, sleepy town, but many of its families are having their world turned upside down by technology. nude images of girls aged between 11 and 16 have been circulating on messaging apps. but the pictures are not real. they were created using artificial intelligence. translation: even i had to look twice because i had doubts. - my daughter's crying all the time. her self—esteem is already very low, so this is terrible for her. a total of 28 girls have complained that fake nude pictures of them have been circulating on messaging apps. the images were created using real photos of the same girls, fully clothed, often taken from their own social media accounts. these were then fed into an ai application which provided imagined pictures of the girls unclothed. police are investigating at least ten boys, aged 12 to 1a, who have been identified as being involved. there is also one case of a girl who was allegedly the target of an extortion attempt. translation: even if they are manipulated images, . if they are realistic images, they are considered child pornography. i spoke to the mother of one of the girls affected. translation: the girls appear naked in the pictures, - and in a situation which looks pornographic. the worry is that these pictures could end up on pornographic websites, and imagine the impact that could have on a girl. what's been the effect of all this on the people of almendralejo? translation: this is a game which is leading to crimes - being committed and irreparable damage being caused. there are cases of women previously have committed suicide because their privacy has been violated. but while this case has shaken a small spanish town, it is clear that with al technology so readily available, this could have happened almost anywhere. guy hedgecoe, bbc news, spain. grammy award winning r&b star usher is to headline the world —famous american football super bowl half—time show. sponsors apple music shared a video called usher has a confession, in which the singer confirms usher has a confession, in which the singer confirms he will star in the 2024 event in las vegas in february. i'm caitriona perry. thanks for watching. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. while most of the we will be a story of sunshine and showers, we could see some stormy weather wednesday into thursday. more on that in a second. first of all, though, it has been quite windy so far and overnight, strong winds attached to these weather fronts pushing their way eastwards. strongest of the winds will have clipped the northwest of scotland before easing later. that does leave many of us with clear skies into the start of monday, 12—15 degrees. not a cold start by any means. still some cloud and one or two showers in the southeast first thing. that will clear through. some heavier showers across central western scotland, northern ireland through the morning rush hour and potentially again later. but actually very few showers in the forecast on monday. even if you do see a shower, it should be a fleeting one. only one or two in your day. for many, especially across england and wales, the day will be dry, 17—22 celsius. nice enough in the sunshine. the breeze will still remain a little bit on the fresh side in the west and strengthen further as we go through the night and into tuesday morning. some showers and thunderstorms pushing out of northern france into southern counties of england and a small chance into some southeastern parts of wales, too. a little bit cooler than monday morning. but for tuesday itself, we're being drawn in this weather front to the west and this one will work its way across many parts of england first thing in the morning, again, risk of showers and thunderstorms short lived and then fewer showers, a lot more in the way of dry weather, but some fairly frequent and heavier showers for northern ireland during the morning and more particularly across scotland through the afternoon in the sunshine between the showers. second, temperatures like monday around 16—22 celsius. but as you go into the middle part of the week, all eyes are on this developing area of low pressure, potentially quite stormy one rattling its way in through wednesday and into wednesday night. let me show you how things develop on wednesday, because it's going to be quite a bright start, dry start, quiet start for many. but cloud increases from the south and west. the rain starts to push in and with it, widespread gales developing as we go through the afternoon and into the evening, temperatures on the cool side where the winds are strongest in the north. 0k. the position of that area of low pressure open a bit of question at this stage. but at the moment, it does look like we could see later wednesday into wednesday night worse the winds around some irish sea coast and then later into parts of southern scotland and northeast england, the area of low pressure with it taking that rain northwards. pretty stormy night wednesday night into thursday. and as we start thursday, even though things turn quieter, there could be some residual damage and travel disruption. take care. down to the wire. political brinkmanship... economic consequences. and two willow fever hits india. khouw motogp�*s debut in the country has accelerated demand for premium motorcycle. —— two wheeler fever. hello, and welcome to asian business report. ...to to reach an agreement on a spending bill before funding for government services is due to dry up. the impasse comes