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. and coming up on bbc news, after their run to the world cup semifinal in russia, england climb six places to sixth in the latest fifa world rankings. france are the new number one side. good afternoon and welcome

to the bbc news at one. teenagers in england, wales and northern ireland have been getting their a level results today. the proportion of pupils getting the top grades is the highest for six years. more than one in four students got either an a or an a star. our education correspondent elaine dunkley is at a sixth form college in birkenhead. elaine. earlier it was heaving in here with stu d e nts earlier it was heaving in here with students coming to collect their results. today has been a big day of hopes and dreams, celebrations and tea rs. hopes and dreams, celebrations and tears. for many of the students two

yea rs of ha rd tears. for many of the students two years of hard work came down to how they prepared for a final exam. two years of hard work for a life changing moment. for many, the wait was over. for changing moment. for many, the wait was over. foi’ some, changing moment. for many, the wait was over. for some, the waiting and just gone. i got b,b,c and u nfortu nately i just gone. i got b,b,c and unfortunately i needed to get three as but at the end of the day it is what it is and hopefully i can try to get into my insurance which is manchester met. there have been major changes in a—levels in england with a move away from coursework and as—level is no longer contributing to final marks. we are basically on a new specification so there was that possibility examiners can be particularly harsh or lenient. this man came to england from syria at the age of 12, today his future will

be studying medicine. he was given an unconditional offer and other incentives to study at the university of central lancashire. the university offered me £1000 if i do get the grades and i got them so that's an extra thing to be happy about. universities are keen to attract students but there has been criticism of the record number of unconditional offers that have been made. i think unconditional offers area bit made. i think unconditional offers are a bit of a national shame. halfway through because you get a letter on your doormat on the university saying it doesn't matter how hard you work any more, you can still come this to university. what signal is sending out? it has been the highest proportion of people awarded a a or a star this year in six years. meanwhile, one in 12 entries scored a a star grade this year. and boys lead girls for the

top grades of the second year running, the proportion of boys who got a or higher was 0.4 percentage points higher than girls. we make sure the system is fair to students to reflect what is the appropriate level of skill and knowledge stu d e nts level of skill and knowledge students are demonstrating, but they also make sure that is in line with other years. there has been a further improvement in welsh students' performance in the top grades at a—level. in northern ireland results are similar to last year. a—levels have gone old school in england with more emphasis on final exams. despite the changes, there has been little movement in overall results. for those of sixth formers who missed out on grades, universities are saying don't worry, there are

still plenty of high courses available through clearing are currently more than 30,000 courses still available on ucas so the message is to stay positive and don't panic about getting a place at university. thank you very much indeed. so what do these results mean for teenagers hoping to go to university? 0ur correspondent andy moore is at the headquarters of ucas — the universities and colleges admissions service in cheltenham. andy. an incredibly busy day here today, the busiest day of the year for ucas, about 50 staff will communicate with tens of thousands of stu d e nts communicate with tens of thousands of students today. behind me is the social media team who are responding directly to inquiries on social media and have been monitoring conversations in the public domain. if they feel they can step in and offer help, they will do. on the other side, the phone calls are being answered. the role of ucas todayis

being answered. the role of ucas today is a clearing house, putting in touch the students who failed to get the grades they wanted in touch with those universities who have plenty of places on offer. in fact this year students may be in a better position than in many years, it isa better position than in many years, it is a bit ofa better position than in many years, it is a bit of a biased market. there are something like 30,000 courses which have places available. some of those, some of the top universities. there may be financial incentives available. so the advice today from ucas as always is to those students to calm down and think about it. it may be a stressful situation but you don't have to make a decision today. talk to your teachers and parents, talk to your teachers and parents, talk to ucas and various universities, and then in your own good time make that decision which will affect your future obviously for many years to come. andy, thank you very much indeed. andy moore reporting.

rescue workers in italy fear there's little hope of finding any more survivors of the bridge collapse in genoa. 38 people have been confirmed dead but up to 20 are unaccounted for. a state funeral for the victims of the distater will be held on saturday. caroline davies reports. piece by piece, the parts of this disaster are being pulled apart. rescuers continue to hunt through the rubble, but two days on, the hope that they will find any life under the blocks of concrete is fading. we did not recover any person this night. we are recovering parts of vehicles. we are trying to understand how many vehicles are still under the rubble, and we are working on rough estimates of the vehicles and the number of vehicles which were on the bridge. with every day, new stories of those who escaped. the driver of this truck stopped metres from the collapse. he told an italian newspaper that moments before, he had slowed down when a car overtook him.

