welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm arunoday mukharji. the headlines. a space capsule carrying the largest asteroid sample ever collected lands safely in utah, which could shed new light on how planets were formed. france will end all military cooperation with niger and withdraw its ambassador and several other diplomats within hours, following a coup. the spanish town shaken afterfake naked images of local girls, generated by artificial intelligence, are shared. and hosts china top the medal table after the first day of the asian games in hangzhou.

the impossible became possible. that's how the head of nasa described an extraordinary mission to retrieve a capsule containing fragments of an asteroid on sunday. the capsule had travelled a billion miles to land on the asteroid, named bennu, before returning safely back to earth earlier after seven years in space. scientists are now examining the sample, which they hope is 250 grams of rock and dust from the surface. they say it could explain how life on earth began. the retrieval of the capsule happened in the us state of utah, from where rebecca morelle reports. it has entered the earth's atmosphere. a first glimpse of the capsule after its epic journey through space.

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 osiris—rex mission, it's an emotional moment. it went absolutely perfectly. perfect landing, we didn't move, we landed in nice, soft soil. the capsule looks 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 contamination, and attaches it to a 30—metre line slung beneath a 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 it 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 the mission is that 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, an 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. let's speak now to one of the scientists who'll be researching this space dust. this is actually the second time that scientists have been able to retrieve samples directly from an asteroid. ajapanese mission brought back samples from asteroid ryugu in 2020. planetary scientist professor tomoki nakamura led the team that confirmed the presence of water in ryugu last year, and he'll be involved in researching the sample from bennu. hejoins us now. thank you for your time. one bat question, you and your team

will be receiving samples from the cyber threats mission next year. how important is it and what kind of questions are you hoping to answer through these examples? —— from the osiris-rex examples? —— from the 0siris—rex mission next year. it's a really long history, 4.6 billion years... we like to know what happened at the beginning of the solar system. however, our planet earth... inaudible. the small bodies such as asteroids and comets, most of them have never been melted after formation. them have never been melted afterformation. therefore, they retain the record of early solar system formation. this is

the reason why we study 0siris. and asteroids such as type b and c containing water and organics... therefore we expect the samples from such asteroids to provide us the important information on the origin of our life and the ocean on the earth. ., , ,., our life and the ocean on the earth. ., ,,., i. our life and the ocean on the earth. ., ,,., ,, ., earth. professor, you lead the team that _ earth. professor, you lead the team that confirmed - earth. professor, you lead the team that confirmed the - team that confirmed the presence of water in an asteroid for the first time. give us more detail on the significance of what that means in terms of how oceans, organic matter and life may have come about on earth? we matter and life may have come about on earth?— matter and life may have come about on earth? we found a tiny amount of— about on earth? we found a tiny amount of water _ about on earth? we found a tiny amount of water in _ about on earth? we found a tiny amount of water in the - about on earth? we found a tiny amount of water in the samples| amount of water in the samples from asteroid ryugu. the water

is contained in the crystal that forms in the water. therefore, the crystal, the water that was present in asteroid ryugu, we found that the water contained carbon dioxide. which indicates that when ryugu was formed, the water ice, and also c02 ice, formed ryugu. the presence of c02 ice indicates that ryugu formed very, very far away from the sun, because the c02 ice is

stable only at very low temperatures. below minus 200 celsius. therefore, ryugu, it indicates the position of the formation in the early solar system. in addition, we estimate water contents in the asteroid based on the mineralogy of ryugu sample. 0riginally ryugu contained large amounts of water. so originally captain—macro contain huge amounts of water. it is known that many asteroids such as ryugu came to the

asteroid, and came to the earth, hit the earth, to provide many water. that means the water in ryugu... it came to the earth very early in the solar system.— to the earth very early in the solar system.- maybe | to the earth very early in the i solar system.- maybe the solar system. right. maybe the oriuin of solar system. right. maybe the origin of water _ solar system. right. maybe the origin of water on _ solar system. right. maybe the origin of water on the _ solar system. right. maybe the origin of water on the earth. . origin of water on the earth. fascinating findings, professor, thank you very much, i'm sure you can't wait to get your hands on the fragments in the months ahead whenever that is. thank you for your time, it was very educational. president emmanuel macron has announced that france will end its military presence in 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 co—ordinate the troop withdrawal with the coup leaders. i've been speaking to dr michael amoah, a senior visiting fellow at the london school of economics, and a specialist in west african security and politics. i asked what he made of macron�*s announcement. well, for almost three weeks now, we are aware that the french troops have been having secret talks with the nigerien troops about negotiating a partial withdrawal, and i think it has become quite clear during these talks that the presence of the french troops would be untenable. i think france came to a conclusion in practical terms they wouldn't be able to do any counterterrorism at a place where they are not welcome. so president macron made a decision that the troops have to leave, as well

