welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: demands for moscow to explain what happened to alexei navalny

as german doctors say he was poisoned with a nerve agent. this is directly leading to the russians. they are the only ones who have ever made this stuff, they are the only ones who have been known to use it before. fourteen go on trial in france over the deadly attack on the satirical magazine charlie hebdo, five years ago. what happens when two black holes collide? scientists may have found the answer, and it's challenging the laws of physics. and as harry and meghan strike a deal with netflix what programmes are they likely to make? there has been international condemnation of russia after the german government said a military—grade nerve

agent was used to poison the prominent kremlin critic, alexei navalny. chancellor angela merkel, said only the russian government could explain how mr navalny had come into contact with the novichok nerve agent. mr navalny was airlifted to berlin in a coma afterfalling ill on a flight last month. his team says he was poisoned on the orders of president putin. our security correspondent gordon corera reports. alexei navalny has been the most prominent opposition figure in russia, campaigning against corruption. a thorn in the kremlin‘s side, he's been arrested and had his offices raided. but soon after being pictured drinking tea at a siberian airport in august, he fell suddenly and violently ill on a flight to moscow. russian doctors said there was no sign of foul play and his blood sugar had simply dropped. but, amidst growing pressure, he was airlifted to berlin, where he remains in a coma. and today angela merkel revealed he'd been poisoned with a novichok nerve

agent. translation: we expect the russian government to give an explanation. there are now grave questions which only the russian government can and must answer. and the prime minister said on twitter tonight: novichok is the same type of nerve agent used in salisbury in 2018. secretly developed by moscow in the cold war, western intelligence believe it was turned into a tool for assassination and smeared on a door handle belonging to former russian spy, sergei skripal, poisoning him and his daughter in salisbury. they survived, but a local woman, dawn sturgess, was killed months later when she picked up a discarded perfume bottle used to transport the agent. the use of such

a rare substance was crucial then and now in pointing the finger at the russian state. well on the face of it, it would appear that they just don't care who knows. this is directly leading to the russians. they're the only ones who have ever made this stuff, they're the only ones we've ever known who have used it before. and the other thing to consider, it took 18 months to clean up salisbury. if this stuff is lying around the airport where he was poisoned, or his hotel, there's a huge threat to the local population. today's revelations strengthens the evidence alexei navalny was targeted by the russian state. the question now is how the international community will respond. joining me now with more on this story is alexey muraviev, professor of national security and strategic studies at curtin university in perth. thank you very much for your time. what do you think happened here and why?m

time. what do you think happened here and why? it is a complicated case and obviously allegations have been thrown and compared with what happened in salisbury. however the circumstances are different. if there is going to be an error it will be the russian government who had an interest in neutralising navalny by injecting him with novichok. it would be more difficult for the west to develop some sort of compelling case because contrary to salisbury, that alleged poisoning took place in russia against the russian national rather than something that was carried out on foreign soil and that could be interpreted as an internal matter. i would propose that if navalny was not deliberately poisoned it is more to do with putin's concerns about navalny and the kremlin‘s concerns about navalny being such an outspoken critic. and looking

at what has been happening in belarus and how alexander lukashenko, the belarusian president as pointed to navalny as perhaps a driver behind the mass protests in minsk and other places in belarus. effectively acting as an inspiration to the belarusian opposition that continues to challenge the outcome of the presidential election in belarus. do you think there will be any real comeback for it? there will pressure on germany to cancel their nord strea m germany to cancel their nord stream project. it is something that i think has been in the works and something that certainly has been widely discussed because the strategic project is in the final stages and there has been a suspension of work due to the us targeted sanctions on companies involved

in the project. until now, germany was the country who continue to resist the pressure from the united states to cancel the project and now it may actually give either the germans or could cause the germans or could cause the german chancellor angela merkel to respond in some way and as i have said before it is a different case compared to the poisoning in salisbury and so a simple imposition of sanctions may not necessarily work so there may be another way for there may be another way for the west to come back at russia, not only because of navalny but what they are doing right now in respect to the crisis in belarus. this opens up crisis in belarus. this opens up an crisis in belarus. this opens up an avenue crisis in belarus. this opens up an avenue for crisis in belarus. this opens up an avenue for a response crisis in belarus. this opens up an avenue for a response in a variety of ways. whatever the exact ci rcu msta nces a variety of ways. whatever the exact circumstances here and in the salisbury case, do you think it would seem likely we will see more use of novichok?

