live from london. this is bbc news. armed soldiers have been offered to the metropolitan police after a large number of officers stepped back from firearm duties. touchdown, i re eat, back from firearm duties. touchdown, i repeat. src — back from firearm duties. touchdown, i repeat. src has _ back from firearm duties. touchdown, i repeat, src has touched _ back from firearm duties. touchdown, i repeat, src has touched down. - i repeat, src has touched down. there _ i repeat, src has touched down. there you — i repeat, src has touched down. there you heard it, the nasa probe which has spent the last seven years flying through space carrying the large asteroid sample ever collected touches down. uncertainty surrounds the future of the uk high—speed hs2 rail line a minister saying you would be crazy not to review the plan with rising costs. 30 gunmen surrounded in a monastery

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. joe inwood reports. chris kaba was unarmed when he was shot and killed in streatham. he was driving a borrowed car. according to police, the vehicle had previously been linked to an incident involving a gun. chris kaba was hit by a single bullet, fired by a police officer. there was widespread outrage at his death, especially amongst london's black community. last week, his family were in court

to see a police officer, who is only being referred to as nxizi, charged with murder. they welcomed the prosecution, but it's been met with concern by many of the officer's colleagues. there are more than 6,000 police officers in the uk authorised to carry a firearm, and many of them work in london, in some of the most sensitive parts of the capital. now it's thought around 100 of them have said that they no longer want to carry a gun. 0ne former officer says he's not surprised. i was on armed response for 23 years, i was on vip protection, and i hugely enjoyed the professionalism, the teamwork of it, and i would miss that. would i put my weapon down today? yes, iwould hand it in. it's not worth it. announcing a review, the home secretary said police officers have to make split—second decisions under extraordinary pressures. "they mustn't fear ending up in the dock for carrying out their duties."

"officers risking their lives to keep us safe have my full backing." it has been confirmed that the army will be helping to fill the gaps, but only as a contingency. at a time when there are calls for increasing scrutiny of the police, especially when it comes to dealing with minority communities, there will be many who see this as an attempt to reduce accountability rather than a welcome reset. officers from other forces have now been drafted in 0ur correspondentjoe inwood has the latest. in terms of that statement from the ministry of defence can we just unpack what that says. it is an interesting line of support there for the metropolitan police. to clari for the metropolitan police. trr 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 roles, not be arresting people. this will be a contingency service. contingency

role. i spoke to the mod earlier but they are saying is that there are armed as people would expect, armed teams ready to respond for example to a terrorist incident, life suit —— life shooter event in those sort of rules, extremist roles will be filled by the army if required. so i think we should not get carried away and saying that the police will be replaced by the army. that is not the case. what we are seeing here is a contingency role for the army, but it is significant enough of the glass. it is significant enough of the class. �* , , , it is significant enough of the lass. ~ , , , ., glass. ad'usting because we heard from glass. adjusting because we heard from suella _ glass. adjusting because we heard from suella braverman _ glass. adjusting because we heard from suella braverman and - glass. adjusting because we heard from suella braverman and her- from suella braverman and her statement is clearly a lot of support there from the police. this is interesting _ support there from the police. in 3 is interesting here in support there from the police. in 1 is interesting here in the uk support there from the police. “1 is interesting here in the uk we have been seeing a real debate at the moment over the last three years as we have around the world on the role of policing. specifically, the use of force as some would see it, excessive force against certain communities here in london in particular, the black and afro—caribbean community in the

debate has really been around with the police are scrutinised to do. what i thought was interesting about the statement from suella braverman today, the home secretary, 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 were not being able to do theirjob because they are overly scrutinised. so i think we will be seeing a real tension here between the side of society that thinks the police maybe don't always act in the best interest of all communities and of all people and the other side which thinks that may be law & order is more of a priority and put like to give theirfull backing more of a priority and put like to give their full backing to the police. and i think the home secretary is quite clearly stated in launching this review, where she views the argument to lie, as it were. . ~' views the argument to lie, as it were. ., ~ i. views the argument to lie, as it were. ., ~' i., g ., views the argument to lie, as it were. ., ~ ., ., were. thank you, joe for that anal sis were. thank you, joe for that analysis and _ were. thank you, joe for that analysis and update. - earlier i spoke to perry benton — a former metropolitan police

