welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: police in new mexico say they believe a live bullet was fired in the fatal shooting on the set of alec baldwin's new movie. we believe that we have in our possession the firearm that was fired by mr baldwin. this is the firearm we believe discharged the bullet. but it's too early to say whether they'll bring any charges. we'll have the latest. also in the programme... in the uk, the government's promising a post—covid age of optimism as the 2021 budget is delivered. in a bbc exclusive — new details about the fall of afghanistan — claims by the former president, ashraf ghani, that he had

to flee the country to save his life are totally rejected by his former chief of staff. and australian footballer josh cavallo has become the only top level male professional player to come out as gay. it's eight in the morning in singapore, and 6pm in santa fe — where police investigating the killing of cinematographer halyna hutchins with a gun by the actor alec baldwin say they believe the weapon contained a live round. the hollywood star had been told the weapon was safe. he's a co—producer of the film rust and there are reports of complaints about safety standards in the days

and hours before halyna hutchins was killed. sophie long sent this report. it is now nearly a week since 42—year—old halyna hutchins was shot dead whilst she was doing herjob. these are the last pictures of the cinematographer alive on the set of rust. she's in the blue coat and headphones. you can see alec baldwin beyond the camera. he was holding the gun that fired the shot that killed halyna and severely injured directorjoel souza. we believe that we have in our possession the firearm that was fired by mr baldwin. the actual lead projectile that was fired has been recovered from the shoulder of mr souza. we regard this specific casing and recovered projectile to be the live round that was fired from the revolver by mr baldwin. when alec baldwin was handed the weapon by assistant director dave halls, he was told it was safe, what's called a "cold gun."

the person responsible for firearms on set was the armourer — 24—year—old hannah gutierrez—reed. she's admitted ammunition was not secure, but says she checked the guns and found no live rounds. all three are cooperating fully with the investigation. all options are on the table at this point. i'm not commenting on charges, whether they will be filed or not, or on whom. so, the answer is, we cannot answer that question yet until we complete a more thorough investigation. the tragedy has left hollywood grieving and reignited the debate about whether real guns and ammunition should ever be allowed on film sets under any circumstances. and sophie gave us this update after leaving that news conference held by authorities in sante fe. sheriff adam mendoza began, both of them began by offering their condolences to the hutchins family. now, he stressed this was an ongoing investigation, but he did say to reporters

that, to him, the facts were clear. they spoke for themselves. alec baldwin had been holding a functional weapon that fired a live round. he also confirmed they had recovered a lead bullet from the shoulder of director joel souza, and they believe that is the same bullet that killed halyna hutchins. he gave some details of the investigation. they said they had recovered some 600 items from the set of the movie rust, including three prop guns, one of those he said was certainly functional, the other two they were investigating. it also included 500 rounds of ammunition. there had been reports of complaints of safety standards on set. he confirmed he had heard those reports and was investigating. the attorney general said, in terms of charges, they may still come but everything remains on the table. in a moment: 0ur bbc exclusive as new details emerge about the fall

of afghanistan's capital kabul and the actions of the former president. but first. . .. the british chancellor has promised a post—covid "age of optimism" as he delivered his uk budget for 2021. rishi sunak has committed to a spending increase of £150 billion — orjust over 200 billion us dollars — over three years with the economy forecast to return to pre—pandemic levels by next year. the tax burden will reach its highest level since the 1950s as mr sunak tries to rebuild the economy. here's rishi sunak on how the announcements will impact people living in the uk. help for working families with their cost of living, because we will always give people the support they need and the tools to build a better life for themselves. and levelling up. because for too long, far too long, the location of your birth has determined

too much of your future because the awesome power of opportunity shouldn't you be of opportunity shouldn't be available only to a wealthy few, but be the birthright of every child in a prosperous united kingdom. here's the opposition labour party's rachel reeves, who was filling in for leader keir starmer after he tested positive for covid—i9. the shadow chancellor told mps many people wouldn't benefit. families struggling with a cost of living prices, businesses- hit by a supply chain crisis, i those who rely on our schools and hospitals and police. they won't recognise the world that - the chancellor is describing. they will think that he is i living in a parallel universe. the chancellor in thisl budget has decided to cut taxes for banks. so, at least the bankers - on short—haul flights sipping