if we are to assume that the russian authorities have gotten into the habit of using toxic agents to get rid of charismatic figures then, yes, the answer is yes. i think the russians will continue to deny any involvement and i think it would probably cause yet another political stir and it will all very much depend on the implications and the fallout from that particular crisis. what will come out of that. i think an expectation that. i think an expectation that the kremlin will come out and say we are sorry, you know, we messed this up and we promise never to do it again is highly unlikely so i think the russians, if the russians will continue to do it there will a lwa ys continue to do it there will always continue to do with strong plausible deniability and that narrative and it will bea and that narrative and it will be a matter of who believes what and whatever happens, the west will always be

finger—pointing at the russians and the russians will counterpoint at the west blaming western propaganda for making russia look like it is on fire. thank you very much. a trial has started in paris 01:14 people charged with supporting the fatal terror attacks on the french satirical magazine, charlie hebdo, and ajewish supermarket, in 2015. after the magazine printed cartoons of the prophet mohamed, three islamist gunmen stormed the charlie hebdo office and shot and killed 17 employees. the trial is expected to clarify what really happened and why. lucy williamson reports from paris. they arrived today, 11 men dwarfed by the security and symbolism around this trial — the state reclaiming its authority over those who, prosecutors say, helped terrorise france. sitting behind security screens they heard the charges — complicity, weapons procurement, membership of a terrorist group.

the events at the heart of this trial are seared into the national memory of france, but the people standing in the dock today are almost completely unknown, suspected of being small backroom accomplices and the only remaining links to the violence that erupted five years ago. the violence in 2015 stunned france. 17 people were gunned down in targeted attacks during three days of cold—blooded killing, followed with disbelief on live television. the widow of one cartoonist killed in the charlie hebdo attack said she had been haunted ever since by nightmares of her husband's killers. translation: the defendants are the ones in the dock, but behind them are the kouachi brothers. it's cherif kouachi who i will see. the trial is going to be traumatising, but in the end it might help. i'm asking myself if it will bring healing. i'm not

sure. as france remembers the victims of these attacks, the government said this week that the risk remains extremely high. we should not become the victims ourselves of terrorists, by thinking that islam is not compatible with what the french republic is. the trap of the terrorists is precisely to create oppositions, to create tensions and divisions that we would hate each other, we should refuse that. charlie hebdo this week reprinted the cartoons of mohammed that originally made it a target for jihadist violence. five years ago, france expressed its grief through solidarity with the paper. but its brash, belligerent satire is also a reminder that whatever conclusions this trial may reach, it won't settle debate around the rights and limits to freedom of speech. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris.

the united states has imposed further sanctions on the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court, fatou bensouda. the secretary of state, mike pompeo, has described the icc as a kangaroo court, accusing it of targeting americans by continuing its investigation into possible us war crimes in afghanistan. the court said it was an unprecedented and serious attack on the international criminal justice system and the rule of law. 0ur washington correspondent, nomia iqbal, has more details. this all began earlier in the year after the international criminal court announced it was going to investigate alleged crimes committed by the united states and others in the afghan conflict. as you said there, mike pompeo was not happy about it. he vowed to protect americans from this and said it was truly breathtaking action, calling it a kangaroo court. in june, president trump imposed travel restrictions on fatou bensouda, the main chief prosecutor and her colleague and as we have now seen

they have gone a step further. isn't it unusual for sanctions to be applied like this against an individual representing an international organisation? i know the un has condemned it. what is likely to happen next? the biggest question is that donald trump has a history of sacking institutions he does not like, look at the world health 0rganization as an example. recently announcing he is pulling out funding. but what human rights group says different about this, apart from going after another institution, one committed to defending, dedicated to criminaljustice by going after individuals who are simply doing theirjob and they say this undermines the global effort to protect human rights defenders and potentially sets a bad example for other countries around the world. stay with us on bbc news,

still to come: curfews in cuba. hava na's latest efforts in curbing coronavirus. she received the nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and the dying in india's slums. the head of the catholic church said mother teresa was a wonderful example of how to help people in need. we have to identify the bodies, then arrange the coffins and take them back home. parents are waiting and wives are waiting. hostages appeared. some carried, some running, trying to escape the nightmare behind them. britain lost a princess today, described by all to whom she reached out as irreplaceable. an early morning car crash

in a paris underpass ended a life with more than its share of pain and courage, warmth and compassion. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the german government says there is unequivocal evidence that the russian 0pposition leader alexei navalny was poisoned with novichok. the kremlin says there is no proof to support the claim. 1a people have gone on trial in paris, charged with helping the gunmen who carried out the attacks on the french satirical magazine, charlie hebdo. health officials across the us have reportedly been notified that they should expect a coronavirus vaccine available to health workers and high—risk groups by late october or early november, amid concerns the accelerated vaccine development process has become politicized.