detective chief inspector. i, 100%, fully support all officers that have decided to lay down their firearms. i think this is a very difficult situation for everybody my so i fully support officers and i think all fires arms officers, we have some of the best in the country, they are fully trained, they know their decisions will be scrutinised daily and that split—second decision will be scrutinised. i certainly support them because they want to go to work and protect the public and keep the public safe, yet any decision they now make is going to be potentially cost their livelihoods and families. it is a voluntary role. the officers are fully trained and know their decisions will be scrutinised but it is a voluntary role. they want to do the best they can for the public and the still will be police officers supporting public and looking after the public but if they are in a situation again where they have to use lethal force, they will be put their own lives

at risk and their own families lives at risk so it is difficult decision to make. a difficult situation. i can say all police officers go to work day in and day out to protect to protect the public. but under the public will be slightly concerned that the offices are likely to be carry out their duties but the metropolitan police as you say will have resources from other forces, we now know the ministry ofjustice has offered their support, i don't think that is going to have soldiers on the streets per se, but i think it's going to be a difficult conversation to have with those firearms officers because they don't want to lose their lives. they don't leave their livelihood. because if they pause for split—second they could've been shot or killed if they possible stub so that is very difficult some life picture which scientists hopefully can explain how life on earth begin. it is successfully

entered in the united states will stop now we have some scientists examining the capsule and what it may bring in terms of evidence or any kind of suggestion of how life began here on planet earth. the nasa spacecraft dropped the canister — carrying just 250 grams of rock and dust from the surface of the asteroid, bennu — onto the us state of utah. as our science editor, rebecca morelle, reports bennu has been described as the most dangerous rock in the solar system. that's where we are seeing live pictures from right now. they are hoping it will shed some light on how life on earth begin. just about an hour and a half ago we had some live pictures on the channel of that happening. this is been a long time the making. seven years. so that is coming into fruition and we will hope to hearfrom nasa coming into fruition and we will hope to hear from nasa and the days and weeks to come about the results of their investigation. but for now,

very exciting moment for them. to have recovered this capsule safely and also not examining what it may bring and what it may offer. 0ur science editor, rebecca morelle has this report. on their way to recover the capsule which descended towards the utah desert, a view of its parachute slowing the craft. finally, it is down. finally it's down. inside is the most precious sample, fragments of an asteroid called bennu that could reveal the secrets of our solar system. the scientists think there are about 250 grams of dust and rock and every grain is precious. some of our instruments literally look at the items that make up the

crystals inside of these rocks. the crystals inside these rocks, and when you're working at that scale, a single stone is an infinite landscape to explore. we'll be working on these materials for decades and decades into the future. all of this effort is to solve the mystery of what asteroid bennu is made of. this is vital, because bennu tops the list of nasa's most hazardous space rocks, so studying its makeup could help us to stop it if we ever need to. but it could also reveal more about our origins — it's a perfectly preserved relic from the dawn of the solar system. this was the moment the sample was collected in a five—second smash and grab, before it was safely stowed in the capsule for its return to earth. the rock and dust will be divided up between scientists around the world, including the team at london's natural history museum. we're unbelievably excited to see what it's going to be made of. i mean, we've thought about it, we've talked about it, we've written papers about it, we've dreamt about what it's going to be. and finally, we're actually

going to see it and find out what it really is, which, yeah, at the moment we have no idea. so it's going to be just so exciting to open the canister and find out what's in there. the main concern now is contamination. the team here in utah don't want what's on the ground — the dirt, the dust, the microbes — to get mixed up with the bits of bennu. it's vital that their invaluable sample is kept pristine. the race is now on to safely recover the capsule. 0pening it up will be a painstaking and slow process, the race is now on to safely recover the capsule. 0pening it up will be a painstaking and slow process, taking several weeks, but scientists say the wait will be worth it. rebecca morelle, bbc news, utah. we'rejoined now by dr meenakshi wadhwa, planetary scientist at arizona state university. she also serves as the principal scientist for the mars sample return programme. thank you forjoining us. you will