seconds later, the bridge shook and the car disappeared over the edge in front of him. underneath the bridge, the fallen concrete turned this truck into mangled metal. the driver, luciano goccia, was inside. he passed out but was rescued, escaping with a broken arm. today he returned to collect his belongings, saying it was a miracle he had survived. the authorities are trying to reassure the people of genoa. more than 400 were evacuated from the area. there are concerns that the bridge could be a risk to their homes. translation: we have had an update on those who were displaced by the disaster, and we have made plans so that they have somewhere safe and peaceful to stay and are able to cope with this tragedy. the government have blamed the motorway operator autostrada. shares in the company dropped sharply. autostrada has said it checked the bridge every three months. but today the deputy prime minister attacked the company for caring more

about losing revenue than the victims. this is so shameful. could they spare a word on the victims? on a day like today, of all days, they are still thinking of their profits and numbers on the stock market. there are still many questions about how this could have happened. work here to clear the site continues while others search for answers. 0ur correspondent danjohnson is in genoa. what is being said today about where responsibility lies for this horrific disaster? the political recriminations from this are getting more angry and bitter and senior politicians right up to the prime minister are placing the blame fairly and squarely on the company

responsible for italy's motorway network, autostrada. there are claims the company put profits before maintenance and has been charging the highest tolls in europe whilst basing itself officially in luxembourg to avoid paying taxes and there are calls for the executive to resign. the company itself says it is too early to make any moves and conclusions because investigation work hasn't even begun. they are still in recovery phase trying to dig through the rubble to find the rest of the people who are missing. that has really hit home to everyone how much worse this disaster could still get with news from the prosecutor ‘s office that as many as 20 people are still unaccounted for. if they are dead, it means the death toll from this disaster could rise up toll from this disaster could rise up to 60 people so serious recriminations and a lot of investigation work to go on, but the

politicians already seemingly jumping to conclusions about who is responsible and they want the company to be held to account. many thanks. dan johnson in company to be held to account. many thanks. danjohnson in genoa. a police officer has pleaded guilty to five counts of making indecent images of a child. lee bartram, of west midlands police, also pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing similar images. the 44—year—old, who was based in birmingham, was remanded in custody. he'll be sentenced in in september. retail sales grew faster than expected last month, with the good weather and the world cup particularly boosting food sales. figures from the office for national statistics show sales rose by 0.7% from the figure injune and they were 3.5% higher than the same time last year. 0nline sales also played a part, reaching record levels. our business correspondent jonty bloom is here. just talk us through the figures.

the good weather is both good and bad for retail sales so we saw a surge in food and drink buying as people stayed in to watch the football and so on but it was also an uncomfortable time to go down the high street. it was too hot, people stop doing that so we didn't see a pick—up in non—food retailing. it was mainly food. people stayed at home and shop online, that did very well. 0nline sales rising as well. this has always been seen as the big threat to the high street. they rose by something like 15% over the last year but it's not all bad news because if you look at the online sales by department stores, they rose by nearly 30% so what's happening is people are going to department stores, looking at the choice and price and then going home and shopping online. the department stores are winning a pretty good share of the market so people are going to debenhams, john lewis,

shopping at home but using their websites to get whatever they are getting. thank you. armed police were deployed in birmingham last night after two mosques were attacked with catapults. windows were broken after ball bearings were fired at the mosques in the small heath and hob moor road areas of the city, shortly after ten o'clock. detectives believe a heavy duty catapult was used. the motive for the attacks is still unclear. politicians across the divide in northern ireland have condemned a crowd in londonderry for gloating about the murder of four police and prison officers and putting their names on a bonfire. police say they're investigating it as a hate crime. the son of one of those named — the murdered prison officer david black — says he's sickened by what happened. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. the towering inferno in the bogside area of londonderry. bonfires are

traditional in some parts of ireland to mark the catholic feast of the assumption but the celebrations are often marred in sectarian controversy. last night, the name of murdered officer stephen carroll was placed on the bonfire along with three others. his widow told the bbc she was sickened. i am absolutely shocked and disappointed in londonderry, a city that hosted the city of culture so eloquently could allow people to take such a backward step into the past. the mayor of derry said this bonfire had been built against the wishes of the organisers of a community festival which was being held nearby. no one wa nts to which was being held nearby. no one wants to see that in our community and people have worked very hard and diligently in an attempt to convince those who were responsible for building the other bonfire here in bogside to stop that because it's really not sending out a message

thatis really not sending out a message that is reflective in any way of the attitudes and opinions of people in bogside or the city generally. bonfires have been a source of community tension in northern ireland for decades. in july unionist community is light large fires to mark the pastor —— protesta nt fires to mark the pastor —— protestant celebration of the burning of the buying. —— boyne. the police service of northern ireland describe last night's bonfire in derry is offensive and distasteful. it's now being investigated as a hate crime. the england rugby star danny cipriani has been fined after pleading guilty to charges of common assault and resisting arrest at a hotel in jersey. magistrates ordered him to pay £2,000 and a further £250 in compensation. the incident happened when cipriani was on a pre—season toui’ with his club gloucester. from jersey, robert hall reports. images of a night out with friends.

