this is bbc news. these are the top stories developing at 11. the a—level results are out and they show students have been awarded the highest proportion of a's and a—stars since 2012 — with more than a quarter of entries awarded the top grades this year. 0h, oh, my god, i've done it. oh, my god, i'm going to cry. italy declares a state of emergency following the bridge collapse in genoa in which at least 38 people are known to have died. in the past hour, the england rugby player, danny cipriani, has pleaded guilty to common assault and resisting arrest following an incident at a nightclub injersey. around 100 whales keep getting stuck in a fjord in iceland. police helped them get out of the fjord, in the west of the country. but less than 2a hours later they were back again,

and needed help again # time goes by so slowly.# she's sold more than 300 million records worldwide over a career spanning 35 years, and today, the original material girl turns 60. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales and northern ireland have been recieving their a—level results this morning. more than one in four a levels were graded a or a* this year, the highest proportion for six years. boys lead girls in the top grades for the second year running.

in england, most a—levels have been reformed — in a move away from coursework and returning to students being marked on final exams only. 0ur correspondent elaine dunkley has been down at a sixth form college in birkenhead where teenagers have been getting their results. there have been major changes to a—levels with a move to coursework, away from that, to modular exams. a lot of the students have seen two yea rs of ha rd lot of the students have seen two years of hard work coming down to exam. how did you get on? i'm really proud of what i have achieved. it's beena proud of what i have achieved. it's been a difficult year for me and i achieved a b, c and ad. and been a difficult year for me and i achieved a b, cand a.d. and i been a difficult year for me and i achieved a b, c and ad. and i got accepted into my first choice university at queens to do law and i'm really looking forward to my

future. how did you get on? i got b, b,c future. how did you get on? i got b, b, candl future. how did you get on? i got b, b, c and i was so nervous. it turned out i had nothing to worry about. i am going to my first choice university of huddersfield and it's where i really wanted to go when i was looking around universities. i'm really proud of myself getting in. there's been a lot of changes to a—levels. did it have an impact?” think doing it all at the end of two years was difficult for me because my memory is not the best thing in the world so i had to do a lot of work and revision and there was a lot of late nights staying up and putting in the work, because when you go home there's a lot of distractions. in the end, it paid off, but at the time i found it difficult, so i'm proud. hannah, i know you had a sleepless night and we re know you had a sleepless night and were logging on early to find out how you got on. i was up three minutes before the 6am time when the results came out, the longest three

minutes of my life, but such a relief to get the three a—level a grades i needed to get to oxford. lot of changes you as well. was it difficult for students? was difficult for students? was difficult because we had to do the exams at as—level, so we had to do the same exams again and then the a2 exams, so the same exams again and then the a2 exams, so all the exams were done and then there were new ones. no matter how well we did in the first year, it only mattered how we did at the end of the year, so i have had a few friends who have done the same exam, but this year she got a c, but if last year have counted it would have helped her. the hard work does pay off in the end? how much work did you put in? i put in as much work as i physically could and i was doing a btec and it's a bit different, and on the assignments i

tried my hardest and i've got my first choice university. we also have mark kirkbride, the principle. this year is the a* grades have gone down, but what have yours been like? add our results have been up, so despite the changes we have about 16% of students getting an a grade. we were actually the top performing couegein we were actually the top performing college in the region last year and we have upped that a little bit. what we have to remember is for all of these young people, are the exams more difficult than the previous year? they probably are more difficult but what we try to do is put good support around them and as hannah said, the mantra here is that it is the work that pays off and these people have put the work in and they have got the results they need. percentages go up and down but the experience for students is still

the experience for students is still the same, working hard, diligently, and that pays off. mike kilbride the last speaker in birkenhead. 0ur correspondent andy moore is at ucas headquarters in cheltenham. tell us what is happening there today, andy. a very busy day indeed at ucas, the busiest day of the year, with 50 extra staff manning the phones and answering social media, and there is the social media tea m media, and there is the social media team behind me answering queries on facebook, instagram and twitter. you will get a lot of figures today and some hot off the press from half an hour ago. so far the social media tea m hour ago. so far the social media team have answered about 577 queries and on the other side of the room behind me you can see those answering the phone. they have dealt with nearly 3000 calls so far. the total number of courses in clearing is over 30,000 and the top searches at the moment our medicine, law,

economics, psychology and computer science. the way clearing normally works is that if you do not get the grades you thought you might, if you can't go to your top university and you come through to hear to find a place, it might be thought it was a buyers market for the students because there were fewer 18—year—olds and universities still wa nt 18—year—olds and universities still want those tuition fees. students can shop around a bit, take their time, talk to teachers and talk to their parents, teachers, universities, take a deep breath and ta ke universities, take a deep breath and take time. one interesting thing is, traditionally people come here when they don't get the grades they wa nted they don't get the grades they wanted but more and more people are biding their time and keeping their powder dry and not applying to a university and kill —— until the clearing process starts. then they ta ke clearing process starts. then they take a look around and see what

causes are on offer, seeing what financial incentive is perhaps the universities are offering and then they start the process of applying preuniversity today. andy, thank you very much, they're in shulman —— for a university today. —— andy in cheltenham. you can find all the background to the new style exams and advice on how to go through clearing on the bbc news website. the address is on your screen. for more on a—levels and clearing, we will discuss that after half—past, discussions about the current student experience with thoughts from a spokesman from the times education supplement. and also from a survey of current student attitudes. rescuers have spent a second night searching the rubble of a collapsed road bridge in genoa but hopes of finding more survivors are all but gone. at least 39 people were killed when it crashed to the ground on tuesday morning. in response to widespread public alarm about more possible failures in the region's infrastructure, a i2—month state of emergency has been declared in the region of liguria.

danjohnson reports from genoa. this long, grey scar of broken concrete, the ribbon of rubble, marks the valley once crossed by a grand, imposing viaduct. but how much more death and destruction is hidden beneath here? could any of the missing still be alive in this tangled mess? we keep on working until every single metre of this rubble will be controlled. how long will that take? actually, it is a very difficult question. it's going to be a long work. alongside sad stories of lives lost are near misses and amazing escapes. this british couple stopped their car about 100m short of the section that collapsed. people started shouting, waving their arms to reverse out the windows. and tooting horns, and everything like that. people were running,

screaming in italian, "run, out." "everyone out, cars, out, cars!" so we just literally — "kids, run, run," because we didn't know what was happening. we left everything in the car and we just ran for our lives. last night the interior minister, matteo salvini, came here and declared that every company taking public money should protect their structures like their own children. he said whoever was responsible would be made to pay. there is real anger here. hows, whys, who's to blame, all need to be addressed. but there are families missing loved ones, still waiting for news. their answers must come first. danjohnson, bbc news, genoa. italian prime minister giuseppe conte just gave this statement. the number of confirmed dead at the moment is 38. the number of injured

is 15, of which five are in a critical condition. let's pray for them to recover as best as they possibly can. we also had an update on those who were displaced by the disaster and we have made plans so they have somewhere safe and peaceful to stay and are able to cope with this tragedy. we also carried out an assessment on the state of the road system here in genoa to ensure that the city and the people here are able to get back on the roads as quickly and efficiently as possible. west midlands have deployed armed officers after two birmingham mosques were attacked with catapults. officers were called to the masjid qamarul islam mosque on fosbrooke road, in small heath, at around 10 o'clock yesterday evening and the al—hijrah mosque on hob moor road 20 minutes later. the windows on both mosque were smashed windows during evening prayers. police say the motive for the attacks is unclear at this stage. detectives have been granted more time to question the suspect

in the alleged terror attack in westminster on tuesday. 29—year—old salih khater, a british citizen originally from sudan, was arrested by armed police after crashing his car into a barrier outside the houses of parliament. he's being held on suspicion of terror offences and attempted murder. the son of a murdered prison officer in northern ireland has expressed his disgust after the names of murdered officers were placed on top of a bonfire in londonderry. the fire was built in the bogside area of the city and lit last night. 0ur ireland correspondent, chris pagejoins us from belfast. tell us more about the incident and the controversy it has aroused. there has been condemnation across the political spectrum. this bonfire was built in the bogside area of londonderry, a strongly republican

area, and there were the names of david black, a prison officer murdered several years ago and also the names of some murdered police officers. david black's sun has said he is sick and by this. sinn fein have strongly condemned this, pointing the finger firmly in the direction of dissident republican opposed to the police —— peace process. there have traditionally been republican bonfires across northern ireland, but sinn fein have said that they have done a lot of work in recent years trying to eliminate these bonfires that are becoming a magnet for at least anti—social behaviour. in belfast, this year, for the first time, there we re this year, for the first time, there were no republican bonfires. in july, loyalists have their bonfires around the time of the orange marching season, the 11th ofjuly. and some of those bonfires, it's not uncommon to see sectarian slogans and this year there was a sign

referring to the bally murphy massacre shootings when ten people we re massacre shootings when ten people were shot dead by the army in 1971. there have been controversies around bonfires on both sides of the community here for the summer. the problems around them have, on the whole, diminished over the years of the peace process, and it is now the end, as it were, of the summer bonfires, but the incident overnight in londonderry in particular shows that the controversies around these bonfires have not gone away totally. indeed. i suppose the sinn fein reaction was the one to be most heavily scrutinised and that does point a way forward. sinn fein made the point that they've done a lot of work on the ground, at grassroots level in recent years which hasn't generally been that much noticed by the wider media but has removed these bonfires which have been hijacked, sinn fein would say by dissident republicans over the last few years and one of the main dates

