borisjohnson is meeting emmanuel macron in paris to try to convince him to reopen brexit negotiations. the french president said it was up to the uk to decide its destiny. the prime minister repeated his insistence that the backstop must go — the president again says no. i want to make it absolutely clear to you, emmanuel, to the french people, that of course i want a deal. and i think we can get a deal. we'll be live with our correspondents in paris and westminster. also this lunchtime... the wait is over for 700,000 students as they get their gcse results — with top grades nudging up slightly despite concerns about the difficulty of exams. ryanair pilots go on a 48—hour strike but so far there's been

little disruption for passengers. record numbers of fires are burning in the amazon — now brazil's president claims they're being lit deliberately by opponents of his government. the microscope that provides extraordinary images ofjust how our bodies work. this gigantic two—tonne microscope is transforming our understanding of living processes. it takes something so big to see the tiny atom—sized cogs and wheels inside us in action. and it's that man again — england bowler jofra archer takes the first wicket as the third test gets under way in headingley. and coming up on bbc news... ireland name a more familiar squad to face england at twickenham on saturday as their world cup preparations continue.

good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. boris johnson is holding brexit talks in paris with the french president, emmanuel macron, who has insisted that the controversial irish backstop is "indispensable" to the integrity of the eu single market. the measure would prevent physical border checks if there was no post—brexit trade agreement. arriving at the elysee palace, mrjohnson said whether britain left with or without a deal at the end of october, the government would not introduce checks. mr macron said discussions between officials would go on but he agreed with the german chancellor, angela merkel, who yesterday challenged the uk to come up with solutions within 30 days. 0ur europe correspondent damian grammaticas sent this report.

france's president has called those who promoted brexit liars, selling false promises, so this first meeting with prime minister boris johnson, one of the leaders of the pro—brexit campaign, will be a blunt affair. cordial on the surface but not the stage for any compromises. the french president is the sort of leader who when confronted with the problem is not afraid to be direct and ruffle feathers so this could be and ruffle feathers so this could be a tricky meeting. mr macron has said no deal exit would be the uk s doing. he has already made it clear the changes mrjohnson wants are not on offer, describing his demands as unrealistic. translation: i would like to say that the key elements of this agreement including the irish backstop are not just agreement including the irish backstop are notjust technical constraints or quibbling but indispensable guarantees to preserve the stability in ireland, to

preserve the integrity of the single market, which is the foundation of the european project. market, which is the foundation of the european projectlj market, which is the foundation of the european project. i want to make it absolutely clear to you, emmanuel, to the french people that of course i want a deal and i think we can get a deal, and a good deal. i was powerfully encouraged by our conversations last night in berlin with our mutual friends, and i know that with energy and with creativity and application, we can find a way forward. mr macron says peace in ireland depends on keeping the border open so the eu he insists will not ditch the backstop just because boris johnson will not ditch the backstop just because borisjohnson dislikes it. the french president has always insisted brexit brings problems the uk must face. this was salzburg last year. brexit has shown one thing. i respect british sovereignty but it has shown us that those who say it is easy to quit europe, that everything will be fine, it is

simple, we will be better off, are liars. and yesterday in berlin, angela merkel didn't offer any concessions either, even though she hoped solutions to the border issue could still be found. translation: if one finds the solution we said we will probably find it in the next two years to come but we can also maybe find it in the next 30 days to come. you rightly say the onus is on us to produce those solutions and ideas to show how we can address the issue of the northern irish border and that is what we want to do but i may say i'm very glad, listening to you tonight, angela, to hear that at least the conversations on that matter can now be properly begin. least the conversations on that matter can now be properly beginm it was mrjohnson who appeared toxic the need to come up with new ideas —— to accept the need to come up with new ideas and the eu is waiting to hear them.