champagne will be cheering this budget today _ 0ur political correspondent rob watson gave us this assessment of the new uk budget. you are thinking the big question would be post—brexit, post—pandemic. what kind of uk economic model would we get? would we get low tax or high tax? and it seems that it's more of the latter, but we knew there was a but coming. 0ne can't help wondering will the conservative party please stand up because traditionally, it is a low tax. right at the end of this budget, where rishi sunak announced this huge amount of spending, at the end, he said of course, i do believe in a small state and lowered taxes,

but in just not quite yet. butjust not quite yet. to a bbc exclusive now — and two months after the taliban took control of afghanistan, new details have emerged about the fall of kabul and the actions of the former president. ashraf ghani has always claimed he fled the capital because his life was in danger, and to stay would have sparked greater bloodshed. that has been totally rejected his former chief of staff, who's been speaking to the bbc. matin bek told lyse doucet that when mr ghani left in a helicopter there was no danger and no threat to his life. i saw that a helicopter took off. i thought because before going home, he said, the helicopter should take into the

airport. but this was the same helicopter. i was na ve, i didn't think he would run away. i was us, where are you? i said, iam i was us, where are you? i said, i am with ricky me. then i was told, where is the president? i told i was told, where is the president? itold him, he was with us half an hour ago, he went home. this is lunch time, he went home. he said, no, he ran away. i sit, why should he run away? everything is okay. there is no threat or danger. we said, we are working on it, you have heard about it, why should he run away? he said, believe me, he ran away, this is his passport. i came to his home to give his passport, and

i wonder, and home to give his passport, and iwonder, and he home to give his passport, and i wonder, and he said, home to give his passport, and iwonder, and he said, i home to give his passport, and i wonder, and he said, i saw someone else run away. still, i don't know why he ran away. i don't know why he ran away. i don't forgive him for that because i am telling you after everything was ok if he had run away when the cities had fallen there was no argument between us, could have been understandable maybe 0k he was a coward, he ran away for his life but after everything and some cease—fire was put in place and security arrangements were in place that gave the palace was the safest place in afghanistan. i don't buy that argument that there was threats or anything. one of his security aides said the taliban going room to room searching for him. no, no, that's completely a coward. that's completely not true.

because after he ran away there was no problem. no shooting, nothing. they came to the palace after six hours he had run away. the interview was carried out by the bbc�*s chief international correspondent, lyse doucet. she explained what the effect was of ashraf ghani's hasty departure. even the taliban said they wish kabul had not fallen in this way, that there had been an agreed transfer of power. this isjust a big what if, but if president ghani have not let the palace, some arrangement, would so many afghans have fled? many officials also left afghanistan the next day. would the situation be different on the ground? many believe that an opportunity was missed at least

to do something more smoothly. lyse�*s full interview is available on her podcast, called a wish for afghanistan. new episodes are available on wednesdays. you can listen to it on bbc sounds or any other platform that you usually get your podcasts from. an opinion poll carried out for the bbc has found that popular support for strong action against climate change is growing around the world. the survey of more than 30 000 people found that 56 percent wanted their countries to show leadership at the un climate summit in glasgow next week. 0verall, concern about climate change is at its highest since pollsters began tracking the issue in 1998. the poll was carried out in 31 countries. if you want to get

in touch with me, i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the australian footballer who's become the only top—level male professional to come out as gay.

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines: police in new mexico say they believe a live bullet was fired in the fatal shooting on the set of alec baldwin's new movie. in the uk, the government is promising a post—covid age of optimism as the 2021

budget is delivered. the australian footballerjosh cavallo has said that he is gay — making him the only active top level male professional player in the world to be open about his homosexuality. he's been talking to bbc world news earlier about his decision to go public. it's a decision that took a long time for myself. it was a long period in my life that brought me sadness and took me to a dark place. that was over six years of pain, and i'm so happy and excited to put that to rest today. today is my freedom day. i've never been this happy in my entire life. i'm very happy with my decision to come out and i hope that one day, i can inspire someone in the younger generation or someone else behind the phone that's struggling and sees my story that it's ok. we're in 2021. it's a different time to where it was before.