as the ambassador. in any case, the ambassador has been holed up in the embassy, not allowed to go out. the water and electricity supplies had been cut off. so it was going to be extremely difficult for them to live in niger, let alone operate in niger. what do you mean by the counterterrorism operations on the ground? 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 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. the ministry of defence has confirmed to the bbc it will be providing support to the metropolitan police, after a large number of officers withdrew from firearms duties. their action follows charges being brought against an armed officerfor the murder of a man who was shot and killed in south london last year.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the liberal democrats have agreed to the first draft of their manifesto for the next general election, including a pledge to give people the right to see a doctor within a week, or a day if it's urgent. members at the party's conference in bournemouth approved the document, called "0ur fair deal". three days of strike action planned by non—teaching school staff in scotland will go ahead after last ditch talks over the weekend failed to find an agreement over pay. unison members in 24 council areas will walk out on tuesday, with the vast majority of schools in affected areas expected to close. members of the unite and gmb unions have had their strikes suspended whilst members are consulted on a new pay offer. the first buses brought back into public control in nearly 40 years have begun running

services in parts of greater manchester. the bee network fleet of electric buses started operating in bolton, wigan and parts of salford and bury this morning. the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, says he hopes it will lead to cheaper fares. you're live with bbc news. hundreds of ethnic armenian refugees from the disputed enclave of nagorno—karabakh have started arriving in armenia. they're the first to cross the border since it was captured by azerbaijani forces earlier this week. the territory is at the heart of one of the world's longest—running conflicts. nagorno—karabakh lies in the mountainous south caucasus region of eastern europe and asia, between the black sea and the caspian sea. it's recognised internationally as part of azerbaijan, but has been controlled by ethnic armenians for three decades. 0lga ivshina and her team are there, and sent this report. as guests of the azeri

military, we enter a region that's been cut off from the outside world since the start of recent hostilities. no sign of civilians, only the relics of fighting. this is shusha, a key azeri stronghold since 2020. we are led up to a viewpoint from where we can see stepanakert. karabakh armenians have claimed this city as their capital for the past 30 years, but now it's surrounded by azeri forces. 0n show are the seized arms of the other side. we are being shown armoured vehicles and ammunition which was surrendered by karabakh armenians. it seems that azerbaijan tries to show that they are the victim in this conflict and their actions are only in response to provocations by karabakh armenians, whom they call separatists. 0ur tour ended there, and we weren't allowed

to go any further. but with more than 100,000 people unable to leave nagorno—karabakh, this is what we've found out. hi, 0lga, thank you for reaching me. now even residents of stepanakert don't have food, so it's really hard for everyone, actually. we are all, all stepanakert, all country is a big refugee camp now. we still don't know even how many missing persons we have, killed and injured. tonight, in the past few hours, hundreds of karabakh armenians have made it out and begun arriving in armenia. children, the elderly and the sick. speaking to the bbc, one refugee said the evacuation has begun, there will be more. at the military cemetery in azerbaijan's capital, they are mourning for more lives lost in this conflict. the aliev family has

just buried their son. he was 29 years old. translation: for us, he is still alive. - he is our hero. can we make peace with armenians? yes, of course. we shouldn't be at war forever. in the end, we have to learn to live peacefully together. i just wish this war hadn't taken so many lives. while new graves are being dug on both sides, will this ceasefire hold ? with so many lives lost, peace seems only possible if both sides are ready to learn from each other�*s pain. 0lga ivshina, bbc news, nagorno—karabakh. a stand—off between police and armed men at a monastery in kosovo has come to an end with at least three people dead. a police officer was killed in an ambush by the armed group hours earlier. here's our balkans correspondent guy delauney. the shooting appears to be over