in a moment, we'll be speaking to our political correspondent iain watson, but first, europe correspondent damien grammaticas. both men sticking to their guns at the start of these talks. yes, absolutely, and mr macron making it very clear there is no special deal on offer, there will be no resiling from the eu position, and he also made clear there was no difference of opinion between him and angela merkel. he said that 30 days angela merkel. he said that 30 days angela merkel was talking about is a month of useful time, now in the sort of two months there are running up to the brexit date in which negotiations could happen and some sort of progress could be made to identify a way of dealing with the irish border in the future but that is very different to promising any changes right now to that withdrawal deal. mr macron made some strong comments before meeting mrjohnson, talking about, he said if the uk

thinks the alternative is to do a trade deal with america, that will come at a price and leave the uk is a vassal state of america so he's pretty dismissive. the only difference i think you see between the french and germans is a difference of tone. angela merkel hoping for some sort of solution, mr macron to be more willing to be much more blunt. how will this go down in westminster? there are some interesting body language between them today, boris johnson and emmanuel macron, is a strong and long lasting handshake. it is the words that matter but what is interesting is the widespread expectation was that emmanuel macron would say no to the demand to reopen the withdrawal agreement, this big 500 page plus document that theresa may had painstakingly put together with the eu but had been rejected by parliament, but he didn't say that.

he didn't say he wasn't going to reopen it. he did on any withdrawal agreement they would reach in the next month would be very similar to the existing one. borisjohnson supporters, many conservative mps, won't like the sound of that but what's going on is not so much that we will necessarily be avoiding no deal, what i think was going on from emmanuel macron's point of view was that he would not be portrayed as a person who is causing no deal. he's going to sound reasonable, perhaps more reasonable than people imagined, perhaps more like angela merkel then as he put it himself the ha rd of merkel then as he put it himself the hard of europe. from borisjohnson's point of view, he was stressing that should there be no deal, britain would not be erecting any infrastructure on the irish border. in effect challenging emmanuel macron, angela merkel and the eu to make the same commitment under the same cii’cuitistai'ices. make the same commitment under the same circumstances. in other words if the hard border emerges he was trying to avoid the blame for that

and say that it would be the eu's fault if they don't keep the border clear so to some extent and avoidance of blame is what was going on. thank you. it's gcse results day and there has been a slight increase in the pass rate and the percentage of top grades this year, despite concerns about the difficulty of the exams. more than 700,000 teenagers in england, wales and northern ireland have been opening their envelopes. students in england are now on the new number system — with a to g grades replaced byi to 9, where 9 is the equivalent of an a star. only 837 students across england got straight 9s, compared with thousands who used to get a stars. here's our education correspondent frankie mccamley. i personallyjust want to do really well in my history gcse because that's what i want to do, that's one i want to carry me forwards into the future. i think i'll definitely

be very nervous. i'm 0k at the moment but when i have them in my hand, i will be so scared. i think ijust realised that there is nothing i can do about it any more, like, you sit in the exam hall, you write what you do and then pen down, it's like that's it, that's all you could have done. these feelings will resonate with thousands of teenagers across the country who were heading back to school to get their results. it's the most nerve—racking day of their academic lives. this is the school hall in shropshire where pupils took their exams just a couple of months ago. they were sat in rows, heads down, concentrating. there was a lot at stake. but today the same hall, the same teenagers, a very different atmosphere. tears ofjoy... shock... and some very proud parents. so happy, i thought i was going to fail. i'm so relieved.

i'm so happy. very happy. surprised at all? english, i wasn't expecting to pass english. students here in england sat the reformed gcses, graded numerically, from one, being the lowest, to nine, the highest. at the school in wales, students are still graded a* to g and here in northern ireland there is a mixture of grades. across england, wales and northern ireland there's been a slight increase in the percentage of papers given to top marks, at least a seven or a grade a, up by 0.3% and the highest since 2015. overall the gcse pass rates, a grade four or a c and above, edged up to 63%. a higher number of girls are passing their exams than boys but the gap has narrowed into the second year to 8.8%. the slight increase in grades is despite concerns the exams are

getting tougher, which the head teacher here agrees with. i think they are a real challenge, i think a number of colleagues will say they have seen a—level content coming down into the new gcse spec and indeed they are hugely challenging. the government says it's trying to raise standards. they are a better preparation for the next stage of education and indeed work and training, and back in 2010 we were facing concerns from employers about whether school leavers were prepared for the world of work. and for some teenagers, they will be heading into the world of work. for others, it's a—levels. apprenticeships are also on the cards. if you need advice on gcse grades, visit our website and go to the family and education page, and try our chatbot. brazil's president, jair bolsonaro, has claimed non—governmental organisations may be setting fires deliberately

