this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk is officially suffering its biggest recession on record, the fall in output caused by the coronavirus pandemic is on course to be one of the worst among major economies. today's figures show that hard times are here. hundreds of thousands of people have already lost theirjobs, and sadly many more will. students in england may be able to use their mock exam scores if they're unhappy with their a—level grades, ahead of results being released tomorrow. and you can get in touch with me on twitter about any of the stories

today, or use the hashtag. senator kamala harris makes history after she's named asjoe biden‘s presidential running mate — the first black woman to be a candidate for vice—president. as new zealand's largest city is put back into lockdown — experts investigate whether coronavirus could have re—entered the country through freight shipments. and size does matter — dwayne "the rock" johnson leads the forbes list of the world 5 highest—paid male actors. hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world 7 and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. the coronavirus pandemic has now officially pushed the uk into recession for the first time

in more than a decade. figures published by the office for national statistics this morning show that uk economic output as measured by gross domestic product plunged by a record 20.4% between april and june. the ons says the uk economy bounced back injune as government restrictions on movement started to ease. but the data indicates the slump is one of the biggest among advanced economies, according to preliminary estimates. among the g7 group of countries — spain's economy is the closest behind the uk's, with a fall of 18.5% between april and june, which was announced two weeks ago. last month, the us also announced its economy had shrunk by 32.9% in the same period — it's deepest decline since the us government began keeping records in 1910.

back to the uk, and the opposition labour shadow chancellor, annielese dodds, decribed the deep economic slump as a tragedy — and the chancellor, rishi sunak, said the figures confirmed that hard times were here. what we are grappling with is something that is unprecedented. we don't have a playbook for how to deal with it. that's why i think we should have some humility about our ability to precisely predict the economy, or know exactly what the right policy response is. which is why i've been prepared to put aside ideology and dogma, at the beginning of this crisis, and do what i believe was right to protect people's jobs, their incomes and businesses, through what is unprecedented and difficult time. and i think we have done that. our plan forjobs that we outlined last month was a significant set of announcements to support, protect and create jobs across the united kingdom, whether it is our kick—start scheme to support young people who are particularly badly affected by this, new incentives for apprenticeships,

or the eat out to help out initiative, to protect 2 million jobs in hospitality. we are going to do everything we can to protect people's jobs in what is a very difficult and uncertain time. let's talk to our business presenter, ben thompson, who's in high wycombe town centre. what has the reaction been to this news? obviously people have known for some time that the economy has been really hit by the pandemic. but it's official now, isn't it? welcome to high wycombe. you are absolutely right, today is confirmation of what has already happened. this tells us what the economy has been doing over the past quarter. remember, a recession is defined as two periods of negative growth. let me put that into context and show you on the graph what that looks like. that fall that we saw in the last quarter, 20.4%, a record fall, and just to show you, in comparison to that recession after

the worst of the financial crisis in 2008-2009, the the worst of the financial crisis in 2008—2009, the economy then shrank by 2.1%. a significant falloff. if we look at how the recovery are shaping up, it began in may when retailers started to open. it gathered pace in june, retailers started to open. it gathered pace injune, when nonessential retailers were able to reopen their doors and welcome us back. the big question of course now is whether that recovery will continue apace. what does business make of all of this? crucially, can they get back to some level of normality? can the economic growth figure start to recover that lost ground? even though we had a period of growth injune, it in no way makes up for the loss in the months before and we are still in an economy which is i7% smaller than it was in february. what does business make of this? jim is the boss of wycombe engineering, here in high wycombe. give us a sense of what the

last few months has been like for you. a lot of people have been on furlough and businesses have dried up. for us, it was an interesting time, with trying to pivot the whole business and evolve it. the hardest thing to start with was actually whether to furlough or not, because we are a small team, and it is looking at that, to where we go and how we take it forward. so it has had difficulties, but it is coming toa had difficulties, but it is coming to a positive side. touch on that uncertainty, you spoke about furloughing some staff, and then you had to bring some back, difficult to navigate? we had three weeks, furlough or 7—8 weeks, we brought people back in the middle of it, and one of them we had to pay back our furlough because they didn't fall in the remit. we are balancing because we we re the remit. we are balancing because we were doing work on ventilators, ppe work, and covering many different areas of business. given