in the republican calendar is the anniversary of internment by the security forces in the 1970s, so that has been a time when there has been republican bonfires but sinn fein are the main voice in republicanism and have actively discouraged them, though there are people in republicanism who oppose the sinn fein agenda and it is those people who are very much a small minority and are responsible for the unregulated bonfire at the heart of the controversy in derry overnight. chris, thank you for that. the england rugby international, danny cipriani, has pleaded guilty to common assault and resisting arrest, following an incident at a nightclub injersey. the gloucester fly—half — who has recently been recalled to the england team — has been fined two thousand pounds by magistrates. the headlines on bbc news. the a'level results are out and they show students have been awarded the highest proportion

of a's and a—stars since 2012 — with more than a quarter of entries awarded the top grades this year. italy declares a state of emergency following the bridge collapse in genoa in which at least 39 people are known to have died. in the past hour, the england rugby player, danny cipriani, has pleaded guilty to common assault and resisting arrest following an incident at a nightclub injersey. in sport, england climbs six places in the world rankings after their run to the semifinals at the world cup in russia. gareth southgate's either up to six and france are the new number one team with germany down to 15. maitland—niles has been ruled out for two months for arsenal after breaking his leg during the opening day defeat against manchester city last sunday and former england captain michael vaughan says ben stokes does not deserve a warm reception from the england fans in the third test

against india on saturday. stokes was found not guilty of afraid on tuesday. more on those stories at 1130. join us then. the judge in the trial of two women charged with murdering the half—brother of north korea's leader, has said the evidence is strong enough to proceed to a trial. the women are accused of smearing the lethal nerve agent vx over kim jong nam's face at kuala lumpur international airport last year. they say they believed they were playing roles in a prank television show. the judge said their actions were sufficient to infer they intended to kill their victim. 0ur correspondent, jonathan head, is outside the court. it means a long, drawn—out trial and it means we will hear from them for the first time. remember we have only had in these eight months of long, drawn—out here isjust only had in these eight months of long, drawn—out here is just the prosecution case outlined, which is what thejudge prosecution case outlined, which is what the judge based prosecution case outlined, which is what thejudge based his decision prosecution case outlined, which is what the judge based his decision on today. it is disappointing for the

defence lawyers. they would argue the evidence clearly showed that these women were unwitting dupes and had no motive to kill this man. they are from poor backgrounds, recruited effectively from the sex industry by what turned out to be north korean agents. thejudge has taken what turned out to be north korean agents. the judge has taken a very literal reading and looked at the action at the airport and their connection to the vx agent smeared on the face of kim jong nam and connection to the vx agent smeared on the face of kimjong nam and said it was enough to proceed with the case. we will have many more witnesses coming forward, and the defence will have to make that case, including putting the two women on the stand when in fact they might have been genuinelyjute, which is theirclaim, have been genuinelyjute, which is their claim, that what they were putting on the face was anything more than a harmless liquid. it could take a very long time to get this very political case seen through. remember, they are the only two people who have been arrested in connection with the crime. for north korean men who were also charge, they disappeared from the country on they disappeared from the country on the same day and there are other north korean is linked to the

embassy allowed to leave, so we only have these two women being held to account for this extraordinary assassination. the former cia director, john brennan, has described the revoking of his security clearance by president trump as part of a broader effort by the white house to suppress freedom of speech and punish critics. mr brennan, a vocal opponent of mr trump, said the move should gravely worry all americans. the white house had accused him of using his access to sensitive information to make unfounded allegations. peter bowes reports. good afternoon. the announcement came out of the blue at a previously unscheduled media briefing at the white house. historically, top officials keep their security credentials once they have left the job, in case they are called upon to advise the current administration. but donald trump sastohn brennan will no longer have access to classified information. any benefits that senior officials might glean from consultations with mr brennan are now outweighed by the risks posed by his erratic conduct and behaviour.

second, that conduct and behaviour has tested and far exceeded the limits of any professional courtesy that may have been due to him. mr brennan has a history that calls into question his objectivity and credibility. john brennan has been a strong critic of donald trump, calling him treasonous after his meeting with russia's president putin. the former cia chief hit back at mr trump in a tweet. he said the move was part of a broader effort to suppress freedom of speech and punish critics. he goes on, it should greatly worry all americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out. my principles are worth more than clear answers. i will not relent. the white house says others could face the same treatment. they include james comey, the former director of the fbi, sacked by trump, who has called the president morally unfit to lead. for thousands of years, mummifying loved ones and pharaohs

alike was common practice among ancient egyptians, who believed that it allowed the spirit to enter the afterlife. now, new forensic examination techniques have discovered how the embalming was done, and it turns out that it's a lot simpler than previously thought. to explain further, let's speak to our correspondent victoria gill who's at bolton museum. iam, and i am in iam, andiam ina i am, and i am in a storeroom that belongs to bolton museum, a warehouse in an industrial estate might not be somewhere you think would hide the secrets of ancient egypt, but actually the first chemistry, chemical clues about what was in this embalming recipe thousands of years came from tiny pieces of fabric housed in this very building. and they are here with someone who all about the secrets that these rather innocuous looking bits of fabric contain, stephen buckley from the university of york.

thanksjoining us. buckley from the university of york. thanks joining us. tell us buckley from the university of york. thanksjoining us. tell us what buckley from the university of york. thanks joining us. tell us what you discovered in these little fragments of fabric. yes, they don't look too much to look at but they are impregnated with complex recipes of natural products, so a mixture of resin, planned gum, plant oiland aromatic plant extracts. complex recipes, and crucially they have got antibacterial ingredients that would have served to preserve the bodies, these pre—historic mummies, so it's exciting that the iconic mummification that we know so well, these fabrics are actually showing that the origins of mummification go back over 1500 years earlier than we thought. so these are fragments of lenin that wrapped the mummies —— much older than the egyptian

pharaohs. —— linen. what does it mean to the understanding of ancient egypt? it paints a different picture. what is crucial is that these recipes and these prehistoric textiles are essentially the same as those used 2500 years later when the embalmer's art was at its best. it shows that they were experimenting with mummification earlier than we thought. what is in the recipe? 0rdeal, plant gum, pine resin. could you make it at home? the pine resin and the aromatic plants are antibacterial so they are very much helping to preserve the mummies way backin helping to preserve the mummies way back in ancient history, before the iconic mummies that we know about. chemically, the antibacterial property, that is crucial to stop

the body decaying and maintain it as a vessel for the soul? is that what the egyptians believed? yes, for ancient egyptians the survival of the body was vital for immortality in the afterlife. their essence, soul, spirit, could not survive without the body being intact, so bodily preservation was absolutely central to ancient egyptian culture, so central to ancient egyptian culture, so pushing it back by a thousand years is really quite exciting. fantastic. fascinating to talk to you and thank you so much. they don't look like much, as you say, but it just don't look like much, as you say, but itjust goes to show what secrets you can find if you search through the drawers some of these warehouses, rather innocuous places. and we are going to keep on looking and see what else we can find. thanks, julian. around a hundred whales have become repeatedly stuck in a fjord in iceland. police helped them get out of the fjord, in the west of the country. but less than 2a hours later they were back again, and needed help to get out once more. lebo diseko has the story.

this is a rescue operation in action, the second in as many days for this pod of around 100 whales. they got stuck after swimming into a fjord that's opening is both narrow and shallow, making it hard to get out. police helped guide them into more open waters, and it was hoped they'd go back to sea. but, the next day, they were back once again. cue rescue effort number two. translation: 13 of them went all the way to the shore, and we had to deal with them, push them out by hand, and that went very well. one of the whales even got stuck up on the shore, and needed a kayaker to help get free. it is not clear why the group keep going back, but locals say they may be using the incoming tide to help them, and they've certainly attracted quite an audience. translation: naturally this is interesting to see, for both foreigners and icelanders, to view and experience

this in nature. you can't see this in an aquarium. this is pure nature, which makes it more interesting. the group was eventually guided even further out, in the hope that they'd find their way to the ocean. that seems to have done the trick. but, if they do return, rescue teams will be on hand once again to help them find their way. lebo diseko, bbc news. she's sold more than 300 million records worldwide, and in the uk she's sold more singles than any other performer. the original material girl turns 60 today. the singer has been celebrating the big day with a series of posts on instagram counting down to her birthday, finishing with photos of these outfits inspired by berber culture. 0ver her 35—year career she has repeatedly reinvented herself and her sound, courting controversy and smashing sales records.

daniel welsh is an entertainment reporter at huffpost uk and a big fan of madonna. it is true, i am. how big a fan? i've seen her five or six times, got all of her albums and i'm a big madonna fan. ? why? to me she represents strength. staying power. she's been in the public either 35 yea rs now she's been in the public either 35 years now and in that time people have criticised pretty much everything they can, her looks, like choices, her her talent and she has stayed where she is and always brushed it off and kept going and to me that represents something inspiring. state where she is in terms of resisting the controversy and criticism, but reinventing herself as well. absolutely and that is how she has lasted as long. every

time you get bored with something, she completely reinvents herself and does something brand—new. most of the time something that mainstream p0p the time something that mainstream pop stars have not done before. to whom particularly doshi appeal?” think generally because she has been going so long, everybody has a madonna era that they remember. hgppy madonna era that they remember. happy madonna memory or performance that sticks in their mind. if you weary than not a fan of her music, the fact she is clinging on, especially in an industry that is so obsessed with youth and really promotes youth culture, for her to be 60 years old and still be one of the most talked about singers out there is really inspiring. that is there is really inspiring. that is the striking thing. i am of an age where as a student i remember holiday coming out and subsequent hits, and that would have been, what, 1983? and she is still there.