the ambitious timeline has raised concern among public health experts about an "october surprise". we can now speak to saskia popescu who is a hospital epidemiologist and infection preventionist and serves on the federation of american scientists coronavirus task force. thank you very much for your time. what are your concerns about this. the documents, as they understand it, don't necessarily mean a vaccine will be available by late october? no, the documents are essentially telling hospitals that they should be prepared to distribute vaccine, to workers like healthcare workers, (audio gap), which is airily close to the november three election date copy we are having some problems with the connection, but let's press on. i hope you

can hear me all right. is that you're concerned that corners are being cut on safety? very much so. currently what the vaccine is and takes years to get through. pushing it through this quickly is a safety concern. if there is a safety concern. if there is a safety concern or a perception that it might be, that could affect ta ke might be, that could affect take up, if fewer people are willing to take it? exactly the concern is that we are not only going to have safety issues, because we don't have the data to support rolling up vaccines so to support rolling up vaccines so fast, but also this could negatively impact trust in vaccines. there is of course a presidential election on november the third, are you suggesting that all this is being rushed because it would look good for the election?” hope not, but it's very hard not to see politics playing into the. i think that the very

real concern for many in public health, science and the cdc, there is a lot of concerns with them pushing this up. how real is the risk that people may be damaged by this process? it's too early to tell, it's too early to have enough data to say if it could be safely rolled up to that many people. that's why it takes so long and we need to let it take that long and go through all the safety protocols. but as you understand it, it is going to be rolled out, is it? it might very well be. these vaccines would still need to have emergency authorisation, and basically they have to be approved, so that would have to happen in the next month, which is very, very quick for them to prove that they can get to that point. we might be getting ahead of ourselves but supposing there are problems, how will we know? presumably they could take years to emerge. exactly, which is why we don't want to rush this. vaccines in that phase

three ta ke vaccines in that phase three take1— four vaccines in that phase three take 1— four years to go through this so that we can make sure that there is no long—term implications and that this is the last thing we want to be rushing. so i am hopeful that we won't do that and we will push past november to roll it out. thank you very much for your time it out. thank you very much for yourtime and it out. thank you very much for your time and expertise. the cuban government has imposed a night—time curfew on the capital, havana, as authorities struggle to contain the latest coronavirus outbreak. it did look as if cuba had controlled covid—19, but in recent weeks there has been a surge of new cases. now, people have been ordered to remain in their homes at night, for two weeks. from havana, will grant. havana is under curfew — not by day, as people still venture out to find food or in some cases, continue to go to work. but at night, the streets of the cuban capital are completely deserted. from 7pm until 5am, for at least the next two weeks, people must remain in their homes — as the

authorities attempt to bring this latest outbreak of coronavirus back under control. now, cuba had been praised for its response to covid—19 and for containing its local infection rates. indeed, in one day injuly, they registered no deaths and no new infections. however, since then, they've gradually seen the numbers creep up, which has forced the communist run government into these latest measures. they include a halt on national tourism and only certain vehicles are allowed to circulate the streets. the governments say that people welcome these stringent new measures, as they want to see the outbreak brought back under control. but on the streets, they were greeted with mixed emotions. translation: the queues are much longer than the supplies available in stores. if they carry on only stocking some stores in havana with food and not all of them,

then people will keep flocking to those shops. it will be terrible, and covid will keep spreading. translation: there are many basic goods which aren't available everywhere. i think all neighbourhoods must be treated equally to avoid problems of too many people crowding around the same place. translation: the curfew measures are good. i agree that they're necessary, but i don't agree with the rule that says we can only buy products in our local neighbourhoods. some of us have spent hours queuing for nothing. as well as the night—time curfew, residents of havana can only purchase goods in their own municipalities — something which complicates matters for many, especially those living in the poorest neighbourhoods. now, it's worth remembering that even at its height, cuba's coronavirus outbreak is far more controlled than those in hot spots in the region,

like brazil and mexico. nevertheless, the island's healthcare system is stretched to its limits, and the government is well aware that it simply can't afford a major second wave. will grant, bbc news, havana. they are perhaps the greatest mystery of the universe. black holes, where matter is so densely packed it creates a gravitational pull so strong, not even light can escape. on wednesday scientists announced they had discovered one of the largest ever, 17 billion light years away. this from our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. it was the most powerful explosion ever detected, the collision of two massive black holes. it happened halfway across the universe, and its blast was felt on earth. this is where it was detected, in louisiana. it looks like an oil pipeline, but inside it are sophisticated instruments designed to

detect black hole collisions. when we saw this for the first time, of course, this was incredibly exciting, because it pushes to the limits our understanding of the origin of these black holes and opens up new ways of, you know, investigating the creation and evolution of such massive stellar objects. black holes matter on earth, because they're the reason the life here exists. their extreme gravity pulls together stars and planets to form galaxies. by understanding how they collide, scientists hope to learn how the universe was built. a black hole is created when a star collapses in on itself, but the new one is too large to have been produced that way. so scientists think it was a merger of two black holes to produce one that was 85 times the mass of our sun. scientists also observed it merge with another black hole to produce an even larger monster of 142 solar masses.