all of that, we hear today that we are officially in recession, it is looking back and it has told us what has already happened. what is your experience of the economy right now? is business picking up, have you got orders, what do you do next? we have orders, what do you do next? we have orders, we try to pivot the business to make sure we are looking down different avenues to make sure it has a future going forward. we are also looking at how we work with our partners. that is really crucial to us. partners. that is really crucial to us. we have worked a lot with imperial college in london, working with the research fellows, looking at visors to manufacture in the uk, face masks, and we are manufacturing those in house, doing the tooling and everything. but it is all about education, getting people back to work. that is the key thing, getting people back to work and a positive way forward. some people would say that big businesses better placed ride out this because they have more money in reserve, they more supplies, they have more security. but as a small firm, it strikes me

you are but as a small firm, it strikes me you a re pretty but as a small firm, it strikes me you are pretty nimble, you can move around quite a lot and navigate some of it better? we have to be nimble, because if we are not, we can't do the things we do, we have to be agile and talk to the partners we work with and come up with ideas. the ideas we had six months ago have changed, and we are looking forward to coming up with ideas for some of the material technology coming through, biodegradable stuff for the ppe sector. if we don't do that, we have another problem coming up. we've got to do things and think about the future. good luck, a lot to navigate in future. over the course of the day we are going to speak to all sorts of different sectors. as the chancellor was telling as earlier, it is the hospitality industry, the service sector that has fared the worst because of the lockdown is. it has made it difficult to get people through the doors. over the course of the day i will introduce you to some of these business owners, find out how business is for them and whether the official figures reflect

the reality on the ground. stay with me through the day. for now, back to you. just 2a hours before a—level results for england are published, ministers have moved to avert a backlash, by telling pupils unhappy with their grades that they may be able to use their mock exam results instead. the education secretary, gavin williamson, has announced what he called a "safety net" for a—level, b—tech and gcse students unhappy with their official grades. the triple—lock means pupils can accept the grade they get, based on teacher estimations, or change it for a mark gained in a mock exam, or they can instead choose to take the exam in the autumn. the house of commons education select committee chairman, robert halfon, told bbc news he fears the government's proposals will favour the sharp elbowed and well heeled. head teachers have attacked the last—minute change as "panicked and chaotic". it comes after ministers in scotland

had to apologise before announcing an upgrade in results. our education correspondent dan johnson reports. with exam halls standing silent this summer, the life chances of a generation were instead to be determined by estimated grades, awarded by teachers but then moderated, standardised and potentially downgraded. listen to the worries of those who are expecting their results tomorrow. my biggest fears are that that grades i get will not be a representation of what i would have been capable of, had i sat the exams. because i'm not applying to university and having a gap year, that means i have limited opportunities and i'm concerned universities will not take me in. my independent ability is going to be underestimated by the standardisation method. what we want? fairgrades! scottish students protested after 75,000 had their results downgraded last week. when it became clear the poorest were hit hardest, the man in charge apologised

and reinstated the original estimates. we set out to ensure the system was fair, we set out to ensure it was credible, but we did not get it right for all young people. before i go any further, i want to apologise for that. it makes a big difference going forward because i can focus on schoolwork this year and university, rather than being doubtful of my results in the past. it's really motivated me for this year. and with that putting scottish results overall up 14% on last year, there were calls for the same to apply to students in the rest of the uk. the u—turn from the scottish government absolutly shows us the system was flawed and was further entrenching education inequality and it was the right move. i hope to see that

reflected across the uk. last night, officials in northern ireland promised broader grounds for appeal. students in england will now face three choices — sticking with the estimated moderated grade awarded tomorrow, sitting an exam in the autumn or appealing to get the results from their mock exams instead. these are major last—minute changes, further complicating a pivotal moment for so many young people who already face difficult decisions, clouded by uncertainty. dan johnson, bbc news. our political correspodent, jonathan blake, is at westminster. hello again, jonathan. really iith hour changes. give us a sense of what the reaction is to all of this. yes, you get the sense that with results day for a level is looming tomorrow and gcses next week, governments at westminster and other parts of the uk, with responsibility for education policy, really are scrambling to head off a crisis, the like of which we saw in scotland,