she has crossgenerational appeal. everybody remembers their first madonna thing they saw on tv or the first album or song they heard. what isa first album or song they heard. what is a madonna concert like? it is like nobody else out there. i'm a big music fan out there and i go to a lot of shows but nobody does it quite like madonna. it is elaborate, a lot of fun. and the thing often lost with madonna is that she makes a lot of serious points in her shows and always takes the time what issues are on her mind or sticking out for her and she always has done that consistently, always speaking about things that were important, evenin about things that were important, even in weight they weren't necessarily the most popular. how are you marking her birthday?” necessarily the most popular. how are you marking her birthday? i am at home to watch the confessions tour and the mdma tool. i felt rather mbolhi jet for interrupting your plan. -- rather apologetic for

interrupting your plan. have a good day and happy 60th birthday to linen. time for a look at the weather. rain has moved to the south—east through the early hours of the morning, pretty atrocious conditions on some of the roads. this is the latest rainfall radar, and you can see that rain pushing into the south—east. behind it, a few showers coming into scotland and northern ireland, with sunshine in between them. this afternoon should be drive. there will still be some heavy showers across the west of scotland, perhaps into northern ireland as well. the green on the map indicates the heavier showers. the rain lingers on in the past south—east of england the in afternoon, but in between, plenty of dry and bright weather. fresher than yesterday, with a blustery wind. temperatures getting to 17—20dc.

lengthy clear spells for a time later in the evening. tomorrow, rain spreads into northern ireland and scotland. this is bbc news. our latest headlines... hundreds of thousands of a—level students have been receiving their results across england, wales and northern ireland. official figures show the proportion of entries awarded either a or a—star grades is the highest since 2012.

a state funeral will be held in the italian city of genoa on saturday, to honour the 39 people known to have died when a motorway bridge collapsed. emergency workers spent a second night searching for survivors buried beneath the rubble, but failed to find anyone alive. the england rugby union player danny cipriani has pleaded guilty to two charges, following an incident at a nightclub injersey. he's been fined 500 pounds for assault and 15 hundred pounds for resisting arrest. around a hundred whales keep getting stuck in a fjord in iceland. police helped them get out of the fjord, in the west of the country. but less than 2a hours later they were back again, and needed more help. celebrated pop star, actress, director and writer madonna celebrates her 60th birthday today. with more than 300 million records sold she is the best—selling female recording artist of all time. tackling rhino horn poaching, in south africa —

the second part of our special investigation into this illegal, million dollar trade. sport now. let's cross to will perry. let's start with danny cipriani who's been fined £2000 after pleading guilty to common assault and resisting arrest. this all follows an incident at a nightclub injersey in the early hours of wednesday morning. the england international is on the island with his club gloucester, and has also been ordered to pay £250 compensation to a police officer. two other charges have been dropped. we will bring you more on that when we know it throughout the day. after their run to the last four at the world cup in russia, england's football team are now

ranked as the sixth best side in the world that's according to fifa's world ranking system. gareth southgate's team have moved up six places after this summer's tournament. germany, who were knocked out in the group stages, are out of the world's top ten for the first time since 2005. top of the rankings, the new world champions, france, who climbed six places to take the number one spot from germany. lets talk to chris jones lets talk to chrisjones about lets talk to chris jones about the danny cipriani story. we have heard from cipriani about how much it means to him to play for england, but what have his club, gloucester, said? they have released a statement in the last half an hour or so, saying it is regrettable for all concerned, but they point out that danny cipriani was remorseful.

cipriani got in a disagreement with a bouncer and things went from there, and he was resisting arrest and also committed, dassault, the tit charges he pleaded guilty to. gloucester will stand by their man. the chief executive has said that danny is a gloucester player and they will support him through this time. it is an incident that the clu b time. it is an incident that the club didn't want to get involved in, and it is terrible timing for cipriani as well, so soon after he had worked his way back into the england setup. what does it mean for his england future? how will this go down with eddie jones?” his england future? how will this go down with eddie jones? i don't think it will go down well. whether it is the end, we will have to wait and see. the rfu are staying tight—lipped about what this means for danny cipriani's future. in the past,

eddiejones has cipriani's future. in the past, eddie jones has hinted cipriani's future. in the past, eddiejones has hinted that he was on somewhat of a last chance because of the issues he has had in the past. it will be difficult to second—guess eddie jones because past. it will be difficult to second—guess eddiejones because in the past he has been able to separate what players have been doing with the clubs and the international level. cipriani's conduct on and off the field during the tour of south africa was exemplary, according to jones. the tour of south africa was exemplary, according tojones. we will have to wait and see if he can park this issue or if he doesn't need the trouble. that is something that eddiejones need the trouble. that is something that eddie jones and need the trouble. that is something that eddiejones and the rfu hierarchy will be pondering. what will happen with his england future, whether this as a terminal impact, it will be a case of watch this space. our rugby union reporter, chrisjones. arsenal's ainsley maitland—niles has been ruled out for up to two months after breaking his leg. it happened during their opening day defeat against manchester city last sunday. the club say he has a ‘small fracture' to his left fibula. another man facing a spell

on the sidelines is manchester city's kevin de bruyne. here he is on crutches at the premiere of city's documentary last night. he's having a scan on an injured knee today. some reports suggest he could face up some reports suggest he could face up to three months out. former england captain michael vaughan says ben stokes ‘doesn't not deserve' a warm welcome if — as expected — he returns for england this weekend. stokes is back in the squad for the third test against india after being acquitted of affray. and vaughan says that although stokes deserves his place in the team, it shouldn't come with any fanfare. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. hundreds of thousands of a—level students have been receiving their results across england, wales and northern ireland. official figures show the proportion of entries awarded either a or a—star grades is the highest since 2012 and boys have outperformed girls for the second year running. let's speak now to carl cullinane, head of research and policy

at the sutton trust. we're also joined by seeta bhardwa, who's the student content editor at times higher education. welcome to both of you. a word on those celebrating today, who got what they wanted and they know what they are —— where they are going. for others, it is an uncertain time. if you don't receive your grades, it's not the end of the world. there are different it's not the end of the world. there a re different processes it's not the end of the world. there are different processes to go through, the first one being clearing. there are 30,000 different courses available through clearing, so speak to your teachers at school, speak to your parents, decide what options are best for you, and then log onto ucas, search through the courses that are available. try not to panic and choose courses that you weren't interested in. think about what you were first interested in

when you are thinking of going to university. call the university itself rather than have someone else do it for you, and ask questions. think of the reasons why you might wa nt to think of the reasons why you might want to go to the university and do the course. and take some time to think about your options. we have until october to decide. clearing is open until october, so there is time. draw breath first? absolutely. and you would echo that. you are doing research into broader attitudes among people going to university. what are you finding? we have been interviewing people aged 11-16 have been interviewing people aged 11—16 and running the survey since 2003. the pattern in recent years is that the number of people who to university is dropping, going down by about a quarter in the last decade. the number of young people who think that university is important for being a success in life has also gone down a lot in the

same period. does that even with national anthem plays —— does that chime with what you have heard? people are looking at the options available. and it is important to remember that university isn't for everybody. a lot of 18—year—olds are going to university. i think it is promising to see that students are considering their options. when people do start to look at alternatives, why are they tending to do that and what do they find? we have seen since 2012 there is a big increase in financial worries among young people, about the high levels of debt, the £9,000 fees, so that has made some people think twice about their options. we have seen over the last few years is a big increase in the interest in doing apprenticeships after school, going up apprenticeships after school, going upa lot apprenticeships after school, going up a lot since 2014. the government has put a lot of effort into

creating more opportunities and promoting the idea of apprenticeships, but we need to see more effort in terms of creating high—quality apprenticeships to give a viable alternative to university. universities are starting to offer degree level apprenticeships. there are different creative options universities are offering to students. the important thing to remember is that universities are trying to attract students as much as possible. they are using lots of different ideas and techniques. foundation years is another way that stu d e nts foundation years is another way that students can take that half step into going to university, the bridging gap between a—level study and university study. offering more vocational study? yes, and it makes it seem less scary to go to university. the cost element, you hinted at this, but people now do

often hinted at this, but people now do ofte n ru n hinted at this, but people now do often run up huge, i don't think it's onto fair to say —— unfair to say, huge debts to go to university. how much does that prey on their minds? we see that those worries are concentrated amongst people from less well—off backgrounds. if you are from a home with less resources, you're more likely to be worried about going to university. that has been accentuated since they abolish maintenance grants a few years ago. there has been an increasing push, and the government is reviewing at the moment, to reinstate those maintenance grants because that would help people from disadvantaged backgrounds. it is important to point out that you don't pay the loa n point out that you don't pay the loan back until you are earning at a certain level. it is 25,000 now, so the threshold has increased slightly. it is important to understand that you don't have to start paying the loan back until you are earning a certain amount, which

is 25,000 now. as people now, those who have just got their results and got their plans in place, as they start to contemplate that university experience, give us a sense of what they are about to go through. there area they are about to go through. there are a lot of things to think about. i guess the first thing is to start looking at your university, halls of accommodation, that's the next big thing you need set in place. also start looking on social media. there are always fresh coup facebook groups where people can talk to other students to ease into the whole making friends thing. talk to people who have been to university before to get their perspective of what it's like. and also remember that you are not the only person doing this, so everyone else will feel just as overwhelmed doing this, so everyone else will feeljust as overwhelmed as you are. and still that sense of excitement for 18, 19—year—olds at this point?

