the ministry of defence has confirmed to the bbc that it will provide the support of armed soldiers to the metropolitan police, after a large number of firearms officers handed in their weapons. they turned in their firearms permits after an armed officer was charged with the murder of 24—year—old chris kaba — who was shot and killed in south london last year. earlier, the home secretary, suella braverman, ordered a review of armed policing. you'd only expect to see the army on the streets of london after a terror attack. but after the decision of 100 police officers to hand in their firearms, they are on stand by. suella braverman called for a review of policing. the head of police said the system was not set up to help officers succeed. he said officers needed sufficient legal protection to do theirjob.i needed sufficient legal protection to do theirjob._ to do their “ob. i was on armed to do theirjob. i was on armed resnonse for — to do theirjob. i was on armed response for 23 _ to do theirjob. i was on armed response for 23 years, - to do theirjob. i was on armed response for 23 years, vip - response for 23 years, vip protection, and i enjoyed the professionalism, the teamwork of it and i would miss that. would i put my weapon down today? yes. i would hand it in. it is not worth it. it hand it in. it is not worth it. it comes after a 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 london. a car the police say was linked to an incident involving a gun. the police have been keen to stress that military personnel will not be involved in armed patrols. that work will be done by police officers. it is understood that some officers. it is understood that some officers from 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 that armed officers have the confidence to co—theirjob. but does that instill confidence in the communities they serve? our correspondentjoe inwood outlined the significance of the mods statement of support for the police. to clarify, we shouldn't be expecting to see soldiers on the street. this is not a question of the army stepping in to do what we would think of as everyday policing role — they're not going to be arresting people. this will be a contingency service, a contingency role. i spoke to the ministry of defense earlier, and what they were saying is that there are there are armed, as people would expect, there are armed teams that are ready to respond, for example, to a terrorist incident, a live shooter event, that sort of thing, and those sorts of roles. the kind of in extremis roles will be filled by the army if required. so i think we shouldn't get carried away in saying that the police are going to be replaced by the army. that's not the case. what we're seeing here is a contingency role for the army, but it is significant nevertheless. and it's interesting because we heard from suella braverman and in her statement there's clearly a lot of support there for the police. yeah, i think this is really interesting. i mean, here in the uk, we've been seeing a real debate at the moment over the last few years, as we have around the world, around the role of policing and specifically the use of force as some would see it, excessive force, against certain communities here in london particularly the black the afro—caribbean community. and the debate really has been around whether the police are scrutinised enough. what i thought was interesting about the statement from suella braverman today, the home secretary in the uk, was the fact that she was clearly saying that she supported the police. she thought that actually there was a problem here, that the police weren't being able to do theirjob because they're overly scrutinised. so i think we're going to be seeing a real tension here between the side of society that thinks that the police maybe don't always act in the best interests of all communities and of all people and the other side which thinks that maybe law and order is more of a priority and would like to give their full backing to the police. and i think the home secretary has quite clearly stated in launching this review where she views the argument to to lie, as it were. president emmanuel macron has announced that france will end its military cooperation with niger. it will remove 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. macron 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 bring back its ambassador and our ambassador and several diplomats will return to france. and we are ending our military co—operation with the de facto authorities of niger, because they no longer want to fight against terrorism. that niger, because they no longer want to fight against terrorism.— to fight against terrorism. that was resident to fight against terrorism. that was president macron _ to fight against terrorism. that was president macron on _ to fight against terrorism. that was president macron on the _ to fight against terrorism. that was| president macron on the withdrawal of the ambassador in niger. joining me now is dr alex vines, who leads the africa programme at chatham house. in terms of why president macron is doing this, can you explain to us why now? doing this, can you explain to us wh now? . . doing this, can you explain to us why now?— doing this, can you explain to us wh now? . . ., ., why now? france and macron were holdin: why now? france and macron were holding out — why now? france and macron were holding out to _ why now? france and macron were holding out to see _ why now? france and macron were holding out to see whether- why now? france and macron were holding out to see whether there l holding out to see whether there would be a diplomatic solution to the coup through mediation or an intervention by the regional bloc, the community of west african states. that hasn't. there is mediation continuing. but it has become clear that the french ambassador and some diplomats around him, which paris says are the legitimate diplomatic representation to niger, because they don't recognise the junta, that they couldn't keep them in the capital and they have had to withdraw them. the french embassy has been de facto besieged and even humanitarian conditions in the embassy were getting difficult.