know what these individuals are doing, can you explain a little about this process that they are doing right now.— about this process that they are doing right now. yes, this is going to be a very. _ doing right now. yes, this is going to be a very. very _ doing right now. yes, this is going to be a very, very careful - doing right now. yes, this is going to be a very, very careful processl to be a very, very careful process of documenting the sample return capsule. they will be going to take their time before they open it up, they want to make sure that the exterior is completely documented. that they remove any of the utah desert that may be attached to the capsule. and of course, they are taking some closer pictures, images of the capital itself before they start to open it. in of the capital itself before they start to open it.— of the capital itself before they start to open it. in terms of dust, how much — start to open it. in terms of dust, how much dust _ start to open it. in terms of dust, how much dust would _ start to open it. in terms of dust, how much dust would something | how much dust would something like this, the sort of meteorite carrie? i'm sorry, how much a sample would there be inside of the capsule? yes, this is actually samples from the asteroid bennu and the estimate is that there could be as much as 250

grams or so, perhaps even more of sample from the asteroid bennu inside of this capsule. inside of the canister.— inside of this capsule. inside of the canister. ., ., ,, ., the canister. that will take a while then to presumably _ the canister. that will take a while then to presumably navigate - the canister. that will take a while i then to presumably navigate through and to extract?— and to extract? exactly. they are inside of a _ and to extract? exactly. they are inside of a makeshift _ and to extract? exactly. they are inside of a makeshift clean - and to extract? exactly. they are inside of a makeshift clean room| inside of a makeshift clean room rate inside, close to the landing site at the current time and they will basically put it under nitrogen at some point and carry it to the johnson space centre, hopefully tomorrow. that is where it will be taken apart very, very carefully. people may not have been aware of this going on in terms of the significance of this programme, can't you just explain a little bit about the magnitude of what is at stake here —— can you? this about the magnitude of what is at stake here -- can you?— stake here -- can you? this is an incredible — stake here -- can you? this is an incredible achievement _ stake here -- can you? this is an incredible achievement and - stake here -- can you? this is an incredible achievement and the l stake here -- can you? this is an i incredible achievement and the very first simple return asteroid from the united states. there have been to other simple returns from the japanese space agency before this,

but they brought perhaps but a teaspoonful of astroid old materials back. we are hoping we will get some work near a tea cup full. a sermon asteroid thought to be very carbon rich which may have other volatiles like water and etc and we are hoping to learn something about the very beginnings of our solar system and the very beginnings, perhaps of life on our planet. whether materials like bennu could have contributed to the complement of organics and volatiles on the early earth that contributed to the origin of life on our planet. contributed to the origin of life on our planet-— our planet. that's all very exciting- _ our planet. that's all very exciting. thank _ our planet. that's all very exciting. thank you - our planet. that's all very exciting. thank you for i our planet. that's all very - exciting. thank you forjoining us. you can see more and read more on our website, you can see more and read more on ourwebsite, bbc and also the very second somewhere bennu, the astrid arrived. thank you forjoining us.

staying with the uk ...and the 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's speculation the line might end in west london, rather than going all the way to euston, and the birmingham to manchester it 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, whilejust 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 budgets. 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... ..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. 0k. with 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 responding to rumour and leak. and, look, victoria, this is a really important infrastructure project. what i say on your show matters,

because we, the labour party, hope to be in government next year. we're not going to make decisions about national infrastructure projecis _ 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. with more on this our political correspondent iain watson. it's interesting that this decision now is being considered at this point in time, given it has been around for a wild, hs2 and the rising costs and complications that come with it. rising costs and complications that come with it— come with it. absolutely in the -ro'ect come with it. absolutely in the preject has _ come with it. absolutely in the project has been _ come with it. absolutely in the project has been going - come with it. absolutely in the project has been going on - come with it. absolutely in the project has been going on for. come with it. absolutely in the i project has been going on for the past decade, initial decisions going to head back in 2009 and more expected costs in from the national audit office the people who look at