absolutely, it is a big—time in lots of people's lies. the majority of young people want to go there and it is still regarded as the best route toa is still regarded as the best route to a successful career. thank you for coming in. you can find all the background to the new style exams and advice on how to go through clearing on the bbc news website — the address is on your screen// more now on the england rugby international danny cipriani pleading guilty to common assault. 0ur correspondent robert hall is atjersey magistrates court with an update. tell us what's been happening there in the last hour or so, robert. good morning. as you can imagine, a lot of interesting, quite a crowd of photographers outside court when danny cipriani slipped in with

police in a van. he had been brought down from the prison where he had been held in custody since this incident late on tuesday night. the magistrate heard an outline of what happened. mr cipriani's barrister had already said he would plead guilty to two charges. there were originally four, reduced to two. the context is that mr cipriani and friends from the gloucester squad who were over here for a training session over a number of days went out on that evening. 0n mr cipriani's own admission, he had too much to drink. they were ended up —— they ended up at a bar in st helier and had an altercation with a doorman about how many friends could join them. and then another altercation when mr cipriani left the bar with a drink, and again he had an exchange of words with a

doorman. the doorman switched on his body camera to film the event, which mr cipriani didn't like. he pulled the camera off. a police officer who spoke to mr cipriani and told him that he would have to be detained, he didn't like that either. there was a very short scupper lasting only a matter of seconds, which involve the second police officer, whilst mr cipriani resisted efforts to put handcuffs on him. during that incident, the court heard, the female police officer received minor injuries to her upper body and her neck after mr cipriani apparently grabbed her collar. in court, through his barrister, mr cipriani said he was deeply sorry for what had happened. he was mortified that the female police officer had suffered any sort of injury. he accepted that he had had too much to drink. the magistrate, in reviewing what penalty should be imposed, and that mr cipriani's

behaviour was clearly inappropriate. she fined him £500. we were expecting the club who were there in court to say something outside, but they didn't. mr cipriani was bundled into a gloucester club vehicle and they drove away without comment. as we have heard in the last half an hour, the club are standing by him, and we wait to see what the rfu have to say about this incident. in a moment we'll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news... the a'level results are out and they show students have been awarded the highest proportion of as and a—stars since 2012 — with more than a quarter of entries

awarded the top grades this year. italy declares a state of emergency following the bridge collapse in genoa in which at least 39 people are known to have died the england rugby player, danny cipriani, has pleaded guilty to common assault and resisting arrest following an incident at a nightclub injersey. i'm ben bland. in the business news: promotional discounts and an increase in online shopping helped retail sales rise more than expected last month — they rose by 0.7% injuly despite no pick—up on the high street. anything but a smooth ride for uber, after the ride—hailing app announces a second quarter loss of £702 million. the firm also said its net revenue had slowed to £2.1 billion, as it faces extra scrutiny in key markets such as new york. the summer heatwave gives kingfisher‘s bottom line boost.

the owner of b80 said it's like—for—like sales rose by 1.6% in the second quarter, however its sales in europe remained a concern. uk retail sales grew more than expected last month, despite many shoppers deciding to stay away from the high street. figures from the the office for national statistics showed they rose 0.7% injuly, boosted by several retail promotions and online sales. the 0ns also revealed retail sales rose by 3.5% in the year tojuly. and on the three—month measure for may tojuly, sales rose 2.1%, which is the strongest three months since february 2015. joining us now from our bbc newsroom is ruth gregory, who's an senior economist at capital economics.

it is like to make different stories: the strength of online and the lacklustre performance of the high street. we did see the warm weather and the england successful stint in the world cup boosting food sales, but it was really consumers taking advantage of online promotions that help retail sales to beat expectations this month. one interesting statistic that caught my eye, online spending by a department stores' own websites reached a record proportion of their total sales, at over 80%. does that suggest that some of these big traditional department stores are finally getting it right in their online offering? retailers are still battling the online competition. there has been very little improvement in consumer purchasing power. we wouldn't place too much weight on these figures. indeed, it

may be just that... given that retailers only managed to sustain this growth given the discounts, this growth given the discounts, this is unlikely to be sustained. we would not be too surprised to see some reversal in the august figures. the other point to make is that we have had a whole batch of data out this week, and inflation at 2.5%, wage growth on average at 2.7%, so wages are onlyjust outstripping price rises, but that means that people's disposable income is not growing by a huge amount, and that will have an impact on retail sales. the economic news has been fairly disappointing. as you say, there was an increase in inflation, hot on the heels of another weak set of earnings figures. there are regions to be cautiously optimistic, looking ahead. the leading indicators of pay

growth suggests we may see some rises at the end of the year. the increase in inflation has been largely due to higher oil prices, which look unlikely to be sustained. we will see an increase in kaymer spending power in consumer spending growth in the year ahead. ruth, thank you. amazon looks set to continue its expansion plans in the uk, by setting up an insurance comparison site. according to reuters, amazon has been "sounding out" insurance companies to see if they would contribute products to its new venture. sir rod stewart is having a "good old—fashioned clear out" and auctioning off some his furniture. fans of the maggie may singer could own items like a leopard print armchair or a figure of a banjo player. the sale is expected to raise around £40,000. a spokesman said it was "all very rock and roll". a chance perhaps to pick up some

handbags and gladrags. corona beer owner constellation brands is set to pour some £3.1billion into canada's top cannabis producer, canopy growth. last year, the firm injected £157million into canopy in a deal to produce a nonalcoholic cannabis—based beverage. it wants to capitalise on the growing legalisation of the drug. and china will send a a top negotiator to the us later this ftse100 is higher this morning, boosted by that postive update from kingfisher. 0ne company not doing so well this morning is rank group — which owns mecca bingo halls — after the firm reported a 40% fall in full—year profits. the company issued a profit warning in april, blaming bad weather. and sterling has bounced back against the dollar — after falls earlier in the day — after those strong retailfigures forjuly. that's all the business news. rhinos are being killed by poachers at a rate of more than a thousand a year in south africa. their horns are worth more than gold in asia — used as medicine and seen as a status symbol. a bbc investigation has found it s not only consumers

and traffickers who are to blame, but also corrupt south african police, rangers and magistrates. in the second of two special reports, alastair leithead looks at the measures being taken to protect the animals. they're searching the bush for rhinos at a private game reserve in zululand. the gunman is a vet. the dart contains a sedative. guys, we need more people here. each rhino weighs more than a ton. right, 100%. right, let's roll him. and they have less than half an hour to make some measurements, add a tracker and remove what the poachers kill these animals for. you can only remove probably an inch and a half off it. so, it will take it back down to its base, but not get into the growth tissue. so, even that is still an attractive amount of horn that's left on the animal. and off it comes. it's painless for the rhino, just like cutting fingernails. it's even the same

material, keratin. but still, these shavings are worth a fortune in asia, where they are used for medicine or as a status symbol. this is the point that's been reached, where these animals have to have their horns removed in order for them to have more chance of survival. a lot of the private parks are doing this all the time now. but it's too expensive to de—horn the rhinos in south africa's government—run parks. all of africa's remaining 20,000 or so southern white rhinos originated here in zululand's hluhluwe—imfolozi park, but now it is one of the most poached places on the continent. we arranged to meet one of the rangers who didn't want to be identified, he explained his view of the problem. half of the hluhluwe imfolozi field rangers are corrupt. many, many people, many field rangers in the reserves, many are totally involved in rhino poaching. the park's management admits

there's been corruption, but says it's now been largely stopped and that half the park is not corrupt. they agree the conviction rates for poachers could be higher. we arrest people in possession of rhino horns, but they have gone to court and have been found not guilty, they are freed. it is because of corruption. these people, these kingpins have lots of money, they give it to the police, to the lawyers. but these are not empty accusations. an investigation has been launched into lawyers, prosecutors and magistrates in kwazulu—natal. corruption allows rhino poaching to continue. alastair leithead, bbc news, zululand. now, the weather prospects with simon king. we had a dry start —— a wet start to

the day in the south—east. it is fresher today. we have some pressure conditions moving in from the north west behind these weather fronts, and it is these weather fronts which brought the rain through this morning. it has been heavy in places, fairly atrocious conditions through the rush—hour, but it is now confined to the south—eastern corner of the uk. as the rain clears away, we have some sunshine. a fairly decent scene in wales with those sunny spells. sunny spells through south—west england, wales, the midlands and northern areas of the uk. some showers across scotland and northern ireland. the rain lingers on in the far south—east of england through this afternoon. it is quite gusty out there, quite breezy. gusts of 30-40 gusty out there, quite breezy. gusts of 30—40 mph in places. it feels

fresher, as i mentioned, temperatures of 17—20dc. significantly lower than yesterday. lengthy clear spells overnight, but the cloud will increase as we go into the early hours across northern ireland. temperatures down to about 11 or 12 celsius, so a cooler night than the last few nights. cloud increasing from the west. the next weather system will push through northern ireland and eventually into scotland. the isoba rs northern ireland and eventually into scotland. the isobars are close together, so a breezy day on friday, the rain pushing into scotland. we will see rain moving into northern parts of wales eventually, the north—west of england as well. further south and east, it will remain dry and bright. a gusty day. look at those black wind arose, indicating gusts of up to 35 mph. temperatures of 70 neither 19 celsius. temperatures up a little bit across the south—east, up to 23

celsius. the weekend stays u nsettled. this is bbc news. i'm julian worricker. these are the top stories developing at midday. the a—level results are out, and they show students have been awarded the highest proportion of a's and a—stars since 2012 — with more than a quarter of entries awarded the top grades this year. it is such a relief when i saw those three a is that i needed to get into 0xford. i got b, b, three a is that i needed to get into 0xford. igot b, b, c three a is that i needed to get into 0xford. i got b, b, c today and three a is that i needed to get into 0xford. i got b, b, ctoday and i was so nervous thinking i couldn't sleep but it turns out i had nothing to worry about. i'm going to my first choice university, huddersfield. italy declares a state of emergency following the bridge collapse in genoa in which at least 39 people are known to have died. hundreds of people from surrounding homes have been evacuated from the area the england rugby player, danny cipriani, has pleaded guilty to common assault and resisting arrest following an incident at a nightclub injersey.