in the amazon to embarrass his government, despite offering no evidence to support the claim. a record number of fires are burning in the world's largest rainforest, which is home to about three million species of plants and animals and i million indigenous people. there have been 72,000 fires so far this year. richard lister reports. the amazon rainforest has been called "the lungs of the world", generating an estimated 20% of all the oxygen in the atmosphere, but look at the smoke in these lungs today. brazil has had 73,000 fire outbreaks this year, more than half in the amazon. that's up 84% on last year. so, who does brazil's president blame? translation: regarding the amazon fires, i'm under the impression they could have been started by the ngos because they'd asked forfunding. what was their intention? to bring about problems for brazil. chanting. but these protesters in the city of salvador blame the president

for encouraging greater exploitation of the amazon and weakening its environmental protections. this was how they greeted brazil's environment minister at a climate change conference. bolsonaro's trying to distract from his own policies. since he came into power, he's been stripping protections from the amazon and other forests in brazil and encouraging farmers to set fire to land and clear it. and these fires aren't a natural thing, they're a deliberate result of farmers trying to send a message to bolsonaro that they support his regime. it's an outrage. the president admitted he had no evidence these fires were set by environmental groups. it was, he said, just a feeling. the dry season continues until november, and so will the fires. richard lister, bbc news. the number of eu citizens coming to the uk is at its lowest level for six years, according to official figures. the office for national statistics

estimates overall net migration was 226,000 people in between last march and this. yesterday, the 0ns said the figures should be treated as experimental after finding problems should be treated as experimental afterfinding problems in its data gathering. a 48 hour strike by ryanair pilots has begun, but so far the airline's flights have been running with little disruption. after losing a legal challenge in the high court to block the action, ryanair said it would bring in contingency plans to run its full schedule and so far it seems to be working. just a warning, coletta smith's report contains some flash photography. after a worrying a few weeks, it's time to check in and take off. right across the uk, ryanair flights are running smoothly. despite ryanair‘s uk pilots union being on strike for 48 hours, the company say this morning 97% of flights were running on time and they're delighted by that.

passengers in portugal, where crew and pilots are on strike, have been told of a flight‘s push back by seven hours. all i've had is the initial e—mail saying that the flight had been changed to seven hours later. but, no, they've not kept us informed of anything else. if you go on the website, it just says that flights are running as normal, so we've kind of got to trust them on that at the moment. ryanair have more than 1000 pilots based here in the uk and they've told me today that the vast majority of their pilots turned up for work as normal this morning. they say they haven't had to bring in extra pilots from elsewhere in europe, that they have brought in some extra staff, that others based here in the uk volunteered for extra shifts and they claim that plenty of union members turned up for work as normal today as well. the unions say pilots in ryanair are seeking the same kind of work policies and agreements that exist in other airlines.

just three weeks ago, the ryanair boss michael 0'leary warned as many as 900 pilots and crew could be made redundant in the coming months, as the company faced brexit, rising fuel costs and problems with their boeing planes. but it's really for travellers this bank holiday, jetting off the final getaway of the summer. coletta smith, bbc news. the time is 1:17pm. our top story this lunchtime... boris johnson is holding brexit talks in paris with the french president, emmanuel macron — who has insisted that the irish backstop is "indispensable" to the integrity of the eu single market. coming up... england bowler jofra archer takes the first wicket, as the third test gets underway in headingley. coming up on bbc news... a shock career change for former england internationaljames haskell as the rugby player reveals he's set to become an mma fighter, making his heavyweight debut next year.

