The first picture of a black hole, released in 2019, shows the glowing ring around the supermassive black hole at the centre of galaxy M87, 55 million light-years away. Taking it meant linking radio telescopes across the planet into one Earth-sized instrument, comparable to photographing a doughnut on the Moon. Because the telescope array is sparse, the image has to be reconstructed from incomplete data, and some scientists doubted the ring's fine details. An Australian team has now re-analysed the original data with a new method that uses triplets of telescope signals, which cancels errors from the atmosphere and instruments. Their independent result confirms the ring and adds a fresh view of its structure.

Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka handed his resignation to parliament after questions were raised about his eligibility for office and his academic credentials. Gibran is the son of former president Joko Widodo, and his resignation came as Widodo publicly backed the president, Prabowo Subianto. Gibran had been elected vice president in 2024 as Prabowo's running mate. His candidacy was made possible by a 2023 Constitutional Court ruling on the minimum age for candidates, which was itself controversial. Parliament will now consider the resignation.

Angkor, near Siem Reap in northern Cambodia, was the capital of the Khmer Empire, which ruled much of mainland Southeast Asia between roughly the 9th and 15th centuries. At its height the city spread across about 3,000 square kilometres, making it the largest pre-industrial city on Earth by area. Its growth depended on water: huge reservoirs called barays, along with canals and embankments, stored monsoon rain and carried it to rice fields. That system let farmers harvest more than once a year and fed a very large population through the dry season. The temple complex of Angkor Wat, built in the early 12th century, is the best-known monument and still stands at the heart of the park.