when so many students had their grades revised down, and the criticism that followed, prompting the apology from nicola sturgeon and a rethink in terms of the grading system overall. what is happening in england after that late—night announcement from the education secretary last night is, as you have heard, the provision for students to be able to appeal against the grade that they are given, which is based ona that they are given, which is based on a prediction from teachers and then standardised according to results at their school in previous yea rs, results at their school in previous years, on the basis of their mock exa m years, on the basis of their mock exam grades. that appeal will have to be done by the school. we are being told students won't be able to do that individually. so it doesn't necessarily mean that if students don't like the grade they are given they could simply swap it for their mock exam grades. and there are problems with that system. mock exams are not a standard model. they are done in different ways, in different schools. and they are marked differently as well. we were told this morning by the government

that only certain mock exams, done to exam conditions, would be eligible. so a lot of questions for people. nevertheless, the government clearly believes that this is an important step for it to take, to offer what the schools minister nick gibb described this morning as a safety net for a small number of pupils. our concern was to make sure that — with the best model in the world, there will be students who fall outside it, and we didn't want any student to suffer disadvantage. we apologise to nobody for finding solutions, even at the 11th hour, to stop any student being disadvantaged by the system. so, no apology for making this change. late in the day, so close to when children will be receiving their results. a lot of criticism has come the government's away in the build—up to results being released here in england. the labour leader keir starmer, warning last night that boris johnson leader keir starmer, warning last night that borisjohnson risked jeopardising the future of a whole

generation, unless the system was changed. in response to allowing mock exam grades to be taken into consideration for students, labour's shadow education secretary kate green said this morning that the change doesn't go far enough. what we have now got is a system which clearly is not looking fit for purpose. the government itself is clearly acknowledging that by announcing more and more changes to it. that they are now proposing really isn't strong enough. that is why we think that students absolutely need to have a proper, robust appeals process. you do get the feeling that there may be more changes to come, as the comet tries to head off more stu d e nts comet tries to head off more students being dissatisfied with their grades, appealing against them, or worse than that, having to rethink the entire system. gavin

williamson admitted no system is perfect, and without students taking exams this year, there will always be those that are dissatisfied with their grades. just to quickly say that the situation is different in different parts of the uk. in northern ireland, a similar change is coming in related to mock exams as the basis of an appeal. the welsh government say they are monitoring the situation. we are yet to hear of any changes there. i wouldn't be surprised if we do before the day is out. lots of you have been getting in touch. let me read you out some of the tweets. eric walsh writes, when will the government back row realise that students use mock exams to work out where they are weak, they don't take them like exams. another view asks how this will affect prestigious professions like

medicine. at 12.30, we will be answering your questions on changes to the way that a—levels and gcse results are to be decided. you can send them into us... the headlines on bbc news... i'm not sure that we are ready for the headlines. we do have them, i am pleased to say. the uk is officially suffering its biggest recession on record — the fall in output caused by the coronavirus pandemic is thought to be one of the worst among major economies. students in england may be able to use their mock exam scores if they're unhappy with their a—level grades, ahead of results being released tomorrow. senator kamala harris makes history after she's named asjoe biden's presidential running mate — the first black woman to be a candidate for vice—president.

the us democratic presidential candidate, joe biden, has chosen the california senator — and one—time rivalfor hisjob, kamala harris — as his running mate for november's election. ms harris is the first african american woman on a major presidential ticket in us history. here's our north america correspondent, david willis. in kamala harris, joe biden has chosen a black running mate 22 years his junior. the first woman of colour ever to appear on a major party's presidential ticket. born in oakland, california, the elder daughter of an indian mother and a jamaican father, kamala harris was a public prosecutor and a california senator before launching her own campaign for the democratic presidential nomination in january last year. she dropped out of the race in december. announcing his choice of running mate, joe biden called her a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country's finest public servants. she vowed that he would unify the american people,

and build a country that lives up to our ideals. they've not always seen eye to eye, however. in the first democratic primary debate, she rebuked him for speaking warmly of senators who had once defended racial segregation. you also worked with them to oppose bussing. and, you know, there was a little girl in california who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools. and she was bussed to school every day. and that little girl was me. that's a mischaracterisation of my position across the board. i did not praise racists. kamala harrisjoins the democratic ticket at a time of unprecedented crisis in america, as the country grapples with the thorny issues of police brutality and racial injustice. since the death of george floyd, she has toughened her stance on police reform, but remains, in essence, a centrist likejoe biden.