the nation's finances, three years ago there have been subsequent warnings. the reason i think it has been discussed now is the chancellor of the exchequer makes his statement in november and he has been looking at the cost projections and he said, at the cost projections and he said, a few days ago, that he felt the costs were now getting totally out of control. he couldn't tell us what he would do about that in november, but there are some reasons i think for doing that sooner. first of all, some ministers close to these discussions, government ministers think that giving all of the lobbying and speculation and uncertainty about the future of this project, it's better to freeze reach a decision sooner rather than later. another factor of course is the conservative party, the governing party, it is time for the annual conference and the city chosen for the venue is manchester. there is a lot of fear in conservative ranks at that conference which will talk about a whole range of issues perhaps before the next general election, the last one, and people

will keep ask questions about whether this high—speed rail will ever reach that city suits that be definitive in advance of that and decision could come as soon as tomorrow. i think that is one of the reasons why this is contra treating minds at the moment. the other reason of course as i mentioned, is the spiralling costs and the fact that in difficult economic times, the government will have to make some tough decisions of where to put its available finances. this some tough decisions of where to put its available finances.— its available finances. as you say, it's an important _ its available finances. as you say, it's an important part _ its available finances. as you say, it's an important part of— its available finances. as you say, it's an important part of this - it's an important part of this levelling up agenda that this conservative government has talked about quite a bit. in terms of a decision, are we expecting that decision, are we expecting that decision to be definitive, so to speak with mike because given there is an election next year, or at least there will be, it seems a very precarious time to be announcing something on it. i precarious time to be announcing something on it.— something on it. i think the government _ something on it. i think the government will— something on it. i think the government will be - something on it. i think the government will be looking | something on it. i think the i government will be looking to something on it. i think the - government will be looking to find money for all sorts of things, some

people, critics would say that they are simply trying to find money for tax cuts which would be a sweetener at any general election, although we will not get any tax cuts in earnest this autumn. and if the election is in a year's time, for example, there would be space for that, with the government would say of course is that the whole circumstances have changed. much because of the war in ukraine but because of inflation and we need to get inflation down. so we have to run the rule of the epic projects that have previously been taking a look at. to some extent extent conservation of the government if they have to do a u—turn on this at least between manchester and london and birmingham would go ahead. if they have to do this, then they know it also creates a problem for the opposition labour party is all because they formally committed to completing that link to manchester to northern england from london. that is what many of their own members of parliament wished to see, many of the people in their own

party, but their own treasury team have been far more wary about making that commitment themselves. because they are also committing to try and bring that down. although they can borrow for investment, they also have constraints or subs they have been a bit wary about whether they would commit themselves to that. of course that leads to greater uncertainty, but from the government point of view it also would create some friction in the opposition ranks as well.— some friction in the opposition ranks as well. thank you for your anal sis ranks as well. thank you for your analysis there. _ the authorities in pakistan have recalled a locally manufactured medical injection feared to have caused dozens of people to go blind. health officials said diabetic patients at a number of hospitals in lahore, multan, kasur, anthang, were treated with a locally—made batch of the drug, "avastin", used for retinal damage. they said many then succumbed to severe infections and lost their vision. pakistan's health minister says selling the drug was no longer permitted and a case had been registered against the suppliers.

tests on samples of the drug are being carried out. fold up that follows an ambush against police that killed and injured one other. 0ur balkans correspondent told us more. it quick to blame syria for the death of the policeman and for the shooting that has been going on throughout sunday. he condemns what he called a criminal and terrorist attack but he said that organised crime with political financial and logistical support from official belgrade is attacking our country. for its part they have said that