— conditions in the embassy were getting difficult. what will this do to the situation _ getting difficult. what will this do to the situation in _ getting difficult. what will this do to the situation in niger? - getting difficult. what will this do to the situation in niger? well, i getting difficult. what will this do to the situation in niger? well, it aaain to the situation in niger? well, it again shows _ to the situation in niger? well, it again shows the _ to the situation in niger? well, it again shows the increased - again shows the increased international isolation of the government. having said that the united states continues to be present with military facilities in niger and washington has taken a very different route, which is not to condemn the coup outrightly in niger, but to actually be very kind of opaque on how they define it, so that they can continue to maintain merp boots on the ground and a drone facility in niger. hag? merp boots on the ground and a drone facility in niger-— facility in niger. how will other countries in _ facility in niger. how will other countries in the _ facility in niger. how will other countries in the region - facility in niger. how will other countries in the region feel, i facility in niger. how will other i countries in the region feel, given what is going on in say sudan. weill. what is going on in say sudan. well, this is a rough _ what is going on in say sudan. in this is a rough neighbourhood, you've a puchist regime next if the door and chad you could argue is de facto an administration now that has been put in through a coup. so it is a rough neighbourhood. it is difficult. the regional economic body for west africa is negotiating. i havejust body for west africa is negotiating. i have just come body for west africa is negotiating. i havejust come back body for west africa is negotiating. i have just come back from west africa yesterday to london and from what i was hearing, talking to various officials, the object yich is to try and get —— objective is to get a transition for up to a year and one of the sticking points is a guarantee that the men in uniform don't then stand for election. that is where we are at the moment. [30 is where we are at the moment. do ou is where we are at the moment. do you think france really can sever all diplomatic ties in the way it seems to be doing today? look, france recognises _ seems to be doing today? look, france recognises that _ seems to be doing today? look, france recognises that it - seems to be doing today? look, france recognises that it may i seems to be doing today? look, i france recognises that it may well be trying to at some point, it may need to reengage in the area. it is probably going to be more through a multilateralformula, not in probably going to be more through a multilateral formula, not in the old style that we have seen of french military bases on their own. and there is the very strong anti—french sentiment in the sahel and even along the coast in west africa in places like ivory coast and benin and togo, there is a sense of desire to diversify from reliance on france. ., ~' , ., to diversify from reliance on france. ., ~ , ., ., to diversify from reliance on france. ., ~ ., ., , france. thank you for “oining us. on that news that i france. thank you for “oining us. on that news that france i france. thank you forjoining us. on that news that france will _ france. thank you forjoining us. on that news that france will end i france. thank you forjoining us. on that news that france will end all. that news that france will end all military co—operation with niger. rishi sunak has been facing mounting criticism over his major change in direction on climate policies. on wednesday, the prime minister announced exemptions and delays to several key green policies. the former greek finance minister yanis varoufakis accused the prime minister of undermining the uk's credibility on climate change. it's a very special contribution, combination of incompetence and cynicism to manage to unite the car industry and the greens against you. and rishi sunak has demonstrated that. why do you say it's cynical? well, because it's very clear that this was the result of the uxbridge byelection and what's happening in the netherlands, where there is a backlash from nativist, rightist, anti—climate policy, segments of the population and a desperate prime minister is trying to appeal to that particular clientele, destroying all the credibility that governments, tory governments have tried to build up regarding commitments to to net zero. john caudwell is a businessman and founder of phonesliu. he was also the biggest donor to the conservative party before the last election. however he said he was devestated by rishi sunak�*s recent shift in green policy. i have been lobbying with the government now for four years, ever since the start of the pandemic, actually, on something i call caudwell pandemic recovery, which is investment in britain. and one of the centrepieces of that investment in britain was to have an enterprise zone for environmental technologies. i have no doubt whatsoever that the growth in environmental technologies, the export opportunities and intellectual property and end products will be huge over the next 20 years as we face increasing environmental challenges. and so to make that an investment opportunity for people to come to britain, set up businesses in britain because of the attractive proposition we give to them, will grow britain's gdp in the future and be an enormous boost to our country. and going back on the pledge of 2030 is an immensely negative statement because everybody is geared up for 2030 and all the motor manufacturers are gearing up, battery technology is racing on, everything is going full tilt to get britain ready for 2030. but also, of course, the rest of the world which will follow on behind. and i wanted us to lead the world in all technologies, or as many technologies as we could in the environmental space. but this doesn't mean britain can't do that, it's just kicking the can down the road, supporters will say it's just five more years and it gives people time to prepare a bit more because businesses have been complaining they don't have enough time to prepare for the introduction of this new technology? i am afraid that's not right. business is a race... business is a race whether you sell mobile phones, whether you sell cars, whatever you are in, if you want to be the world leader it is a race against the competition. and by setting 2030 for that no further sales of combustion engines, that was a hugely positive boost to britain's future. yes, of course, there's challenges, but necessity is the mother of invention. we're seven years away still, there's seven years to go and then it's only the stopping of selling new. they'll still be all millions of internal combustion engines on the road for decades to come, actually, but gradually they will phase out as the electric technology gathers momentum, battery technology gathers momentum and charging. but it's notjust about electric vehicles, it's about making britain the enterprise centre of the world for the environment by creating a tax free enterprise zone and wooing businesses. 