Hello and welcome to bbc news. There is unequivocal proof that the russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a novichok nerve agent. Thats the finding of the German Government which says mr navalny was the victim of attempted murder and the world was looking to russia for answers. Mr navalny was airlifted to berlin in a coma after falling ill on a flight last month. His team says he was poisoned on the orders of president putin but the kremlin denies the allegation. Novichok was used to poison the former russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the uk in 2018. Our security correspondent Gordon Corera reports. Alexei navalny has been the most prominent opposition figure in russia, campaigning against corruption. A thorn in the kremlins side, hes 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 hed 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 stu rgess, was killed months later when she picked up a 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 dont care who knows. This is directly leading to the russians. Theyre the only ones whove ever made this stuff, theyre the only ones weve ever known who have used it before. And the other thing to consider, it took 18 months to clean up salisbury. You know, if this stuff is lying around the airport where he was poisoned, or his hotel, theres a huge threat to the local population. Todays revelations strengthens the evidence Alexei Navalny was targeted by the russian state. The question now is how the International Community will respond. Gordon correra, bbc news. Steve rosenberg is our moscow correspondent he explained how the kremlin has reacted to the accusations. The reaction from moscow is pretty much what weve come to expect from here, really not guilty, you know, we heard from the Russian Foreign ministry which said that germany had provided no evidence, no facts that this was an Information Campaign against russia. The kremlins reaction, poison, what poison . No poison was found in his body, the kremlin said before he was airlifted to germany. And we have this kind of thing time and time again here whenever russia is accused by the west of doing something undeeradimir putin, the default reaction here is to deny it, to try to confuse, to try to muddy the waters. We saw that in salisbury, we saw that with accusations of russian meddling in the us elections, accusations of russian intervention in ukraine. But a denial isnt going to convince chancellor merkel or president macron, but does russia care . Increasingly, i get the impression that russia doesnt care what the west thinks about it. Steve rosenberg bear, reporting from moscow. Here in england and wales, millions of pupils have started to return to their classrooms. For many of them its the first day back since march after the unprecedented shutdown during the coronavirus pandemic. Schools will look different, with one way systems, screens keeping pupils apart and staggered start times. It comes as the exam regulator blamed ministers for the last months controversy over exam results. Our education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. First day at secondary school in a pandemic, teachers keen to reassure them. I spoke to a few of you and its completely normal for you to feel really nervous, to have a funny feeling in your tummy, perhaps, feeling a little bit tense. Each day, they will be in their year group bubble. Some of the year 7s told me theyve missed a lot. It feels like im not old enough because we missed loads of year 6, so its pretty weird but its all right at the same time. It feels like i forgot a lot of things, since i havent been to school in a long time. Maybe in the next couple of years, theres going to be some baseline stuff that we dont really know because we missed it in year 6. Before they sit down to learn, a bit of cleaning, a lot for schools to manage. The head teacher worrying about the year ahead. Shes still angry about this years grades crisis, not impressed with an apology from the regulator. Quual should have been very mindful that weve got to make sure that this cohort of children are not prevented from moving on and that should have been paramount. So the fact that theyre saying they didnt give that enough consideration, i think, is really quite disgusting. And he was a witch hunter, of all the jobs he could be, he was a witch hunter. Theyll work for five years towards gcse exams. To each child, their future grade is important. This year, an algorithm put the system first an admission today to mps it was a mistake. To say this was fair just fails to recognise what happened to students. Just the level of accuracy that was fundamentally possible with the information that was available was too low to be acceptable to individuals. There were warnings it could put schools like this at a disadvantage. Today, the Prime Minister wouldnt be drawn on what he knew, but said they acted quickly when the problems became clear. But ministers were told that socially distanced exams were the best option. Our second option was to delay exams, but the third option, if neither of these were acceptable, would be to have to try and get some form of calculated grade. So, the decision to cancel exams was ta ken by the education secretary, against the advice of the regulator, announced without warning. Today, the government insisted it had no choice. Its been a tiring first day but theyre happy. This morning ifelt scared because its such a big school and i was at a tiny school but now that ive got to know different people and i know where im meant to be, its just felt good. For ministers, theres a long autumn term ahead. Bra nwen jeffreys, bbc news, market drayton. A trial has started in paris of fourteen people charged with supporting the fatal terror attacks on the french satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, and a jewish supermarket, in 2015. After the magazine printed cartoons of the prophet muhammad, three islamist gunmen stormed the Charlie Hebdo office and shot and killed seventeen 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 accomplishes 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 husbands killers. Translation the defendants are the ones in the dock, but behind them are the kouachi brothers. Its Cherif Kouachi who i will see. The trial is going to be traumatising, but in the end it might help. Im asking myself if it will bring healing. Im 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 wont 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 CriminalJustice System and the rule of law. This week, the cuban government has imposed a night time curfew on the capital, havana, as the authorities struggle to contain the latest outbreak of coronavirus. Cuba had previously thought it had controlled covid 19, but in recent weeks there has been a surge in new cases. Now, people have been ordered to remain in their homes at night for two weeks. From havana, will grant reports. 