they are too quick to blame serbia for the insured since and see the full facts need to be known before any blame could be proportion. but we do now was the incident started in the early hours of sunday morning. when police on patrol noticed a roadblock in the majorities served north kosovo. and they went to investigate there was an exchange of fire between them and an exchange of fire between them and an armed group. one police officer was killed in the kosovo police say that three of the armed group were also killed in that one person has been arrested. kosovo's international partners have been quick to raise concerns and condemn the incident, the european union called it a horrible attack and called on both kosovo and serbia to do everything he could to de—escalate tensions. ethnic armenian refugees — from nagorno—karabakh — have started arriving in armenia. over 300 now have crossed the border. 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. 0ur correspondent nataliya zotova is in the armenian border town of goris, and she sent this update. this town is the closest one to the border. the road from karabakh to armenia goes through here. that's where all the international observers and people from red cross

are accumulating, but they don't have much luck getting into karabakh. this morning, several ambulances left for stepa na kert. they are expected to return with the wounded. meanwhile, today, first few people were led through the border to armenia. they have been put into a refugee camp, but for now they are only letting through women and children and no letting any man. we came across 19 trucks of humanitarian aid here in greece. the drivers told us that they have waited two months on the border trying to get the humanitarian aid through to the karabakh people. now they are losing hope, so they return to the town. talking to us, the drivers accused the azerbaijani authorities and russian peacekeepers of deliberately starving the people of karabakh. the drivers didn't want to talk on camera, but they were eager to show us the contents of the trucks so that no one would accuse them of trying to smuggle weapons inside. there were noodles, sugar boxes of first aid medication. meanwhile, in yerevan,

people are protesting, demanding the humanitarian corridor to be opened for everyone who wants to leave. that's what all people in armenia are waiting for. but it hasn't happened yet. stay with us on bbc news. hello there. wet and very windy weather on the way overnight for some of us. now, as far as the rainfall goes, the heaviest falls of rain will be across western scotland, where we're likely to pick up around 30 to 50 millimetres, double that over the high ground. so there could be some localised flooding building in across parts of scotland. it's all down to an area of low pressure. a rapidly developing low, that's just the south of the republic of ireland. and this will also bring some very strong winds to the far north—west of scotland as well, where overnight we could be looking at gusts of 60 to 70 odd miles an hourfor the hebrides and the highlands.

the heavy rain bringing a risk of some localised flooding as well. further southwards, that band of rain crosses wales and england. by the time it reaches eastern areas, not really a great deal left on it. it's going to be a mild night, gusty south—westerly winds, ensuring that. temperatures around 12 to 15 degrees. now tomorrow, a much brighter day overall with a lot more in the way of sunshine to go around. it's not entirely dry, though, there will be some showers. particularly for scotland, a few for northern ireland and the north of both northern england and north wales as well. the midlands, east anglia, southern counties of england should stay dry with their sunshine and these temperatures continue to be above average for the time of year — 17 to 22 for many of us. now entering into tuesday, it's another unsettled day. a couple of weather systems kind of combined to gang up on us here in the uk bringing, i think, outbreaks of rain for many of us. so rain at times probably best sums up the weather, the wettest weather in the morning across western areas. but by the time we get through the afternoon, rain will become pretty widespread with potentially some of it turning thundery.

probably turning a bit brighter in northern ireland with the main rain band clearing through, but there'll still be a risk of some showers here. temperatures not changing too much — highs for many between 16 and 22 degrees. now for the middle part of the week, we're looking at a deep area of low pressure. this is going to be bringing widespread heavy outbreaks of rain, but some very strong winds as well. inland gusts are expected to reach around 50 to 60 miles an hour, but stronger gusts likely around some of our irish sea coast where we could see gusts of between 65 and even 80 miles an hour. so potentially damaging disruptive gusts of wind with us. with this area of low pressure on wednesday, we're quite likely to see some disruption then towards the middle part of the week. that's today's weather. bye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines. armed soldiers have been offered to the metropolitan police after a large number of officers step back from firearms duties. their decision is linked to the case of a police officer who was charged with the murder of a man. and there you heard it — the nasa probe, which has spent the last seven years flying through space carrying the largest asteroid sample ever collected, touches down. a kosovo police officer and three gunmen have been killed after about 30 attackers stormed a village before barricading

themselves in a monastery. prime minister albin kurti has urged the gunmen,