around a hundred whales become stuck in a fjord in iceland. they were helped out of the fjord, in the west of the country. but less than 24 hours later they were back again, and needing help once more. # you are a mystery she's sold more than 300 million records worldwide over a career spanning 35 year, and today, the original material girl turns 60! good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. our top story — hundreds of thousands of students in england,

wales and northern ireland have been receiving their a—level results this morning. more than one in four a levels were graded a or a star this year — the highest proportion for six years. boys lead girls in the top grades for the second year running. in england, most a—levels have been reformed, in a move away from coursework and returning to students being marked on final exams only. 0ur correspondent elaine dunkley has spent the morning at a 6th form college in birkenhead with teenagers getting their results. a big day hopes and dreams for thousands of students logging on and opening their a—level results find out their results. there have been major changes to a—levels with a move from coursework, away from that, to modular exams. a lot of the students have seen two years of hard work coming down to exam. how did you get on? i'm really proud of what i have achieved. it's been a difficult year for me and i achieved a b, cand d.

and i got accepted into my first choice university at queens to do law and i'm really looking forward to my future. how did you get on? i got b, b, c and i was so nervous. it turned out i had nothing to worry about. i am going to my first choice university of huddersfield and it's where i really wanted to go when i was looking around universities. i'm really proud of myself getting in. there's been a lot of changes to a—levels. did it have an impact? i think doing it all at the end of two years was difficult for me because my memory is not the best thing the world so i had to do a lot of work and revision and there was a lot of late nights staying in college and putting in the work, because when you go home there's a lot of distractions. in the end, it paid off, but at the time i found it difficult, so i'm proud. hannah, i know you had a sleepless night and were logging on early to find out how you got on. i was up three minutes before

the 6am time when the results came out, the longest three minutes of my life, but such a relief to get the three a—level a grades i needed to get to oxford. a lot of changes for you as well. was it difficult for students? it was difficult because we had to do the exams at as—level, so we had to do the same exams again and then the a2 exams, so all the exams were done and then there were new ones. no matter how well we did in the first year, it only mattered how we did at the end of the year, so i have had a few friends who have done the same exam, but this year she got a c, but if last year have counted it would have helped her. the hard work does pay off in the end. how much work did you put in?

i put in as much work as i physically could and i was doing a btec and it's a bit different, and on the assignments i tried my hardest and i've got my first choice university. we also have mike kirkbride, the principal. this year is the a* grades have gone down, but what have yours been like? our results have been up, so despite the changes we have about 16% of students getting high grades. we were actually the top performing college in the region last year and we have upped that a little bit. what we have to remember is for all of these young people, are the exams more difficult than the previous year? they probably are more difficult but what we try to do is put good support around them and as hannah said, the mantra

here is that it is the work that pays off and these people have put the work in and they have got the results they need. percentages go up and down but the experience for students is still the same, working hard, diligently, and that pays off. all these students no way they are heading, but that some students opening the blokes in seeing the text messages there is uncertainty at the universities have said there area at the universities have said there are a high—quality courses still available through clearing the messages, don't panic, still plenty of places available at universities to do the causes that students want to do the causes that students want to do. 0ur correspondent andy moore is at ucas headquarters in cheltenham. what's happening there? no doubt the phones are ringing. they are ringing and it's a very busy day. in the modern world it's not just the busy day. in the modern world it's notjust the phones, as this is the social media team and they are answering queries on facebook and twitter will. they are notjust

answering questions directed put to them, they are listening to conversations in the public domain between students talking to each other and they will jump between students talking to each other and they willjump in and say, we are ucas and can we help you in any way, but on the other side, there are phones being answered and tens of thousands of calls received today. ucas is a clearing house, putting students who have not on the whole got the grades they wanted in touch with the universities who are still trying to find students courses to get those tuition fees that are so important for them. another interesting thing about ucas is that by and large it is for stu d e nts is that by and large it is for students who have not got the grades they wanted but there is a process called adjustment so if a student gets better grades than they thought, they don't have to accept the place offered, they can see if

there's a better course or a more prestigious university available through ucas. so again, they can get in contact with ucas and perhaps get something better than they thought because the grades were better than expected. the other thing to bear in mind is that there is time to take some decisions and they don't have to ring up now or send a message now, there weeks ahead to consider some of these tough decisions. that's right. difficult times for any student who failed to get the results they expected and did not get to the universities they expected, but the messages to keep calm, take a deep breath, don't rush, talk to parents, teachers, talk to your colleagues. of course, talk to your colleagues. of course, talk to your colleagues. of course, talk to ucas if you need help and advice, talk to the various universities you are thinking of. the decision does not have to be made today, even tomorrow, just get it right, don't rush, and many

stu d e nts it right, don't rush, and many students this year, perhaps more than any other year are in a buyers' market. there are fewer 18—year—olds, there are plenty of university courses available and we have heard there are 35,000 courses according to the latest figures. computer science, according to the latest figures. computerscience, medicine, according to the latest figures. computer science, medicine, so the message is always don't panic, calm down, think about it carefully. thank you, andy. you can find all the background to the new style exams and advice on how to go through clearing on the bbc news website. the address is on your screen. and for more on the new a levels and what to do if you are going into clearing we'll have a discussion after half past. not guaranteed, but we think we

might. rescuers have spent a second night searching the rubble of a collapsed road bridge in genoa. between 10 and 20 people are still believed to be missing. at least 39 people were killed when the bridge collapsed on tuesday morning. in response to widespread public alarm about more possible failures in the region's infrastructure, a 12—month state of emergency has been declared in the region of liguria. danjohnson reports from genoa. this long, grey scar of broken concrete, the ribbon of rubble, marks the valley once crossed by a grand, imposing viaduct. but how much more death and destruction is hidden beneath here? could any of the missing still be alive in this tangled mess? we keep on working until every single metre of this rubble will be controlled. how long will that take? actually, it is a very difficult question.

it's going to be a long work. alongside sad stories of lives lost are near misses and amazing escapes. this british couple stopped their car about 100m short of the section that collapsed. people started shouting, waving their arms to reverse out the windows. and tooting horns, and everything like that. people were running, screaming in italian, "run, out." "everyone out, cars, out, cars!" so we just literally — "kids, run, run," because we didn't know what was happening. we left everything in the car and we just ran for our lives. last night the interior minister, matteo salvini, came here and declared that every company taking public money should protect their structures like their own children. he said whoever was responsible would be made to pay. there is real anger here. hows, whys, who's to blame, all need to be addressed. but there are families missing loved ones, still waiting for news.

their answers must come first. danjohnson, bbc news, genoa. italian prime minister, giuseppe conte, just gave this statement. translation: the number of confirmed dead at the moment is 38. the number of injured is 15, of which five are in a critical condition. let's pray for them to recover as best as they possibly can. we also had an update on those who were displaced by the disaster and we have made plans so they have somewhere safe and peaceful to stay and are able to cope with this tragedy. we also carried out an assessment on the state of the road system here in genoa to ensure that the city and the people here are able to get back on the roads as quickly and efficiently as possible. we can show you some latest images

coming in from close to the scene of the bridge collapse and you can see rescue workers going about their business. 0ne rescue workers going about their business. one of the most significant features of what has gone on since is the evacuation of people juan martin gone on since is the evacuation of peoplejuan martin houses nearby. more than 400 people evacuated from the area, people living in housing blocks close to the bridge, specifically one group of people whose housing block was under one pillar. they were ready to move back initially but were then told that the pillar might be cracking and that their homes were at risk so a lot of people living close to the bridge have had to be moved away. those were pictures from a little earlier and i can show you a live picture now at the rescue site where the rescue effort continues adjacent to where the main span of the bridge came down, and to reiterate, we have had this line from the chief prosecutor in genoa who has been

speaking in the last little while talking about the possibility of between ten and 20 people still missing and that would tally with the suggestion earlier in the day that a number of vehicles have not been reached by those digging through the rubble. so even though the death toll is currently at 39 there are fears it will rise at some point in the next few hours. detectives have been granted more time to question the suspect in the alleged terror attack in westminster on tuesday. 29 year—old salih khater, a british citizen originally from sudan, was arrested by armed police after crashing his car into a barrier outside the houses of parliament. he's being held on suspicion of terror offences and attempted murder. west midlands police have deployed armed officers after two birmingham mosques were attacked with catapults. officers were called to the masjid qamarul islam mosque on fosbrooke road, in small heath, at around 10 o'clock yesterday evening and the al—hijrah

mosque on hob moor road 20 minutes later. the windows on both mosques were smashed during evening prayers. police say the motive for the attacks is unclear at this stage. the england rugby international, danny cipriani, has pleaded guilty to common assault and resisting arrest, following an incident at a nightclub injersey. the gloucester fly—half — who has recently been recalled to the england team — has been fined £2,000 by magistrates. 0ur correspondent robert hall's been at the magistrates' court injersey. as you can imagine there was a lot of interest and quite a crowd of photographers outside the court when danny cipriani slipped in with police in a van where he had been brought down from prison where he'd been held in custody since the incident very late on tuesday night or the early hours of wednesday morning. the magistrate heard an outline of what happened and danny