voters rejected harris... although the trump campaign is already seeking to portray her as a radical left—winger. and president trump called her selection a surprise. i think a lot of people were saying that might be the pick. i was more surprised, than anything else, because she did so poorly, many people did much better than her in the primaries, she did very poorly in the primaries. and that's like a poll, you know, that's like a poll. were he to beat donald trump in november, joe biden would be the oldest person in american history to become president, thus there is speculation that he might choose to only serve one term. that could lead kamala harris the front runner to lead her party into the presidential elections, four years from now. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. let's speak now to npr's london correspondent, frank langfitt. npr is one of the most listened—to outlets for news and current affairs in the us.

good to see you, as ever. joe biden, he had a wide range of well qualified female politicians to choose from as his running mate. is kamala harris the right choice, do you think? i think the reaction i have seen overnight from a lot of my democratic friends, people that i know in the us, they are very satisfied with this. i think in many ways, it's funny, donald trump seem surprised, i don't think people are surprised, i don't think people are surprised, it is the safe choice come in many ways. in one sense it is historic and a nod to the left wing, particularly people of colour in the democratic party. at the same time, as david was pointing out, this is a centrist democrat, and establishment democrats just like joe biden. so she is able to satisfy two wings of the party, and hopefully, from the democrat perspective, unite the party heading into november. donald trump, as you say, calling her selection a surprise, even though for months now people have been saying she is the obvious pick. what does that tell

you about donald trump's concerns around a biden — harris ticket? you about donald trump's concerns around a biden - harris ticket? what he is going to try to do, as we have seen he is going to try to do, as we have seen already, is tighter to the left wing of the party. but that's not going to be very easy. other than the comes from northern california, by and large she is closer to the centre. even people on the left wing of the party have been critical of her time as a prosecutor in california, saying she had been too harsh. it is a challenge for donald trump. you might be better off if biden had chosen someone from the left wing of the party, maybe she could tie that person to fears of socialism that might rally his base. this is a tougher candidate for trump to run against. how does this change the contest? and how does the race element play out? the first black woman to be a candidate for vice president. in terms of getting the vote out? well, i think this is

going to help joe the vote out? well, i think this is going to helpjoe biden. first of all, it was black voters that helped energise his campaign when he was struggling in the primaries. this is a nod to them and it may energise a lot of them, certainly some of my black friends feel very strongly about racial issues in the united states, and they are very gratified by this. so i think that will help him. the other thing is, let's be honest here, if you believe the polls, and i'm not certain i believe them all, this isjoe biden's race to lose. choosing a safe political choice, who also energises a wing of the party, is a very smart move. and so we will see how it plays out in the next few months. but i think this let's joe biden the next few months. but i think this let'sjoe biden stay on track, he is doing well in battle ground states, doing well nationally, it keeps his campaign on track and avoids any unforced errors. lets wait and see what else donald trump says about kamala harris, but what do you think the debate, when it

happens, will be like between mike pence and miss harris? this is another area where biden is in good shape. kamala harris has shown that she is a very good prosecutor. she is very logical, makes very good points and she is very good at pinning people down. i think this is actually where she excels and where the vice presidential candidate is a lwa ys the vice presidential candidate is always an attack dog in electoral politics. and i think she will be well—positioned to do this. politics. and i think she will be well—positioned to do thism politics. and i think she will be well-positioned to do this. it will be fascinating to watch. frank langford, thank you very much. officials in new zealand are reportedly investigating whether or not the coronavirus could have re—entered the country through freight shipments. it comes as the country's largest city, auckland, has been put back into lockdown after recording the country's first coronavirus infections in 102 days. the four new cases are all members of one family, but none had travelled recently. bars, restaurants and schools

there have been closed — and workers are being told to stay at home. robert beaglehole is the chair of the lancet ncd action group and a former professor of community health — he's in auckland. thank you very much forjoining us today. what have you heard about the possible lines of investigation to try to establish how these new cases have emerged? well, it is indeed a very sad day for us in new zealand. various lines of investigation around the way. i think the most likely source of these four definite cases, and now four probable cases, is leakage through the border. either from the is leakage through the border. eitherfrom the border is leakage through the border. either from the border directly, is leakage through the border. eitherfrom the border directly, or from one of the isolation or quarantine facilities. i think the possibility of it coming in in association with a cool store needs to be excluded, but it is extremely