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. guy hedgecoe has been following the story. this is a small, sleepy town, but many of its families are having their worlds 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. i my daughter is 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 12t014 who have been identified as being involved. there's also one case of a girl who was allegedly the target of an extortion attempt. translation: even if they are manipulated images, . if they're realistic images, they're 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 here? this is a game which is leading to crimes being committed and irreparable damage being caused. there are cases of women previously who have committed suicide because their privacy has been violated for that. but while this case has shaken a small spanish town, it's clear that with al technology so readily available, this could have happened almost anywhere. guy hedgecoe, bbc news, spain. authorities in kosovo say they've taken control of a serbian 0rthodox monastery in the north, bringing to an end a stand—off with a group of heavily armed men. the gunmen are suspected of carrying out an attack overnight, in which a policeman died. here's our balkans correspondent guy de launey. the shooting seems to be over and the monstery is a place of worship. but the recriminations have only just begun. serbia's president has made a televised address to the nation and described the killing of a kosovo police force officer as reprehensible, and he also made it clear that he thought that the prime minister of kosovo bore ultimate responsibility for the shooting and the events which followed, after a campaign of provocations against the ethnic serb minority, who live in north kosovo. the authorities are having none of that. the prime minister has described the armed group who carried out the attacks as being supported by official belgrade. partners of kosovo and serbia have expressed their outrage at the events. the eu said the shooting of the police officer was a hideous attack and foreign policy chief has called on serbia and kosovo to return to the negotiating table in brussels to de—escalate tensions. the uk defence secretary, grant shapps, says it would be "crazy" not to look again at the rising cost of the hs2 rail project. a decision on whether the government will scrap the birmingham to manchester section of the line is expected this week. noor nanji reports. it's a grand project, first dreamt up in 2009. the aim — to speed up journey times and create more capacity. but hs2 has faced delays, cuts and spiralling costs. the original plan would have connected london to birmingham, and then leeds and manchester. in 2021, the section from birmingham to leeds was cancelled. now there is speculation the line might end in west london rather than going all the way to euston. and the birmingham to manchester bit is in doubt as well. the last official estimate on hs2 costs — excluding the cancelled eastern section — added up to about £71 billion, although this was in 2019 prices. £22.5 billion has already been spent on the london to birmingham leg, whilstjust over £2 billion has been spent on preparing for the other sections. this morning, the defence secretary, and former transport secretary, said no decision has been taken yet, but that it's important to respond to the budget. every government has to look at the overall budgets and then make serious decisions, which go beyond the sort of back—and—forth in a studio like this... ok. ..to say, is this affordable, under current circumstances? i'm absolutely confident, for example, that when those statements were made, no—one knew we'd be in a war in europe right now. ok. all of the consequences, all of the costs and all of the inflation. and any government that doesn't go back and then look at it is crazy. labour's been accused of sending mixed messages on hs2. we are supportive of h52 being built, but we're i responding to rumour and leak. and, look, victoria, i this is a really important infrastructure project. what i say on your show matters because we, the labour party, l hope to be in government next year. we're not going to make decisions about national infrastructure - projects that involve tens - of billions of pounds without all of the information being available. this weekend, business groups and political voices have been lobbying the government not to truncate hs2 further. with pressure mounting for decisions to be made. noor nanji, bbc news. a capsule containing asteroid samples which scientists hope could help explain how life on earth began has successfully landed in the united states. the nasa spacecraft dropped the canister — carrying just 250 grams of rock and dust from the surface of the asteroid — onto the us state of utah. as our science editor, rebecca morelle, reports. the src has entered the atmosphere. a first glimpse of the capsule after its epicjourney through space. high up, a parachute opens, slowing its descent. ., . ., up, a parachute opens, slowing its descent-_ a _ up, a parachute opens, slowing its descent._ a text i up, a parachute opens, slowing its descent._ a text bookl descent. touchdown. a text book landinu in descent. touchdown. a text book landing in the _ descent. touchdown. a text book landing in the middle _ descent. touchdown. a text book landing in the middle of- descent. touchdown. a text book landing in the middle of the i descent. touchdown. a text book landing in the middle of the utah | landing in the middle of the utah desert. forthe landing in the middle of the utah desert. for the team who have spent decades on the mission it is an emotional moment. how did it go? it went perfectly. we didn't stuck it. we landed in nice topsoil. the capsule looks flawless. we landed in nice topsoil. the capsule looks flawless. ii we landed in nice topsoil. the capsule looks flawless. ii cried we landed in nice topsoil. the capsule we landed in nice topsoil. the ca sule looks flawless. . ~ capsule looks flawless. i cried like a bab , it capsule looks flawless. i cried like a baby. it was _ capsule looks flawless. i cried like a baby, it was an _ capsule looks flawless. i cried like a baby, it was an overwhelming i a baby, it was an overwhelming moment— a baby, it was an overwhelming moment for me.— a baby, it was an overwhelming moment for me. inside is the most recious moment for me. inside is the most precious sample — moment for me. inside is the most precious sample of— moment for me. inside is the most precious sample of fragments i moment for me. inside is the most precious sample of fragments from moment for me. inside is the most i precious sample of fragments from an asteroid called bennu. . 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 here. the priority is getting it out of the desert environment and into the safe and sterile clean room quickly. a quick knock to say they have arrived and the capsule is in. the painstaking process begins. they need to remove the layers like a russian dool doll. why all this effort? bennu tops the list of nasa's most hazardous space rocks and studying it could help stop it if we need to it. but it is a relic from the start of the solar system. one of the most important parts of mission, we take 75% of that sample and we are going to lock it away for future generations. people who haven't been born yet, that work in laboratories that don't exist yet. it is an valuable sample that we are bringing back. it is an valuable sample that we are bringing back-— bringing back. scientists think they have a treasure _ bringing back. scientists think they have a treasure trove _ bringing back. scientists think they have a treasure trove on _ bringing back. scientists think they have a treasure trove on their- bringing back. scientists think they l have a treasure trove on their hands that includes material unlike anything we have seen on earth before. 0ur science correspondent jonathan amos is in utah with the latest. the watchword today has been cleanliness. these samples are precious. they tell us about the chemistry that existed 11.5 billion years ago when the planets were forming around the nascent sun. and what we need is to see that chemistry uncontaminated. if we think, as the scientists suspect, there's chemistry in there, that may give us clues about how life started on earth. well, it's no use looking at that chemistry if it's been muddied with earth, dirt, with with microbes or the oxygen in earth's atmosphere, which might have come in and started to oxidize compounds. so they need a pristine sample. so the idea was to bring the capsule back to a temporary clean room here. it's just over my shoulder here, about a kilometers distance away. and at the moment they're there disassembling the capsule to try and get it into a box purged with nitrogen. so nitrogen will not react with with anything in that capsule, and then they can move it, probably tomorrow down to thejohnson space center in texas, which is where nasa keeps all of its its archived materials, all of the moon rocks that came back during the apollo programme are kept at thejohnson space center. 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 he will star in the 2024 event in las vegas in february. usher called it the "honour of a lifetime" saying a super bowl performance was on his bucket list. stay with us here on bbc news. hello, most of the week will be a story of sunshine and showers, we could see stormier weather wednesday into thursday. first it has been windy so far and strong winds attached to these fronts, the strongest of the winds will clip the north—east of scotland before easing. it leaves many of us with clear skies for monday. 12 to 15 degrees. still some showers in the south—east first thing. some showers in central and western scotland and northern ireland in the rush hour and very few showers in the forecast on monday. even if you see one, it should be a fleeting one. 0nly on monday. even if you see one, it should be a fleeting one. only one or two in your day. for many in england and wales the day will be dry and i7 england and wales the day will be dry and 17 to 22 celsius. the breeze will strengthen into tuesday morning. some showers and thunder storms pushing into southern england and south—eastern parts of wales. tuesday we are drawing in this front and this one will work its way across many parts of england first thing in the morning. the risk of showers and thunder storms. fewer showers and thunder storms. fewer showers and thunder storms. fewer showers and more dry weather. but some heavier showers for northern ireland and particularly in scotland in the afternoon. in the sunshine between the showers, again temperatures like monday around 16 to 22 celsius. as we go into the middle of week, all eyes are on this low pressure. it could be a stormy one, rattling in through wednesday and into wednesday night. let me show you how things develop. it will be a quiet start for many. but cloud increases from the south and west and the rain pushes in and widespread gales developing in the afternoon and evening. temperatures on the cool side where the winds are strong efs in the north. the position of that area of low pressure is open to question. but we could see wednesday into wednesday night winds around irish sea cost and southern scotland and north—east england. the rain moving north. a stormy night wednesday into thursday and thursday although things turn quieter there could be some damage and travel disruption. take care. this is bbc news, the headlines: armed soldiers have been offered to london metropolitan police after armed officers stepped back from firearm duties. it is linked to a case where a police officer has been charged with a man's murder. france will end all military cooperation with niger — and withdraw its ambassador and several other diplomats within hours — following a coup. nasa has brought back the largest ever sample from an asteroid. a capsule was recovered in utah after being dropped from a space probe that's spent the last seven years collecting the fragments. police in kosovo have ended a standoff with serb gunmen