new figures obtained by the bbc show that workers in the agricultural industry are more than 20 times more likely to be killed in accidents at work compared to other sectors. analysis of health and safety executive data shows that at least 4,000 farm workers have been seriously injured, over the last five years. the sector only accounts for 1% of the uk workforce, but a fifth of all workplace deaths. between 2013 and 2018, 134 people died in agriculture. gareth barlow reports. i remember going up the ladder, then it all went blank, to be honest. the next thing i remember is waking up some five weeks later, having been in a drug—induced coma in a pretty sorry state. they're up there a fair old way, and they weigh a fair old weight. there's lots of people who have said to me,

farming, it can be a dangerous and sometimes deadly industry. in norfolk, tim papworth farms crops and livestock and, like thousands of others in agriculture, he was injured at work. one of my employees came along and said, "tim, it's dangerous. we can't see what we're doing because the light‘s gone, can you sort it out?" so, i went up the ladder to change the light bulb and unfortunately fell. it was a simple task with a huge impact. they removed part of my skull. i had two subdural haematomas on my brain, which are basically two bleeds on the brain. i was paralysed, i couldn't look after myself, i couldn't feed myself. the effect it had on my immediate family was horrific. farmers frequently find themselves in risky situations, working with dangerous animals, operating heavy machinery and often alone for long hours. it was while loading straw bales early one morning that jack fisher's dad,

peter, died. when they took the bales off him, he had a rolled up ratchet strap in his hand. so, we like to think that he maybe had his back to them and he was rolling the strap up and, you know, they came off and it was kind of like an instant... i know it sounds horrible to say, but it was an instant thing and he didn't feel anything. but, yeah, so... two years after his dad's death and just two weeks into the job, jack's now following in his father's footsteps. what do you think your dad would make of his boys doing this? voice breaks: um, jeez, i can't... i think you'd be really proud, yeah, really, really proud. and, yeah, ithink, you know, if things would have carried on, if dad would have still been here, i think we'd have been doing this but we'd all have been doing it. sadly, peter isn't here, butjack has a simple message

he hopes will save lives. take your time, slow down. make sure stuff‘s done properly, because once you're gone, you're gone and that's it. gary barlow, bbc news. all this week across bbc news we've been looking at the issues facing farming across the country. for more, go to our website. that's at bbc.co.uk/focus on farming. researchers have developed a new microscope that can take pictures of living organisms in unprecedented detail. they can now see processes inside the body that were previously invisible, including how the flu virus infects us and how blood cells detect cuts and begin the clotting process. 0ur science correspondent, pallab ghosh, reports. these cells are the building blocks of human life. it's where all our body's basic

processes occur and it's here that raging war is against diseases are fought. the researchers here have developed a way of taking pictures of these processes. this gigantic two tonne microscope is transforming our understanding of living processes. it takes something so big to see the tiny atom—sized cogs and wheels inside us in action. here they are, freezing a flu virus and putting it into the microscope. thousands of images are taken from different angles, to build up this picture. it's the spikes around the viruses that haven't been seen before. these are the bits that puncture the body's cells in order to infect them with flu. a close up helps researchers here target the vulnerable parts of the virus. it's certainly a huge step forward, in being able to really see what's going on within the structures. before, you had to either cut them into slices, orjust see the outside of. now, we can see the whole object.

we use x—rays to study the structure of a molecule... until recently, we relied on a technique developed 100 years ago and used throughout the 20th century to get pictures of biological molecules. it involved blasting them with x—rays. the new method enables researchers to see what these important molecules actually do in the body. this is the inside of a blood vessel and the long worm—like structures burst open when we bleed. it has been described as a resolution revolution and i think it's clear now that turning this technique on almost any biological problem, is providing new information. researchers have now got a view of biology in action that they've never had before. pallab ghosh, bbc news. there's only one week left to make a claim for the mis—selling of payment protection insurance or ppi. the financial conduct authority says

a total of £36 billion has already been paid out and it is urging more people to seek compensation. our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz, reports. radio advert: don't be the one who never bothered to claim... michelle from gravesend, in kent, has already won a ppi pay—out. that's how she bought the new car she's driving, with some of the £22,000 of compensation for decades of charges to her m&s credit card. i was just shocked, really shocked, you know, taken aback, because you just don't expect that amount of money. what do you think are the lessons to be learnt from this? i'd like to think that everybody is sitting and thinking really carefully about the ethics behind what they're selling and is it right for the individual? tv advert: it's too late for me but it's not too late for you... now, the financial conduct authority wants more people to claim, like michelle, before its deadline next thursday.