that sent a shock wave across the universe with the explosive power of eight suns. that's powerful enough to have been detected 100 billion trillion miles away on earth. each black hole is many times the mass of the sun, so tightly packed they're just a few hundred miles across. black holes have an important part to play in helping us understand how galaxies form and evolve, and indeed how the universe evolves, but there are significant gaps in that story which this detection will begin to help us plug. gigantic black holes lie at the heart of galaxies, including our own milky way. this is a photograph of one taken last year. we now know that they're created by smaller ones coming together from across the vastness of space to become bigger and bigger. pallab ghosh, bbc news. netflix is saying it

has signed a deal with britain's prince harry and his wife meghan to produce programmes. financial details have not been released, but it will involve documentaries, feature films, scripted shows and childrens' programming. the duke and duchess of sussex say their focus will be on content which informs but also gives hope. it isa it is a deal is structured a lot like the 0bama's and for anyone who is a fan of meghan on the hit usa show suits, she will not be returning to acting but her and harry may be appearing in some documentaries. so they have been speaking to various different media organisations. of course, they did something with disney, but what happened there? how can they didn't stay with them? they were in talks with them? they were in talks with a lot of networks including disney and apple, and meghan's first post— royal

project was a documentary with disney. prince harry is already executive producing something with apple netflix ended up, to my knowledge, being the one that would pay the most for the couple, and they've got a lot of stuff to look forward to. do you reckon it was basically about who will cough up the most to get them? of course they have bought a very expensive home in the united states, i guess they got to make some money now. they haven't confirmed what the deal ended up being. there are estimates that it was north of $100 million. ism that it was based a lot on, yes, pricetag but also creative control and how they can best tell their story. that's it for now, thank you so much for watching.

hello. it will be a much milder end to the night, that is because we've picked up atlantic weather fronts as more cloud around. and although that is clearing away for many, we will still have quite a cool and brisk breeze with showers coming in on that atlantic wind. these are the weather fronts i've talked about, some heavy, thundery rain for a time through the night. this cold weather front is bringing some more persistent rain southwards and to the south of that it is very misty. low cloud is shrouding the hills and headlands in fog, but it was three or four degrees on wednesday morning in some areas in suffolk. so it will be a milder start, but a grey one for some. already, though, the brighter skies are with us for scotland, northern ireland, northern england, filtering through wales in the morning, into the midlands in the afternoon, but the more appreciable rain could linger into the second part of the afternoon further south and the cloud towards evening as well. but we will still see temperatures into the high teens in the low 20s, and obviously with some sunshine in north—eastern areas of both scotland and north—east england, feeling pleasant enough, but there will be a near—gale force wind in the far north—west of scotland, most will have a breezier day than wednesday.

that breeze will blow the cloud in the rain away from the south on friday, continue to push showers into the north and west but actually, through into friday morning it will be chillier to start, so much milder this morning but a chilly one again on friday morning. there is some uncertainty on the details for friday regarding the rain. still sunny spells and showers, possibly more of them in the north on friday, but this area of rain may push in across southern parts of england and wales, through the second half or during through the day and it's just uncertain as to how much we are going to get. so we'll firm up on details with time. as that then clears away the weekend is set up with low pressure to the north and a brisk north—westerly wind. high—pressure starting to build into the south—west. but again, it's a chilly direction so if anything, temperatures will be suppressed a little bit more this weekend, just the mid to high teens for most, and showers continuing, possibly something a little wetter later in the day in northern ireland but at this stage, the devil is in the details but if that does develop that could push further southwards during saturday night and into sunday, bringing more showers across england and wales

potentially, by that stage. either side of that, some drier brighter weather, still quite cool in that brisk north—westerly wind, high still into the high teens. as ever, there's more online including the warnings.

this is bbc news. the headlines: russia is facing demands for a full investigation into what happened to the outspoken kremlin critic, alexei navalny. the german government is saying it has unequivocal proof he was poisoned with a novichok nerve agent — the same substance used in the attack on the skripals in salisbury

in 2018. 111 people have gone on trial in paris charged with helping the gunmen who attacked the french satirical magazine, charlie hebdo, and ajewish supermarket five years ago. over a three day period, three men killed 17 people before being shot dead by police. an international team of scientists has detected a huge gravitational shockwave caused, they believe, by the merging of two black holes. the discovery challenges current theories of physics, raising the possibility that black holes merge often across the vastness of space. it is about 2:30am. time now for wednesday in parliament.