cipriani's barrister said he would be pleading guilty to two charges, originally for, but reduced to two, one of common assault and one of the existing arrest and the context is that mr cipriani and the gloucester squad here for a training session went out on the evening on mr cipriani's own admission he had too much to drink and they ended up at a bar close to st helier harbour and there was an altercation with a doorman at the bar on the way in about how many friends could join them, then another altercation when mr cipriani left the bar carrying a drink and was again spoken to by the dorman, and again words were exchanged. the dorman, we were told, switched on his body camera to recall —— recall the incident. mr cipriani did not like that and pulled the body camera from the doorman and walked off. doorman alerted a female police officer who

spoke to mr cipriani and told him he was going to have to be detained. he did not like that either and there was a very short scuffle perhaps lasting only seconds involving a second police officer whilst mr cipriani resisted efforts to put ha ndcuffs cipriani resisted efforts to put handcuffs on him and during the incident the court heard that the female police officer received minor injuries to her upper body and neck after mr cipriani apparently grabbed her collar. today in court, through his barrister, mr cipriani said he was deeply sorry for what had happened, was mortified and that the female officer should suffer any injury. he had accepted that he had had too much to drink. the magistrate, in reviewing what penalty should be imposed, accepted the incident had started in a minor way but did point out the fact that police officers have been trying to do theirjob and mr cipriani's behaviour was clearly inappropriate so she fined him £500 for the common

assault on the doorman and £1500 for the act of resisting arrest. there was also an award of £250 compensation to the female police officer. we were perhaps expecting the club who were there in court, members of the training team, to say something outside but they did not and mrcipriani something outside but they did not and mr cipriani was bundled into a gloucester vehicle and they drove off without comment. as we heard earlier, the club have now said that they are standing by him and we wait to see what the rfu will have to say about the incident. the headlines on bbc news. the a—level results are out and they show students have been awarded the highest proportion of a's and a—stars since 2012 — with more than a quarter of entries awarded the top grades this year. italy declares a state of emergency following the bridge collapse in genoa in which at least 39 people are known to have died. the england rugby player, danny cipriani, has pleaded guilty to common assault and resisting arrest following an incident at a nightclub injersey

former england captain michael vaughan says ben stokes ”doesn't deserve' a warm welcome if — as expected — he returns for england this weekend. stokes is back in the squad for the third test against india after being cleared of affray. and vaughan says that although stokes deserves his place in the team, it shouldn't come with any fanfare. i cannot get my head around the fact that he would not want to take a little bit of time. even if england wa nted little bit of time. even if england wanted him, he's gone through eight daysin wanted him, he's gone through eight days in crown court, and i would have thought that his head could be ina have thought that his head could be in a different place for wanting to play international cricket. knowing the england cricket fans as i do, they will give him a reception. i did think he deserves it. he is not a hero and has brought the game into disrepute but the punishment on the fa ct disrepute but the punishment on the fact he missed the whole winter in

australia is enough, and now with the not guilty charge she should be able to play cricket. after their run to the last four at the world cup in russia, england's football team are now ranked as the sixth best side in the world. that's according to fifa's world ranking system. gareth southgate's team have moved up six places after this summer's tournament. germany, who were knocked out in the group stages, are out of the world's top ten for the first time since 2005. no surprise who's top of the rankings. the new world champions france also climb six places to take the number one spot from germany. arsenal's ainsley maitland—niles has been ruled out for up to two months after breaking his leg. it happened during their opening day defeat against manchester city last sunday. the club say he has a ‘small fracture' to his left fibula. another man facing a spell on the sidelines is manchester city's kevin de bruyne. here he is on crutches at the premiere of city's documentary last night. he's having a scan on his injured right knee today with reports suggesting he could face three months out.

real madrid began life without cristiano ronaldo and zinedine zidane with defeat in the first ever uefa super cup derby as atletico madrid scored twice in extra time, after the game ended 2—2 after 90 minutes. this was real‘s first match since ronaldo signed forjuventus for £99m in the summer and zidane stood down as manager. former chelsea striker diego costa scored twice in normal time, thumping in the opener after 49 seconds and then this tap—in in the second half. then look at this from saul to put atletico 3—2 up in extra—time. koke got their fourth to make it 4—2 that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. politicians in northern ireland have expressed

outrage after the names of murdered police and prison officers were put on top of a bonfire in londonderry. hundreds of people watched the bonfire in the bogside last night. 0ur correspondent, chris page, has the latest from belfast. there has been condemnation across the political spectrum. this bonfire was built in the bogside area of londonderry, a strongly republican area. in august, julian, there are republican bonfires, traditionally, across northern ireland but sinn

fein have said that they've done a lot of work in recent years in trying to eliminate the bonfires as they have become a magnet for at least anti—social behaviour, so for example, this year, in belfast, the first time, there was no republican bonfires. injuly, loyalists also have their bonfires around the time of the orange march season, the 11th of the orange march season, the 11th ofjuly, and on some of those bonfires it's not uncommon to see sectarian slogans. example this year there was a sign referring to the victims of the bally murphy massacre shootings when ten people were shot dead by the army in 1971, so there have been controversies around bonfires on both sides of the community here for the summer. the problems around bonfires have on the whole diminished over the years of the peace process that has been going on and it is now the end, as it were of the bonfires but overnight in londonderry it does show that the controversies around

the bonfire certainly have not gone away totally. indeed not. i suppose the sinn fein reaction was likely to be the one most heavily scrutinised, it does point away forward potentially. sinn fein would make the point they've done a lot of work on the ground at grassroots level in recent yea rs on the ground at grassroots level in recent years which has generally been that noticed by the wider media but it has removed these bonfires which have been hijacked by dissident republicans over the last few years. one of the main dates in the calendar. they were interned without trial. it has traditionally been a time for republican bonfires but the main voice has been actively discourage this. there are people in republicanism who oppose the agenda sinn fein and it is those who are a small minority who are responsible

for these unregulated bonfires that was at the heart of the controversy in derry overnight. the judge in the trial of two women charged with murdering the half—brother of north korea's leader, has said the evidence is strong enough to proceed to a trial. the women are accused of smearing the lethal nerve agent vx over kim jong nam's face at kuala lumpur international airport last year. they say they believed they were playing roles in a prank television show. the judge said their actions were sufficient to infer they intended to kill their victim. 0ur correspondent, jonathan head, is outside the court. it means a long, drawn—out trial and it means we will hear from them for the first time. remember we have only had in these eight months of long, drawn—out hearings just the prosecution case outlined, which is what the judge based his decision on today. it is disappointing for the defence lawyers. they would argue the evidence clearly showed that these women were unwitting dupes and had no motive to kill this man. they are from poor backgrounds, recruited

effectively from the sex industry by what turned out to be north korean agents. the judge has taken a very literal reading and looked at the action at the airport and their connection to the vx agent smeared on the face of kim jong nam and said it was enough to proceed with the case. we will have many more witnesses coming forward, and the defence will have to make that case, including putting the two women on the stand when in fact they might have been genuinely duped, which is their claim, that what they were putting on the face was anything more than a harmless liquid. it could take a very long time to get this very political case seen through. remember, they are the only two people who have been arrested in connection with the crime. four north korean men who were also charged, they disappeared from the country on the same day and there are other north koreans linked to the embassy who were allowed to leave, so we only have these two women being held to account for this extraordinary assassination. she's sold more than 300 million records worldwide, and in the uk she's sold more

singles than any other performer. the original material girl turns 60 today. the singer has been celebrating the big day with a series of posts on instagram counting down to her birthday, finishing with photos of these outfits inspired by berber culture. 0ver her 35—year career she has repeatedly reinvented herself and her sound, courting controversy and smashing sales records. well, in our brighton studio now is emily baker, a madonna fan and phd student at the university of liverpool where she is studying age in voice in pop music. mle, welcome. why does she matter so much to you? —— mle. mle, welcome. why does she matter so much to you? -- mle. you have summed it up really nicely. it is that ability to transform and encapsulate ability to transform and encapsulate a moment in relatively recent history and to put that into a

three—minute pop song and into an album and then move onto the next thing, so it's this ability to transform and put on a different mask for each record, calling on various histories and subcultures in that way that really sets out and makes madonna the person that we know in contemporary culture.” mentioned your studies, so how does she fit onto the ph.d. work that you are doing? my ph.d. is based around the ideas of bringing travel to ideasissues the ideas of bringing travel to ideas issues of ageing appropriately,‘ and the idea of growing old gracefully. i‘m interested in pop music and i‘m a bit of a geek and i‘m really interested in how people like madonna and dolly parton, joni mitchell, aretha franklin, how those musicians package up their music,

their work. either using various technologies with autojune and a kind of swiss sing —— swishing masterful symphonic work. so that's about her ability to reinvent and embrace new ways of doing what she has always done? yes, certainly. you mentioned her instagram following and that is really interesting because she comes across as a mother and matriarch and she and this all comes through in her instagram presents so it would be really interesting to see what that leads to in terms of musical output in terms of the next couple of years. is it possible to gauge how much influence she has on people‘s

everyday lives? those who have been following her for several decades, are there people who would say they would not have done this were it not for madonna? absolutely. i did a very unscientific check—in with my facebook friends yesterday and overwhelmingly what came across was that madonna gave people from lgb tq backgrounds, bozo identified as that, —— those who identified as that, —— those who identified as that, she gave them a language to celebrate who they are rather than remain in the closet so she is really important in that way. good to have your thoughts. thank you very much. thanks for having me. now a check on the weather forecast. it isa it is a mixed bag today. we have the best of the sunshine across northern and western parts of the country, with blustery showers, but further south and east, a miserable afternoon with a lot of cloud and

rain which will eventually clear away, sunshine following behind. it will take its time to clear from east anglia and the south—east. behind it, those skies clearing. a chilly day. the rain clears from the south—east and we continue with blustery showers in the north west of the country. it will be a chilly night, just about making double—figure values in towns and cities, but down to single digits in rural places. tomorrow will be bright, with sunshine, but rain from the word go in northern ireland, western scotland and pushing into north—western england and wales. it stays dry in the south—east. it will be around 17 celsius in the north, a bit warmer in the south. this is bbc news.

our latest headlines... hundreds of thousands of a—level students have been receiving their results across england, wales and northern ireland. official figures show the proportion of entries awarded either a or a—star grades is the highest since 2012. up up to 20 people are still missing following the bridge collapse in genoa, in which 39 people are known to die. hundreds of people in surrounding homes been evacuated from the surrounding area. translation: we have made plans so that people have somewhere safe and peas to stay and are able to cope with this tragedy. the england rugby union player danny cipriani has pleaded guilty to two charges, following an incident at a nightclub injersey. he‘s been fined 500 pounds for assault and 15 hundred pounds for resisting arrest. the judge in the trial of two women charged with murdering the half—brother of north korea‘s leader, has said the evidence is strong enough to proceed to a trial.

the women are accused of smearing the lethal nerve agent vx over kim jong nam‘s face at kuala lumpur international airport last year. hundreds of thousands of a—level students have been receiving their results across england, wales and northern ireland. official figures show the proportion of entries awarded either a or a—star grades is the highest since 2012 and boys have outperformed girls for the second year running. let‘s speak to charlotte milburn now — charlotte has an unconditional offer to study teaching at york university, so she‘ll be off to york in september. shejoins me down the line from durham. good afternoon, welcome, and congratulations. thank you. obviously, the exams went well, because we wouldn‘t be talking to you with that introduction, but how

did you feel as they progressed? you with that introduction, but how did you feel as they progressed7m was very did you feel as they progressed7m was very top, definitely put us through our paces, but i was lucky enough to have the combination of the vocational and academic at the same time, so that put a lot of stress off me during the exam season. what was the vocational element to what you were studying?” did performing arts, which was equivalent to two a—levels. did performing arts, which was equivalent to two a-levels. so that eased the pressure, exam time, i‘m with you. i've always wanted to go into the education sector, not too sure about the teaching element as of yet, but i‘ve always wanted to go into teaching, and york is quite close to my hometown. but it‘s still far enough away where i can develop my independence and make new friends. so, it was a no—brainer,

really, to york. and the course at york suits what you‘re after as well? definitely. there are so many offers, so many modules, and it really brought as well. how did you find the process of making those eventual decisions? the application process was quite long, but i got my offers quite quickly, so i kind of made a decision quite quickly as to where i wanted to go. and what has it been like for your contemporaries? it's been ok, yeah. some will clearly be in a good mood today and others less so, is that fair? i think most people are very happy, but there are some really good grades out there. and most of your friends have got them, by the sound of it. yeah. good. iwanted

your friends have got them, by the sound of it. yeah. good. i wanted to ask you about stress and some of the changes that have been made in recent times to the exam process. what is your experience of that and what sort of conversations have you had with others about that? yeah, so, the government changed the a—level is now so that it‘s more academic, so less coursework involved, the same with gcses, and it has become harder, because the nas levels don‘t count towards a levels. you have to do it all over again. —— the as. i was good enough to carry on to do the a—level, so i carried on until the a—level, but it‘s harder because the as doesn‘t count it‘s harder because the as doesn‘t cou nt towards it‘s harder because the as doesn‘t count towards the final grade. no, indeed. and a final word of what you are most looking forward to. you will be in york by the end of september, i‘m guessing? will be in york by the end of

september, i'm guessing? yeah, the middle of september. what do you imagine york university will offer you? i am excited to meet new people, the whole dynamic of university, and the whole joining societies and different clubs, and just exploring a new city as well. listen, have a great time, and do some work while you are there as well, when you? yeah, definitely! thank you for coming on, charlotte milburn, looking forward to three yea rs or milburn, looking forward to three years or be more at york university. earlier i spoke to seeta bhardwa, who‘s the student content editor at times higher education and carl cullinane, head of research and policy at the sutton trust. they gave their advice to students receiving their results. if you don‘t receive your grades on results day, it‘s not the end of the world. there are a few different processes to go through, the first being clearing. at the moment, there are 30,000 courses available through clearing, so speak to your teachers at school, speak to your parents,

decide what options are best for you, and then log on to ucas, search through the courses that are available. try not to panic and pick courses that sound interesting thing that you have to rethink your helpline. think about what you were planning to do when you are first thinking of going to universities, and then call the universities yourself, don‘t get someone else to do it for you, ask questions, and think of reasons why you might want to go to their university, the reasons you want to do the course. and take some time to think about your options. you have until october to decide. clearing is open till october, so there is time. so, draw breath. carl, you have done research into broader attitudes among people thinking of going to university, so what have you been finding? we have been interviewing younger people,

11-16, been interviewing younger people, 11—16, and we have been doing that since 2003, and the pattern in re ce nt since 2003, and the pattern in recent years is that those who intend to go to university, the number is dropping, by about a quarter in the last decade. university being important for success in life, that number has gone down. does that i'm with what you have seen or heard?” gone down. does that i'm with what you have seen or heard? i think stu d e nts you have seen or heard? i think students are still interested in going to university. i think what is happening is that people are thinking about the other options that are available. which is a good thing. yes, it is important to remember that university isn‘t for everybody, but still a lot of 18—year—olds are going to university, so i think it‘s promising to see that students are considering their options. when people do start to look at alternatives, why are they tending to do that, and what do they find? we have seen since 2012 that there

isa we have seen since 2012 that there is a big increase in financial worries among young people, about the high levels of debt, the £9,000 fees, so that has made some people think twice. we have seen a big increase in interest in doing apprenticeships, going up a lot since 2014, and the government has put a lot of effort into creating more opportunities and promoting the idea of apprenticeships, but we need effort in creating high—quality degree level apprenticeships to give a real viable alternative to university. you can find all the background to the new style exams and advice on how to go through clearing on the bbc news website — the address is on your screen. let‘s return now to genoa where rescuers are continuing to search through the rubble looking for survivors of the bridge collapse.

0ur correspondent tim willcox is there. all night and whole day, the air here in genoa close to the bridge colla pse here in genoa close to the bridge collapse has been filled with the sound of heavy hammer drilling. fire and rescue teams are trying to smash up and rescue teams are trying to smash up those huge chunks of concrete to actually reveal where the other vehicles and victims are beneath the thousands of tonnes of rubble here. no more survivors have been found, u nfortu nately, no more survivors have been found, unfortunately, for more than 24 hours. at the same time, though, more stories are emerging of the most miraculous escapes. the lorry just appear on the bridge behind me, just appear on the bridge behind me, just ten metres away from where it collapse. we now know that the driver of that vehicle is a man called luigi. he hasn‘t spoken to the international media or the

italian press yet, but his friends have, and according to them, as soon as he saw the cars in front beginning to tip over, he slammed on the brakes, reversed as far as he could, let the engine running, open the door and sprinted to the start of the bridge. apparently he was joking with some of his friends, saying, as far as i‘m aware, that ban continued running until it ran out of fuel, because nobody has been at there. today, we spoke to a man who was below the bridge at the time of the collapse, caught in a traffic jam, and when you look at these pictures, you see what an extraordinary escape he had. basically, if he had been sitting in the passenger seat of his van, he would almost certainly have been killed. as it was, half the cabin was crushed by falling masonry and concrete. he broke his arm. two days later, he is back, trying to salvage some of his belongings from inside

that vehicle, still in great pain. you can see him wincing there, and he said it was a miracle he survived. he also said he felt for the victims, realising how many people had lost their lives. there will be a state funeral for victims this saturday, attended by the president. and the political row continues, with the government demanding the resignation and also talking about a fine for the company running the motorway network here in italy, and also criticising the eu for not doing enough in terms of releasing billions of euros in funds for the infrastructure. it will take several days if not weeks to clear this rubble, but the long—lasting effects of this tragedy for the country, will enjoy for a long time to come. around a hundred whales have become repeatedly stuck in a fjord in iceland. police helped them get out of the fjord, in the west of the country. but less than 24 hours later they were back again, and needed help to get out once more.