danny cipriani enjoying a meal in st helier. the incident, which left mr cipriani in police cells, took place later that evening when not on his own admission he had had too much to drink. it done with an altercation outside a seafront hotel, during which mr cipriani is said to have attempted to take a doorman's body camera. even resisted efforts by a female police officer to detain him, grabbing at her shirt collar —— he then resisted efforts. his barrister said his client was mortified at his actions and had offered sincere apologies. side £2000, mr cipriani left with other squad members without comment —— he was fined £2000. ina without comment —— he was fined £2000. in a statement gloucester rugby club said danny cipriani noses his responsibilities and is aware of the impact of this type of incident

on the club. he is a gloucester player and will receive our full support as we focus on the exciting season support as we focus on the exciting season ahead. inevitably this incident will raise questions over his career with the england squad. the rfu have yet to give their reaction to this latest lapse in behaviour. robert hall, bbc news, jersey. our top story this lunchtime. there's been a rise in the number of pupils getting top grades at a level — more than a quarter were awarded as or a stars, the most for six years. and coming up — here's your post, eight years late. israel finally allows a mail delivery to palestinians on the west bank. coming up on bbc news, former england captain michael vaughan says ben stokes doesn't deserve a warm reception from the england fans in the third test against india on saturday. stokes was found not guilty of affray this week. president trump has revoked the security clearance of a former director of the cia,

john brennan, who's been a persistent critic. the white house claims mr brennan has been using his access to sensitive information to undermine the president. for his part, mr brennan says it's part of a broader effort by donald trump to suppress freedom of speech and punish his critics. 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've left the job, in case they're 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 president's move was part of a broader effort to suppress freedom of speech and punish critics. he goes on, it should gravely worry all americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out. my principles are worth more than clearances. 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 donald trump, who has called the president morally unfit to lead. peter bowes, bbc news. meanwhile, american newspapers have been hitting back at president trump's attacks on the media — in particular his description of the press as the "enemy of the people".

hundreds of us newspapers have launched a coordinated campaign stressing the importance of a free press. let's speak to cbs correspondent john schiumo, in new york. is this the us press fighting back, ina sense? is this the us press fighting back, in a sense? i suppose so, least is by design. at latest count nearly 350 news organisations pledged to be involved in this, pledged to participate. it's meant to be a show of solidarity as journalists push back against trump's claims of fake news, and it all started when the boston globe invited newspapers across the country to stand up for the press and many are, the dallas morning news, the denver post, the chicago sun times are all taking part. a show of solidarity as you say but i suppose the question is does donald trump really care? it's interesting, doubtful of course.

most of the editorial board is overwhelmingly opposed to the election in 2016, so it's doubtful this effort will change minds in the white house, but i think perhaps pa rt white house, but i think perhaps part of this ever de ceglie to reassure americans, the readers of these newspapers, that the journalism is indeed accurate and true —— part of this effort is to reassure americans. john schiumo, thank you. ajudge in malaysia has ruled that there is enough evidence to go ahead with a trial of two women accused of killing the north korean leader's half brother. the prosecution claim the women, from indonesia and vietnam, smeared the face of kim jong—nam with a toxic nerve agent at kuala lumpur airport in february last year. both women have denied the charges. 0ur correspondentjonathan head is in kuala lumpur. talk us through the background to this extraordinary story. kimjong—nam kim jong—nam was at one time the heir to the north korean leadership but became estranged and lived in

obscurity in macau on the china, but last year travelling on a false passport under a false name he became ill and died very suddenly and was discovered to have been exposed to this very dangerous nerve agent, the x. a security camera video led the police to this two women who have been arrested, one and indonesia, and other vietnamese woman. there were many north korean men allegedly involved who fled the country at the time and there was a diplomatic breakdown between the two countries. no north koreans have been detained. many have been allowed to leave under deals between the two countries. the lawyers for the two countries. the lawyers for the steele women say they were in effect duped, they thought they were taking part in televised pranks and had done it several times before on unsuspecting passers—by with harmless liquids. they didn't know what they were doing. the judge had to decide today whether there was a case against them. he said looking at the evidence indeed there is a case of premeditated murder, so that trial will continue and they do face