that's if you were sold payment protection insurance you didn't want or need. there have been 12 million claims upheld, £36 billion paid out, on average, £2000 each. behind much of that, a claims management industry trying to get a cut. have you had ppi? i've had money back from... you have? yes. how much did you get? about 4000. i'm just fed up with it all. the letters we get to keep coming, everything, ijust get fed up with it all. there is literally billions of pounds more that the banks have set aside to pay out when people claim, which is why claims management companies are having a final push to try and get you to use them to manage a claim for a charge. whereas, in fact, you can do it direct to the bank for free. claims companies have raked in nearly £4 billion in fees by handling peoples' claims, but they reject the charge that they've been parasites. consumers, en masse,

aren't worried about the fee because they are getting back money that in many cases... it runs at about 80% of people that we help never knew that they we help never knew they were due any money back because they did not think that they were mis—sold. michelle used a free service resolver to get her big ppi pay—out and you can go straight to your bank's website and fill in a form at no charge. simon gompertz, bbc news, in kent. the world wide fund for nature says english rivers are being "used as open sewers" with 86 percent of them failing to meet clean water standards. 0ne expert has said there is no river in the uk that is safe to swim in. scientists are looking to the river ingol in north norfolk as an example of a successful projects. richard daniel reports. ingoldisthorpe wetland in north norfolk, a place where native chalk species thrive. iris, marsh marigold,

purple—loosestrife. .. yet 18 months ago, none of this existed. it's a man—made reserve, built to solve a man—made problem. this is the river ingol, it's a spring—fed chalk river, with a very delicate ecology. an ecology that a few years ago was being damaged by effluent from the local sewage plant that contained phosphates and ammonia. the phosphate's fertiliser and some of the river life's really good at exploiting that, but some of it isn't. so, what it does is, it completely upsets the balance of the river. some things really thrive in it, but a lot of the more sensitive species lose out and they disappear. the solution? build a wetland. effluent from the sewage works enters at the top, passing through four shallow interconnected ponds. each full of plants that strip the water of the unwanted nutrients. at the bottom, the clean, naturally filtered water re—enters the river. we think it will take out about 90%

of the phosphorus and 90% of the ammonia coming through it. that is remarkable, isn't it? yeah, that's incredibly effective. that pretty much matches what you could get with a conventional sewage works upgrade, yeah. the hope now is that brown trout will one day recolonise this river. the wetland cost £500,000 — all paid by anglian water, which owns the sewage works. this is the first wetland of its type in england. what we've seen here is this is actually doing a fantastic job for us. so we'd like to do over 30 more of these across our region over the next 5—8 years, once our plans have been approved by our regulator. the wetland treats about a million litres of effluent a day. wildlife is benefiting, so is the river. a simple solution that now could be replicated elsewhere. richard daniel, bbc news. england have won the toss and chose to bowl first in the third ashes test at headingley. our sports correspondent andy swiss is there.

yes, welcome to headingley and what really could be the pivotal match of this ashes series. england, remember, are trailing 1—0. they have to win this match to keep their hopes alive. it has been a bit of a frustrating morning here. just 15 minutes of play because of rain but it is england that have made the better start. grey skies but decidedly colourful supporters. england fans of all species heading to headingley in search of an ashes comeback. with australia's star batsman steve smith still recovering from concussion, the hosts knew this was their big chance but they would have to wait for it, the start delayed by rain, that all too familiar frustration, but finally out they came. after winning the toss england chose to bowl and that meant their new speed sensation, jofra archer, who made such an impact in the last

match, instantly posing plenty more problems. tricky conditions for australia's batsmen suddenly seemed even trickier, marcus harris making the edgiest of starts as the ball fell just short of ben stokes's grasp. but after coming so close, archer soon hit the target. harris gone for eight and england's new star had once again delivered, just what he and his team—mates needed and in the nick of time too. the players forced off by rain but england have their early breakthrough. yes, australia 12—1 at lunch. they was due to resume about now but we have had more showers. england will be hoping this weather clears up because this is a match they sorely need to win, joanna. thanks, andy. time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes.