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#Astronomy #Astrophysics #BBCNews Scientists have picked up shock waves from the orbit of supermassive black holes at the heart of distant galaxies as they begin to merge. This may be the first direct evidence of giant black holes distorting space and time as they spiral in on each other. The theory is that this is how galaxies grow. Now astronomers may soon be able to watch it happen. These distortions are happening all the time, all across the Universe.

#Space #SpaceExploration #BBCNews A European space telescope has launched from Florida on a quest to resolve one of the biggest questions in science: what is the Universe made of? The Euclid mission will make an immense 3D map of the cosmos in an effort to tie down some of the properties of so-called dark matter and dark energy. The €1.4bn (£1.2bn) Euclid telescope went up on a Falcon-9 rocket from Cape Canaveral at 11:12 local time (15:12 GMT/16:12 BST).

Nearly 1,000 people have been arrested across France in a fourth night of rioting after a teenage boy, Nahel M, was killed by a police officer. There have been protests in Marseille, Lyon, Grenoble and some parts of Paris. The 17-year-old’s funeral will be held on Saturday in the Nanterre suburb of the capital.

The Hollywood actors' union and major film studios have agreed to keep working and continue talks until 12th July. This is an effort to prevent strike action. The union wants a new pay deal and safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence.

The US Supreme Court has struck down US President Joe Biden's proposal to wipe out billions in student debt. The 6-3 ruling effectively cancels the plan, which would have forgiven about $10,000 (£7,800) per borrower - and up to $20,000 in some cases. But the plan has been in limbo since some conservative states sued, arguing the president overstepped his authority. The Supreme Court agreed. The decision affects the loans of more than 40 million Americans.

Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro has been barred from running for office for eight years. Mr Bolsonaro was found guilty of abusing his power ahead of last year's presidential poll. He had been accused of undermining Brazilian democracy by falsely claiming that the electronic ballots used were vulnerable to hacking and fraud. Mr Bolsonaro's lawyers are expected to appeal against the verdict.

The French government has said it is considering all options - including declaring a state of emergency - after a third night of escalating violence and rioting in cities and towns across France. Hundreds of police were injured last night and more than 900 people arrested. Ministers asked for public transport across France tonight to be suspended, and some major events have been cancelled as the government tries to stop scenes like this taking place for the fourth night running. The protests began in a Paris suburb on Tuesday when a police officer shot dead a 17-year-old boy of north African descent during a traffic stop in the Nanterre. Footage of the shooting was posted online. The unrest quickly spread across France, fuelled by accusations of police racism and wider discrimination against minority communities. Around 45,000 police officers have been deployed on the streets. Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Katya Adler in Paris.

The Wagner Group is still recruiting fighters across Russia, days after staging a mutiny that led Vladimir Putin to raise fears of civil war, the BBC has found. BBC News journalists called more than a dozen Russian recruitment centres and was told it's business as usual. From Kaliningrad in the west to Krasnodar in the south, no-one believed the group was being disbanded. Last week, mercenary troops led by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin took over the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, marched on Moscow and shot down Russian military helicopters and a plane on their way. Their mutiny was later aborted after a deal was struck.

President Emmanuel Macron said more police will be deployed after three nights of riots across France. The unrest began on Tuesday after police shot dead a 17-year-old boy of Algerian descent, named as Nahel M, as he drove away from a traffic stop in a Parisian suburb. Macron also said parents should keep their children at home, saying it was not the responsibility of the state, but that of parents to keep their children away from the riots.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the nation would emerge "stronger" than before, following an attempted Wagner rebellion. Russia's notorious mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, of the Wagner group, staged an apparent insurrection, sending an armoured convoy towards Moscow. However, by the end of the day, Prigozhin had called the whole thing off and ordered his men back to base. After the failed mutiny, the Russian authorities said Wagner would be disarmed but its members would escape prosecution. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the military could either join the Russian army, go home or go to Belarus.

Shareef Amin was seriously injured fighting with the Ukrainian army has returned to the conflict after recovering in the UK. He was lucky to survive after being hit multiple times by Russian fire on the frontlines. In December he was evacuated to the UK, following surgeries to save his arm and leg in a military hospital in Odessa. "I didn't know whether I'd ever be able to operate as a soldier or a humanitarian again," he said.

At least 667 people have been arrested across France after a third night of violence triggered by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old in Paris. The teenager, named as Nahel M, was shot in his car in the Paris region after failing to stop when ordered to by traffic police. In Paris, shops have been ransacked and cars set on fire despite a heavy police presence. French President Emmanuel Macron will hold another crisis meeting with ministers later after calling the protest violence "unjustifiable".

Former sheriff's deputy Scot Peterson has been found not guilty of failing to protect students when a gunman opened fire at a Florida high school in 2018. He stayed outside during the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, near Miami. Mr Peterson, the school's resource officer, was found not guilty of 11 charges including felony child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury. The attack, among the deadliest at a US school, saw 17 killed and 17 injured.

Violence has broken out for a third night in France as President Macron struggles to contain public anger, following the fatal shooting by police of a teenage boy of north African descent in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris. A police officer has been detained and charged with voluntary homicide. The 17-year-old, named as Nahel M, was shot at point-blank range during a traffic stop. Anger at his killing has sparked violence across the country, with protests in Lille, Toulouse, Lyon, Marseille and Montpellier as well as Paris.

Russia has refused to answer questions about the fate of one of the country's most senior military commanders. Reports have suggested that General Sergei Surovikin is being investigated over possible links to the mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group. He's not been seen since Saturday morning, when Wagner's short-lived rebellion began.

Thames Water, which leaks more water than any other water company in the UK - equivalent to up to 250 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day - is now in danger of financial collapse. Its chief executive resigned unexpectedly on Tuesday and the UK government said it was ready to act in the worse case scenario that Thames Water does go under. So what has gone wrong with the company that supplies water to a quarter of the UK's population? And what does this tell us about the privatisation of the English and Welsh water sector that took place over three decades ago?

The US Supreme Court has ruled that race can no longer be considered a factor in university admissions. The landmark ruling changes decades-old US policies on so-called affirmative action, also known as positive discrimination. It is one of the most contentious issues in US education. Affirmative action first made its way into policy in the 1960s, and has been defended as a measure to increase diversity.

The police officer accused of shooting dead 17-year-old Nahel M in Paris has been charged with voluntary homicide and placed under arrest. It comes after the local prosecutor of Nanterre, where the teen lived and died, said earlier that the officer involved had been put under formal investigation for voluntary homicide. The killing has sparked riots in cities across France as well as in Nanterre. Meanwhile, following the violent protests, a curfew has been announced in some areas of Paris.

D", not his real name, has worked as an illegal moneylender for two decades, and says business has never been so good. He is one of two loan sharks the BBC has spoken to in rare interviews in order to highlight the dangers of people turning to unofficial lenders due to the cost of living. With no paperwork, high interest rates, and sometimes brutal consequences, there is huge risk attached to this type of borrowing. Research shared with BBC Newsnight suggests that the potential client base for it could be expanding.

At least 12 people, including three teenagers, were killed in a deadly missile strike on a popular restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. A restaurant and shopping area were hit in Tuesday's strike on the city, which is under Ukrainian control but close to Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. Fourteen-year-old twin sisters Yuliya and Anna Aksenchenko and a 17-year-old girl were among those killed. Kramatorsk, an eastern city in the Donetsk region, is under Ukrainian control but it is close to Russian-occupied parts of the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said an alleged Russian agent involved in the deadly attack in Kramatorsk would be charged with treason.

An alleged Russian agent involved in the deadly attack in Kramatorsk will be charged with treason, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Those helping Russia destroy lives deserve the "maximum penalty", he said. Twelve people, including three teenagers, were killed in Tuesday's missile strike on a popular restaurant. Ukraine said the man, a resident of Kramatorsk, sent video footage of the restaurant to the Russian military hours before it was destroyed.

Corruption in Iraq has “decreased” over the last two years, Iraq’s President Abdul Latif Rashid has said. In his first English-speaking TV interview since taking office in October, President Abdul Latif Rashid spoke about the new period of relative “peace and stability” Iraq is experiencing. When asked about reports of entrenched “corruption and political patronage” in the nation, he said “serious action” has been taken against corruption. Twenty years since US troops invaded Iraq, the country's president has said it is now turning a new page. On the question of maintaining bilateral Iran relations without violating US sanctions against Iran, he said the balance of the relationship was not “complicated more than with any other countries”.

Warning: There are graphic images in this film There were reports that President Putin had to be talked out of killing his former ally - the head of the mercenary Wagner Group Yezgeny Prigozhin, and that Mr Prigozhin had expected the Russian army to change sides to support him. That's according to the Belarus leader President Lukashenko who's given asylum to Mr Prigozhin as part of the deal to end the revolt. He was speaking at a press conference yesterday. President Putin meanwhile tried to paint a picture of life returning to normal. The Russian authorities said Wagner will be disarmed but its members will escape prosecution over its short-lived rebellion.

The UK government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda has been ruled unlawful by the Court of Appeal. The five-year trial - announced in April 2022 - would see some asylum seekers in the UK sent to Rwanda on a one-way ticket, to claim asylum there. In December, the High Court dismissed a series of legal challenges to the government's plan. But several individual asylum seekers and the charity Asylum Aid took the case to the Court of Appeal, which has ruled that the policy is unlawful. However, its decision could be challenged in the Supreme Court.

At least 150 people have been arrested across France after a second night of violence triggered by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old in Paris. The teenager, named as Nahel M, was shot in his car in the Paris region after failing to stop when ordered to by traffic police. French President Emmanuel Macron came out quickly and strongly in support of the family of the teenager calling his shooting by police "inexplicable and inexcusable". In Nanterre, where Nahel was shot, vehicles were set on fire and police fired tear gas.