lebo diseko has the story. this is a rescue operation in action, the second in as many days for this pod of around 100 whales. they got stuck after swimming into a fjord that‘s opening is both narrow and shallow, making it hard to get out. police helped guide them into more open waters, and it was hoped they‘d go back to sea. but, the next day, they were back once again. cue rescue effort number two. translation: 13 of them went all the way to the shore, and we had to deal with them, push them out by hand, and that went very well. one of the whales even got stuck up on the shore, and needed a kayaker to help get free. it is not clear why the group keep going back, but locals say they may be using the incoming tide to help them, and they‘ve certainly attracted quite an audience. translation: naturally this is interesting to see,

for both foreigners and icelanders, to view and experience this in nature. you can‘t see this in an aquarium. this is pure nature, which makes it more interesting. the group was eventually guided even further out, in the hope that they‘d find their way to the ocean. that seems to have done the trick. but, if they do return, rescue teams will be on hand once again to help them find their way. lebo diseko, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... the a—level results are out and they show students have been awarded the highest proportion of a‘s and a—stars since 2012 — with more than a quarter of entries awarded the top grades this year. italy declares a state of emergency following the bridge collapse in genoa in which at least 39 people are known to have died. the england rugby player,

danny cipriani, has pleaded guilty to common assault and resisting arrest following an incident at a nightclub injersey. for thousands of years, mummifying loved ones and pharaohs alike was common practice among ancient egyptians, who believed that it allowed the spirit to enter the afterlife. now, new forensic examination techniques have discovered how the embalming was done — and it turns out that it‘s a lot simpler than previously thought. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill, has been finding out more at bolton museum. a warehouse on the industrial estate might not be somewhere you would think would be hiding the secrets of ancient egypt, but actually, the first chemical clues about what was in this embalming recipe thousands of years old came from tiny pieces of years old came from tiny pieces of fabric housed in this very building, and they are here with someone who knows all about the secrets that these bits of fabric

contain. doctor stephen barclay from the university of york. thank you for joining the university of york. thank you forjoining us. tell us what you discovered in these little fragments of fabric. they don't seem much to look at, but actually, they are impregnated with complex recipes of natural products. so, a mixture of resin, plant gum, plant oil, and an aromatic plant extract, so complex recipes, and crucially, they have got antibacterial ingredients that would have served to preserve the bodies, the mummies, these prehistoric mummies, so what is exciting is that mummification of the pharaohs, the iconic part of egyptian culture that we know so well, these fabrics are actually showing that the origins of mummification go back over 1500 years earlier than we thought. these are fragments of linen that actually

wrapped those mummies, much older than the egyptian pharaohs, and they have revealed this recipe. what does that mean for our understanding of ancient egypt‘s? it‘s painting a different picture. absolutely. what is crucial is that these recipes on these prehistoric textiles are essentially the same as those used 2500 years later, when the embalmer's art was at its best, so it is showing that connection that they were experimenting with mummification far earlier. yell at what is in a 's we have oil, gum, plant resin. could you make it at home? —— plant resin. could you make it at home? -- what is in it? the ingredients are helping to preserve these mummies way back in in ancient history, before the iconic mummies that we know about. the

antibacterial property is crucial, isn‘t it, to stop that body decaying and maintain it as a vessel for the sole? is that what the egyptians believed? the survival of the body was absolutely survival and weak vital for survival in the afterlife. their essence, their soul, their spirit couldn't survive without the body being intact, so bodily preservation was absolutely central to ancient egyptian culture, so pushing it back by over 1000 years is really quite exciting. it is fascinating to talk to you about it. thank you, doctor buckley. they don‘t look like much, as you say, but it goes to show what secrets you can find if you search through the drawers are some of these warehouses in rather innocuous places. we will keep on looking and see what else we canfind. keep on looking and see what else we can find. victoria gill, bolton museum. floods and landslides in southern india have killed at least 43 people. it‘s the worst flooding in almost a century, and heavy monsoon rains are expected

to continue throughout the week. rhodri davies has more. the elderly and the young are seeking safety across the indian state of carol. —— kerala. seasonal rains have left people adrift in one of the worst floods in the last century. landslides have killed dozens century. landslides have killed d oze ns of century. landslides have killed dozens of people. 0thers century. landslides have killed dozens of people. others are struggling. translation: we haven't faced rainfall of such magnitude in decades. we are focusing on staying alive. that is in monsoon rains and winds that have left tens of thousands of people stranded and devastated crops. it has been exacerbated by authorities having to open 35 dangerously fooled dams, sending a surge of water into rivers, many of which are overflowing. at least 54,000 people are displaced in the southern state.

families are arriving to shelters and camps bringing stories of near escapes. translation: when the water came in, we ran away with whatever we could grab. the water came very fast. we had to save lives. we lost so many things. so many of our belongings are still inside and we don‘t know what has happened to them. at these places are a major international destination for tourists. 0ne international destination for tourists. one of the ports will only be open again on saturday, when the indian meteorological department expects heavy and very heavy rains to continue until. disaster management forces, the army and the navy are continuing to carry out rescue attempts and the road and rail disruption. but with days of rain to come, in the cities and rural areas, there will be concern about how many more people will need help. rhodri davies, bcc news. ——

bbc news. madonna turns 60 today. a little earlier my colleague victoria derbyshire spoke to casting director mark summers. mark trained as a performer before moving into casting over 20 years ago. he knows the business inside and out and has been fortunate enough to work with some of the world s most creative individuals, from madonna to metallica. she‘s a genius. she gets what she wa nts, she‘s a genius. she gets what she wants, and she‘s always looking for something new. and she is a survivor as well, isn‘t she? something new. and she is a survivor as well, isn't she? think about it, she came to new york, i was just saying on social media today, with about $100 in her pocket today, and look at her now — a billionaire heiress and total legend, an activist, everything. you say she a lwa ys

activist, everything. you say she always get what she wants. she's very focused on finding the very latest trend is going on, so she‘s good at finding things and discovering people and giving them opportunities to shine. what kind of influence do you think she has had on the music industry and choreography? with the music industry, she is a total legend. she has gone through every different type of style, every genre, and i think she‘s slammed it, let‘s be honest. with the dons side of it, she is so encouraging to dancers. evenif she is so encouraging to dancers. even if she is doing a five—minute appearance, madonna believes in practice, practice, practice, and finding the best talent you can get. she has got an incredible work ethic, hasn‘t she? she has got an incredible work ethic, hasn't she? amazing. people don‘t believe it until they see it. if madonna says she is turning up at 9am, she will turn up one minute before and beyond time, and she likes people with the same sort of

work ethic. when you were a young teenager, it was your dream to work with her, wasn‘t it? teenager, it was your dream to work with her, wasn't it? i think, when i was a kid, i grew up in hounslow west. my mum is indian and my dad is irish, and! west. my mum is indian and my dad is irish, and i said i wanted to work with michaeljackson and madonna, and they were like, all right, son. which did you prefer? they are both strong characters. i can‘t say. madonna has some things, michael had others. they are creative geniuses, and no one will forget who they are and no one will forget who they are and what they‘ve done. and no one will forget who they are and what they've done. what do you think about the criticism she has enjoyed over many decades, too sexual, too sexualised, when she was in her 20s sexual, too sexualised, when she was in her20s and sexual, too sexualised, when she was in her 20s and 30s, to now, she should act her age, stop doing stuff to herface, should act her age, stop doing stuff to her face, etc. what is all this acting your age? she is a strong woman who knows what she wants. she

probably understands more about real life than most people that are in parliament today, and i think... do you reckon? a billionaire heiress? she is a single mum. madonna is one of these people where a lot of people think she will be driving around in limos all the time. when she lived in london, she was driving around ina she lived in london, she was driving around in a car, meeting people. she‘s very approachable and very... she‘s very approachable and very... she‘s a great businesswoman. she‘s very approachable and very... she's a great businesswoman.” she‘s very approachable and very... she's a great businesswoman. i would love to interview madonna, but i would be scared, i got to be honest. she‘s a strong woman, and maybe it is because come from that line of four sisters, so i‘m used to working with women, and my whole staff are women because i think they work... they are just a lot harder workers. i think people are scared of strong women. i love it. i think it‘s brilliant if someone comes in, knows what they want, they create, and look at her. she is 60, she has sold

300 million records. i have done two or three videos with her. they have had billions of plays. how can you criticise anyone like that? and that was mark summers. in a moment it‘s time for the one o‘clock news with ben brown, but first it‘s time for a look at the weather. it was quite a wet one across the south—east corner of the country, a weather front moving through introducing colour red. tonight, apart from a few showers in the north and west, it will pay a dry, clear and chilly night. cooler air is flooding in behind these weather fronts. it will be a fine end to the day for many, with sunshine. a few showers continuing across the north—west corner of the country, rain clearing away from the south—east. most places will be clear and dry overnight, and it will be quite chilly, temperatures just making double figures in towns and cities, out perhaps the low to mid

single digits. into friday, we are between weather systems, another one arriving across western areas through the day. this ridge of high pressure should keep things largely fine and dry across southern and eastern parts. friday starts on a chilly note, but there will be sunshine around. the winds will pick up sunshine around. the winds will pick up in the west as this weather system begins to move into northern ireland and western scotland. it will turn wetter as the day progresses. across the south and east, apart from cloud building up into the afternoon, it should stay largely dry. there will be some sunshine around, the best in east anglia and the south—east. farther north, a windier picture, with outbreaks of rain for northern ireland pushing into north wales and the north—west. it will be a blustery day, particularly across the north—west corner of the country. those temperatures still quite cool across the north, the high teens celsius, a bit of a recovery in the south—east with

sunshine, probably low 20s celsius. the weekend looks fine, but there is this low area —— low—pressure area which could bring rain for some on sunday. there will be some sunshine across eastern scotland and in the south—east. later, cloud thickens across northern ireland, with outbreaks of rain here. it will be warmer, temperatures getting up to 25 celsius in the south—east. it will feel increasingly humid as well. more cloud around on sunday, more wind, too, and showers in the north west of the country. a rise in the number of pupils getting top grades in their a levels. 0h oh my god, i did it! teenagers have been getting their results in england wales and northern ireland — the number with as or a stars is the highest for six years. we‘ll be live at a sixth form college in birkenhead and assessing the significance of today‘s results. also this lunchtime... rescue workers in italy say there‘s no hope of finding any more survivors of the genoa bridge

collapse — up to 20 people are missing. in trouble again — the england rugby star danny cipriani pleads guilty to common assault and resisting arrest at a hotel in jersey. a summer boost for the high street — the warm weather and the world cup improve retail sales figures. and the whales who keep getting themselves stuck in an icelandic fjord.