a possible death penalty if found guilty. jonathan, thank you very much indeed, jonathan head reporting. palestinian postal workers are sorting through a mountain of mail that israel has finally delivered to the occupied west bank, after blocking it for years. ten tonnes of parcels and envelopes have been building up injordan for almost a decade. israel is now allowing the mail through as part of confidence building measures between the two sides. here's our middle east correspondent, tom bateman. palestinian postal staff are working overtime in this depot in the occupied west bank. israel controls the border with neighbouring jordan, where the mail was being held. it agreed nearly a decade ago that some international post for palestinians could be flown intojordan and brought here. a deal that is taking as long to deliver as these parcels. thousands of people are still

waiting, says the man in charge here. we're doing the best we can to deliver those in a very short time, but let me say that it's better to come later than never to come at all. there's 10.5 tonnes of mail here, it's come from all over the world, i can see a bag from china, there's one here that has come from saudi arabia. it doesn't seem to be much in that. the workers are saying it's going to take at least two weeks to process all this, spaghetti to the people it has been addressed to, but they say —— to get it to the people it has been addressed, but because they say it's been held up to eight years it's in a pretty terrible condition. there is a bundle of letters here, a letter addressed to a charity in the city of hebron in the west bank and something else that has come from greece and are saying look at the state of that, somebody is going to be getting that through the letterbox. this wheelchair was destined for gaza. it was sent from

turkey, three years ago, but the manager says the problem is the label has fallen off so they don't know who was supposed to get this. they say they are in touch with the authorities in turkey to try and find out so it can be delivered. this is one of the oldest items they found here, a high—definition television which has been sent to somebody in the west bank who was expecting it six years ago. the label says it was posted in 2012. israel says the deal to deliver foreign mail the west bank via jordan is still being worked through the story described this transfer as a one off gesture. palestinians continue to wait in a part of a world where reason the post is political. tom bateman, bbc news, jericho. ben stokes is returning to training with the england cricket squad this lunchtime, just days after being cleared of affray. the all—rounder is preparing for the third test against india, which starts at trent bridge on saturday. he was called back into the side just hours after being cleared at bristol crown court on tuesday. head coach trevor bayliss says he'll take the next two days to decide whether stokes will play

in the match. she's sold at least 300 million records worldwide — and in the uk she's sold more singles than any other performer. today, madonna is celebrating her 60th birthday. # time goes by so slowly #. she became a global star back in 1983 with her first big hit "holiday", and is now seen as one of the most influential women in the world. she's likely to be celebrating her birthday in portugal, where she recently moved to so her youngest son, david, who she adopted from malawi, can attend a football academy. dramatic footage has emerged of about 100 pilot whales who got stuck in a fjord in iceland. the whales were guided out by experts, but they then seemed to lose their way again and were found back in the same spot a day later.

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's 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. time for a look at the weather. here's stav da naos. i thought i was going to start with a nice sunny picture, good afternoon, because there's quite a bit of rain across the south—east, a miserable afternoon. the further north and west you are there's a glorious blue sky and sunshine, as this shows in aberdeenshire. the further south and east you are closer to the weather front it's

pretty miserable, this is a recent photograph from lincolnshire will stop this is a cold front. it's a band of rain spreading slowly southwards and eastwards, giving quite a bit of rain across south—east england into london and east anglia but further north and west, a scattering of henry, blustery showers which will affect primarily western parts of scotland, and the north—west of england, but there will be good sunny spells in between. these showers are going to between. these showers are going to be blustery, i put the wind arrows on to show it will be quite gusty day particularly in the north and west. in the sunshine not feeling bad but those temperatures much lower than where they have been particularly in the south—east, ranging from 17—20, noticeable once the rain band clears away. this evening and overnight it's looking dry. we lose the rain band in the south—east. showers continue across the north—west corner of the country, easing up by the end of the night. overnight temperatures pretty chilly, down to 10 degrees in towns and cities, maybe mid single digits out of town so it will feel notably chilly. we head into friday, we have

a ridge of high pressure that will keep things fine and settled in the south but another area of low pressure m oves south but another area of low pressure moves in early on in the north and west. dry, quite chilly, some sunshine around, the cloud will tend to build up across all areas, a little bit of sunshine continuing in the south—east but the weather systems will make inroads with blustery winds so it's a downhill feature here. temperatures, high teens celsius in the north where it will feel quite cool but a recovery for south—east england, 21—23. for the weekend high pressure keeps things largely fine for saturday but as we head into sunday this feature will come in off the atlantic to spoil things, particularly across the north and west but there is some uncertainty where the rain will fall. for saturday not a bad picture, probably the better day of