it's more accepting. i've been nothing but getting good things by the public, so i hope that one day, someone else can follow my lead and come out. and it becomes normal. it doesn't matter, everyone is welcome. wonderful words there from josh cavallo. i've been speaking to ryan 0'callaghan, a former american football player who is now openly gay, but hid his sexuality during his nfl career — i asked him for his reaction tojosh cavallo's announcement. i'm tremendously happy for him. what he said in his interview, it is 2021 and times are different. i retired in 2012. it wasn't like it is today. even though it was only ten years ago. he didn't have all those professional organisations being upfront and support of lgbtq rights. being upfront in support of lgbtq rights. i think that's gone a long way.

you've documented the personal anguish that you went through in that autobiography that you've written, and it must�*ve been tremendously difficult, keeping your sexuality hidden from your friends and team—mates. why did you feel compelled to do that? i knew i wasn't the only one. i knew i couldn't have been the only closeted athlete with feelings of depression and thoughts of suicide and struggling with drugs to cope with my own personal fears of being closeted. so, i felt it was important i put myself out there and tell my whole story. maybe someone can relate and gain some personal strength by hearing my story. thankfully, that's been the response now. quite a few athletes reach out to me, and i can help and what little way i can to make them feel better. that is fantastic,

but i imagine there were some that is fantastic, but i imagine there were some very difficult days that you went through. when you look back, what was the hardest thing about all of it? the toughest part for me was constantly having to lie to everyone. it really wore on me and who i was, but i was convinced that no—one would ever accept me if i was an openly gay man. when you're closeted, it can be all—consuming in your mind of trying to not be outed, whether you're actively living as an openly gay man or not, you still have these fears. looking back, its not having any of these fears whatsoever. it's just a calmness that i have that i wish i had back then. it must be absolutely liberating, but that paranoia that you talk about, do you think that it will be different now for younger players that the sporting world

is becoming a more accepting place? yeah, it really should be. we've had a lot of examples of professional athletes over the past few years that have come out and have overwhelmingly positive experience. josh had a great reception. here in the state, we had carl come out. he plays for the inmate fell , nfl. people have been welcoming with open arms. a lot of concerns have to do with losing yourjob. the experience of carl here and josh there, it's proven you won't lose yourjob. you just have to deal with the internal conflicts, and it's up to people to come out on their own time. ryan 0 callaghan, former nfl player— ryan 0 callaghan, former nfl player with his story. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the european union's top court says poland must payjust over

$1 million a day in penalties, after it failed to comply with interim measures to suspend a controversial supreme court disciplinary chamber. the european court ofjustice said this risked causing serious and irreparable harm to the eu's legal order, saying that poland's disciplinary chamber is not sufficiently independent from political control. the world bank has suspended its aid to sudan, after the military there staged a coup against the civilian government. sudan has also been suspended from the african union. the au called the coup unconstitutional, and said the ban would remain in place until the civilian transition authority has its powers restored. france has released a list of sanctions that it may impose on britain as early as next week, if more progress is not made in a post—brexit dispute over fishing rights in british waters. the measures include more border checks and preventing british fishing boats from accessing french ports. britain described the threats as disproportionate.

to japan now, where the country will be holding a general election this sunday. the ruling liberal democrat party or ldp led by fumio kishida is expected to remain in government but experts predict a tougher win than first thought. dr donna weeks, is a professor of political science at musashino university in tokyo, she said young voters will be particularly important. the recent polling is indicating that the liberal democratic party is unlikely to lose government. the question is, how many seats it might lose from its current majority, or indeed some speculation it might increase. but the figures are a bit all over the place at the moment, suffice to say it does look like they will remain in power at least.—

in power at least. there has been a big _ in power at least. there has been a big push, _ in power at least. there has been a big push, there - in power at least. there has been a big push, there to i in power at least. there has l been a big push, there to get more young people give out in these elections. is there much engagement amongst young people about the elections, or politics in general injapan? yes, there has been increasingly usually social media like twitter or another popular social media platform here to help students become more involved. i teach the very demographic the politicians would like to target and amongst my students, they have varying degrees of interest in getting involved. most of my students will turn out to without. because that's what we talk about inner seminar. but yes, there is a kind of perception amongst younger people, and the legal age to vote has dropped to 18 just a few years ago, and hope to get more young people involved, from 20 to 18.—

from 20 to 18. doctor donna weekes speaking _ from 20 to 18. doctor donna weekes speaking to - from 20 to 18. doctor donna weekes speaking to us - from 20 to 18. doctor donna weekes speaking to us from tokyo. we turn now to the question of looted art — the benin bronzes are sculptures that once decorated the royal palace of the kingdom of benin, in what's now nigeria. british forces stole the art in the 19th centurty. today, cambridge university become the first uk institution to return a looted benin bronze to the nigerian authorities. the bbc�*s theo chikomba reports from cambridge. jubilation as the benin bronze is returned. it's been part of the furniture atjesus college for over 100 years. today, it's heading home, a move which has taken years to come. whilst we've been so proud to have this new bronze, which is an absolutely beautiful object, a beautiful piece of artwork, but to us... it is an amazing piece of artwork. but the resonance and what this 0kukor means is so much more profound in nigeria.

it's a real connection with the past. it's a spiritual object, and this is actually a royal heirloom. during the 1897 benin expedition, this artefact, known as 0kukor, was one of hundreds taken by british troops in the kingdom of benin, which is now southern nigeria. it was then gifted by george william neville, a former british army officer tojesus college in 1905. fast—forward to 2016, students led a campaign arguing the statue needed to be returned to the community from which it was stolen. in 2019, the college agreed for it to be returned. here in cambridge, how significant is it for this institution to do what they're doing today? well, very excited today to be in cambridge, but alsojesus college, because it is part of our history, part of our identity, which has been cut away for many decades. and i will be happy to see it...

a lot of nigerians can be able to see and feel these artefacts that have been away for so long, which now they will be able to understand about the history and the past. and it's these words which recognised the influence and cultural meaning behind the 0kukor, something the university recognised. i think as the days worn on, as we've been leading up to it, we sort of really began to comprehend what this means for people across the world. and it's really fantastic, and i'm so proud that jesus college cambridge have been able to be the first in the world to actually follow through on what was essentially quite a simple question. whilejesus college has made history today, aberdeen university will follow suit tomorrow. could this spark a wave of more institutions returning looted items? theo chikomba, bbc news.

that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello. 24—hour rain totals have now surpassed 230mm in the wettest parts of the cumbrian hills, and the met office amber warning for rain continues across cumbria and southwest scotland into thursday. there is more rain to come and, as all that water feeds down through the rivers and streams, the risk of flooding and disruption increases from a weather front which is very much still around in the day ahead, pulses of energy running along itjust enhancing the rainfall. so, there will be more rain to come on a very wet day in cumbria, for a time more widely across southern, central and eastern scotland, from the eastern side of northern ireland before it eases here, and pushing into more of northwest england and wales, and southwest england as the day goes on. northern scotland, sunny spells and a chance for showers, brightening up in northern ireland.

largely dry through central and eastern parts of england. these are your wind speed averages — gusts are high, particularly with the rain band along irish sea coatsts, gusting near 50 mph in places, and the higher temperatures will be those parts of across eastern england that break out into a few sunny spells. we could well see 18 celsius again. there will be further rain overnight thursday into friday, but the idea is it's starting to move its way further east on another very mild night. and on friday, that rain will reach into parts of eastern england that have stayed dry through much of the week. there'll be another spell of rain moving through scotland — but as it all begins to pull away eastwards, it will be much drier to end friday, and particularly in those areas that have seen so much rain so far this week. at the same time, temperatures are coming down a few degrees. we're not finished with the rain, though — low pressure still very much in charge for the weekend, and another band of wet weather will arrive friday night into saturday.

now it does look as if it's moving a little bit quicker now, this, so it will bring a spell of rain overnight into saturday, but clears away more readily on saturday, allowing a drier, brighter day after the rain with a few showers around. and again, notice our temperatures are edging downwards. it looks at this stage as if sunday will be the wetter day of the weekend. as low pressure feeds in yet more rain, some of this will be heavy as it moves its way northwards. the wind starts to pick up again, as well, and even after the rain, there'll be some heavy showers around.

this is bbc news. the headlines will follow at the top of the hour, after this programme. life under the midnight sun. here in the arctic circle, nature rules. we breathe, we live for the reindeer, because the reindeer, they are the ones that make us survive. but all this is under threat. the impact of climate change is being felt and seen in this

part of norway than in most other parts of the world.