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, theyve 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 arent 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 theyre necessary, but i dont 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, its worth remembering that even at its height, cu bas coronavirus outbreak is far more controlled than those in hot spots in the region, like brazil and mexico. Nevertheless, the islands Healthcare System is stretched to its limits, and the government is well aware that it simply cant afford a major second wave. Will grants bbc news, havana. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come is the best man for a crisis actually a woman . Why researchers say female leaders were better at dealing with the pandemic. She received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the poor and the dying in indias 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 headlines the German Government says there is unequivocal evidence that the russian Opposition LeaderAlexei 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. Does the sex of your leader have an effect on how well your country has responded to the coronavirus pandemic . It might surprise you to learn that researchers say female president s and Prime Ministers coped better with the key difference being putting a lockdown in place earlier than their male counterparts. According to recent research by the universities of liverpool and reading, countries led by women had fewer covid deaths than those led by men. The study looked at the number of covid 19 cases and deaths in 194 countries of which only 19 were led by women. Heres how three female leaders made their mark. Taiwans president tsai ing wen imposed a Swift Response to the outbreak, keeping the number of deaths down to just seven. New zealand, led by jacinda ardern, has also suffered only a handful of covid related deaths. Some point out that the countrys geographical location has also been a factor. And chancellor Angela Merkel s government has seen germany suffer far less than its western european neighbours including the uk, which is isolated with only one land border. But is it really the gender or is it geography or the state of the Health Care System . Sopriya garykeparti is a developmental economist at Liverpool University and co author of a report looking into this. All of these variables that you mention do matter. So, what we did is matched female lead countries with male lead countries using all the variables that you just mentioned. And its only after we match countries in that way with their nearest neighbour our comparisons tell us that female lead countries certainly did have a better covid 19 case fewer covid 19 cases and fewer covid deaths. In fact, our results on covid deaths are more prominent than the results on covid cases which tells us that female lead countries may have been equally hard hit by the virus, but they managed it better. So, was there something overwhelming that these female leaders were doing that lead them to manage this situation better . Yes, i mean, our results suggest that female leaders locked down significantly quicker than male lead countries. Not only were they very quick and decisive about locking down, but they also communicated their strategies better. So, depending on the specification that we look at female lead countries lock down 22 25 deaths earlier than male lead countries did. And that may have made just that difference which we find has determined their performance over the First Quarter of the pandemic. They seem to have communicated their strategies as well quite clearly using interpersonal style, and perhaps citizens have responded really better to that interpersonal style of communication. Fascinating report there. They are perhaps the greatest mystery of the universe. Black holes where matter is so densely packed it creates a gravitational pull Strong Enough that not even light can escape. On wednesday scientists announced they had discovered one of the largest ever and its 17 billion light years away, as our science correspondent, pallab ghosh, reports. Black holes are the monsters of the universe. Their gravity is so strong that not even light can escape. They suck in all thats around them, destroying stars and planets in their wake. This pipe in louisiana is actually part of a sophisticated black hole detecting network of instruments. It detects gravity waves, ripples in space time. Recently, it detected a black hole that was so large, it shouldnt exist. When we saw this for the first time and that it was such a heavy object, 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 investigating the creation and evolution of such massive stellar objects. A black hole is created when a star collapses in on itself, but the new one was too large to have been produced that way. Instead, scientists think it was a merger of two black holes to produce one that was 85 times the mass of our sun. Scientists observed it merging 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, powerful enough to have been detected 100 billion trillion miles away on earth. The discovery suggests that across the vastness of space, black holes merge often, and keep merging to become bigger and bigger. The American Video streaming giant netflix says it has signed a deal with britains prince harry and his wife meghan to produce programmes. The agreement will last for several years though the financial details have not been released. It will involve documentaries, feature films, scripted shows and childrens programming. In a statement, the duke and duchess of sussex said their focus would be on content which informs but which also gives hope. In a statement, netflix Ceo Ted Sarandos said. So what can we expect to see as a result of this deal . Carly ledbetter covers the British Royal family for the huffington post. It will be structured a lot like the 0bamas. And anyone for who is a fan of meghan on the hit network show suits, both she and harry could appear in front of the camera for some documentaries, much like we have seen prince harry during his recent appearance on the netflix documentary, rising phoenix. So, they have been speaking to various different media organisations. Of course, they did something with disney, what happened there, how come they didnt stay with them . You know, they were in talks with a lot of networks, including disney and apple. You know, meghans 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, you know, would pay the most for the couple. Yeah, they have got a lot of stuff to look forward to. So, do you reckon it was basically about who will cough up the most to get them . Of course, theyve bought a very expensive home in the United States. I guess theyve got to make some money now. You know, they havent confirmed what the deal ended up being. There are estimates that it was north of 100 million. I would assume that its based a lot on, yes, price tag, but also creative control, and how they can best tell their story. Now, when it comes to the contents, they wanted to be hopeful. They also talk about, you know, seeing as they are new parents about something to do with families. Will we know what kind of issues they are going to be looking up. Of course, the 0bama is, the documentary they were supporting one in 0scar. Yes. We know that they want inspirational programming, as they said that they are the parents of young child. When they signed with their speaking agency, the harry walker agency, they said that they were going to be focusing on mental health, the environment, Racial Injustice and gender equity. So we are going to see those themes pop up with their work. And also, we will see how it overlaps with what their new nonprofit is doing. It will be interesting to see what they get up to. Our thanks for that. Theres been a shock exit in round two of the us open. Top seed, karolina pliskova, knocked out by Caroline Garcia in straight sets. Pliskova dropped the first; six, one, before mounting a fightback in the second set. She was unable to take it to a third though, garcia, clinching the match in a tie break. And clearly thrilled with the upset win. Shellfacejennifer brady in round three. And finally have you ever wondered what it would be like to get carried away by a bunch of balloons . Well take a look at this in his latest stunt renowned daredevil david blaine ascended more than 7 7600 7600 metres into the arizona sky, hanging only from a cluster of jumbo sized balloons. Its an altitude usually reserved for commercial planes and birds so blaine needed an oxygen mask for his safety. Thats it for me. Thanks for watching. Hello. Itll be a much milder end to the night. Thats because weve picked up atlantic weather fronts with more cloud around. 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 that ive 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 shrouded the hills in fog. It was 3 4 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 with us for scotland, for northern ireland, for northern england, filtering through wales in the morning, into the midlands in the afternoon. But the more appreciable rain could just linger into the second part of the afternoon further south and the cloud towards evening as well. But we will still see temperatures in the high teens and low 20s. 0bviously, with some sunshine in northeastern areas of both scotland and northeast england, feeling pleasant enough. But there will be a near Gale Force Wind in the far northwest of scotland, and most will have a breezier day than wednesday. That breeze will blow the cloud and 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. Now, there is some uncertainty on the detail for friday regarding the rain. Still sunny spells, showers, possibly more in the north on friday, but this area of rain may push in across sourthern parts of england and wales through the second half, or during through the day, and itsjust uncertain as to how much were going to get more details with time. As that then clears away, the weekend to set up with low pressure to the north and a brisk northwesterly wind High Pressure starting to build into the southwest. But, again, its a chilly direction, so if anything, temperatures will be suppressed a little bit more this weekend just mid high teens for most. Showers continuing, possibly something a little wetter later in the day in northern ireland, but at this stage, the devils in the detail. But if that does develope, it could well with that northwesterly wind 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, brighterweather, still quite cool in that brisk northwesterly wind. Highs still into the high teens. As ever, more online, including the warnings. Novichok this is bbc news, the headlines. Russia is facing demands for a full investigation into what happened to the outspoken kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny. Germany says it has proven he was poisoned with a novichok nerve agent the same type of substance used in an attack in salisbury in 2018. 1a people have gone on trial in paris, charged with helping the gunmen who carried out attacks on french satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, and a jewish supermarket five years ago. Three men killed 17 people across a three day period before being shot dead by police. Scientists have discovered a black hole so large that it challenges current theories of physics. Its more than 100 times the mass of the sun, and will change our understanding of how black holes are created. Those are the headlines on bbc news. Mike will be here at the top of the