and the monastery is again a quiet place of contemplation, worship and pilgrimage, but the mutual recriminations between serbia and kosovo have onlyjust begun. the serbian president aleksandar vucic has made a televised address to the nation, describing the killing of a kosovo police force officer as absolutely reprehensible, an event that could not be justified. however he also made it clear that he thought the kosovo prime minister albin kurti bore ultimate responsibility for the shooting and the events which followed, after a campaign of provocations against the ethic serb minority who live in north kosovo. the authorities in pristina are unsurprisingly having none of that. the kosovo prime minister has described the armed group who carried out the attacks as being supported logistically and financially by official belgrade. partners of kosovo and serbia

have expressed their outrage at the events. the european union said the shooting of the kosovo police officer was a hideous attack, and foreign policy chiefjoseph burrell has called on serbia and kosovo to return to the negotiating table to de—escalate tensions. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the philippines has accused china of installing a "floating barrier" to stop fishing boats from entering a disputed area in the south china sea. coastguards say the 300 metre 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. they seized part of the shoal in 2012. at least 16 people have died ina coal mine died in a coal mine fire in southern china. the blaze broke out.

about 3,600 kilometres south west of the capital, beijing. officials said an an initial investigation suggested a conveyor belt caught fire. at least 34 people were killed saturday in a fire at a smuggled fuel depot in southern benin near the border with nigeria. interior minister seidou said the bodies were found charred at the scene and that twenty people were also injured, some seriously, and admitted to hospital. a second ship with ukrainian wheat reached turkey, despite russia's withdrawal from the un—backed grain deal. the bulk carrier, laden with more than 17,000 tonnes of wheat, left the port city of chernomorsk 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. 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

schoolgirls 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 reports. 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 14, 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 on all this of 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. the asian games are under way in the chinese city of hangzhou. president xijinping was at the opening ceremony on saturday. e—sports have made their debut as a medal event. but there's been some controversy around the north korean flag. our reporter nicky schiller is in the newsroom with more. the opening ceremony was a spectacular affair with the usual light shows and fireworks. this is the biggest sporting event held in china in a decade. it was delayed for a year because of the country's now abandoned zero covid policy. more than 12,000 competitors are taking part from 45 nations or territories in 40 sports. it is the first multisport event that north korea is taking part in since

2018. organisers have defended flying the north korean flag despite the world doping agency banning it at major sporting events outside the olympics and paralympics, after they deemed north korea had failed to implement an effective testing programme. we implement an effective testing programme-— implement an effective testing programme. we had discussion with wada _ programme. we had discussion with wada on _ programme. we had discussion with wada on this _ programme. we had discussion with wada on this and - programme. we had discussion with wada on this and we - programme. we had discussion with wada on this and we have | with wada on this and we have not received anything, and now we are — not received anything, and now we are in— not received anything, and now we are in discussions. north korea — we are in discussions. north korea have spoken to them as welt — korea have spoken to them as well. explaining their position. we as well. at present, _ position. we as well. at present, the north korean flag is flying — present, the north korean flag is flying and we will look to see — is flying and we will look to see what the future says. in see what the future says. football, see what the future says. in football, north korea beat indonesia 1—0 to top their group. emotions run high and tears were flowing as yang won taiwan's first—ever judo gold medal. e—sports made their debut, some of the top players in the world, including these from south korea, taking part

in seven multi player games. in the pool, china dominated day one, winning gold in all seven swimming events. at the end of the first day of competition, china top of the medal table with 30, followed by south korea and japan, with 14 medals. a rare octopus has been filmed live in the deep ocean. almost like a total... —— like a turtle... dubbed dumbo, because of its ear like fins similar to the 1940s disney cartoon, it appeared on the ev nautilus live stream. it was caught on camera by a remotely—operated ocean exploration trust vehicle in the north pacific ocean. the octopus can live at depths of up to 7,000 feet. it surprised those commenting

on the live stream. we will leave you with these pictures, stay with 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 heavy showers in central and western scotland and northern ireland in the rush hour but very few showers in the forecast 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 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 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 bright, 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 strongest 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.

down to the wire, political brinkmanship leaves the us government again on the verge of a shutdown. we'll look at the economic consequences. two—wheeler fever hits india, how motogp's debut in the country has accelerated demand for premium motorcycles. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm arunoday mukharji. we begin in the united states where the government finds itself once again on the verge of a shutdown. us lawmakers have until midnight on september 30 to reach an agreement on a spending bill, before funding for government services is due to dry up. the impasse comes as a group of republicans in the house of representatives are using the issue as leverage to extract

additional spending cuts in the order of