unlikely. because i have been a number of outbreaks in european countries, related to meat processing facilities, where, naturally, a very chill environment is at play. so you can see why there is at play. so you can see why there isa is at play. so you can see why there is a concern around that? yes, obviously that is a concern. it needs to be investigated. but, as you know, we have had people escape from isolation facilities, we have had a break in. and in the early days of the isolation, perhaps the rules were not as tight as they should be, and maybe they were not as rigorously enforced as they should be. so i think still a leakage through the border or isolation quarantine as the most likely source. i wonder what concerns there are around the fact that a couple of members of this family have travelled to parts of the north island, where you have a big maori population, and throughout the epidemic we have looked at the

disproportionate impact of the virus on members of the bame community. do you have concerns around that? not specifically. the two members who travelled did stay in a hotel, they did visit some tourist sites. all of those possible contacts are being traced, and they will be tested and, if necessary, isolated. it is true that one of the people who travelled was symptomatic. so it is a worry. but i don't think we have a particular concern at the moment about equity issues. we have done very well in that regard in new zealand. the fact that one person who travelled was symptomatic, what does that say to you about the need for continued messaging, if you have no symptoms, get a test and don't travel, because the country has done so well for such a long time now? yes, clearly, that is a very important message. the ministry of health, the prime minister in particular, the health officials, had been stressing the need that if

you are feeling unwell, get tested. no question. and i think we have become complacent. three months without any community transmission isa without any community transmission is a wonderful achievement. no other country, i believe, in the world, has achieved that. and we are very cognisant has achieved that. and we are very cognisa nt of the has achieved that. and we are very cognisant of the outbreaks in victoria, australia. we need to be very serious in all of our responses as we go forward. there will be new cases, i'm sure. we have seen a very serious response from jacinda ardern. best case scenario, how quickly do you think that this can be brought under control in new zealand, and people that can get back to life as normal? well, we are in level three lockdown in the first insta nce in level three lockdown in the first instance in auckland, only for three days. i expect it will be longer than that. the testing will take at least a day or two, it will take longer to do all of the tracing and testing and necessary isolation. i think we are probably looking at a minimum ofa think we are probably looking at a minimum of a couple of weeks of

lockdown, three in auckland, and a lesser degree of lockdown and the rest of the country. i think we have got a tremendously good leadership. we have learned a lot. i'm optimistic. 0k, chair of the lancet and city action group in auckland, thank you. coronavirus cases in france have nearly doubled in the past 2a hours as prime ministerjean castex warned that the country had been going "the wrong way" for two weeks. the health ministry reported 1,397 new infections of covid—19 since monday and 11; people have died. australia has recorded its deadliest day from the coronavirus pandemic — with 21 deaths in the past 2a hours, all recorded in the state of victoria. australia's second most populous state is just over one week into a strict six—week lockdown put in place to control a resurgence of cases. the state health authorities also reported a further a10 new infections.

prosecutors in mexico have accused the former president, enrique pena nieto, of taking millions of dollars in bribes and using the money to buy votes in congress. the allegations are part of a major corruption investigation involving the brazilian construction giant, odebrecht. the authorities in mauritius say cracks in the hull of a cargo ship are worsening after it ran aground last month, sparking an environmental emergency. the mv wakashio was believed to have been carrying 4,000 tonnes of fuel oil when it hit a coral reef. the leak has now been stopped and efforts to remove the oil are continuing. mauritius is home to world—renowned coral reefs, and tourism is a crucial part of its economy. in his first international interview with a major broadcaster, pravind jugnauth, the prime minister of mauritius, told the bbc why it took longer than two weeks for his government

to declare an emergency. well, because initially when the salvage team was in mauritius, they are the experts and we had to rely on their advice. so, throughout they said that there was a very low risk of oil spilling, and that they were trying to stabilise the ship in order to try to tow it out. so, weather conditions did not also permit that we start pumping the oil from the tanks. so, we of course go by the advice of those experts. unfortunately, the weather deteriorated so much that one of the tanks was damaged, and oil started to spill over. even at that time, we could not start pumping from the tank, because the weather conditions were still very bad. we were advised that the pipes would break and, therefore, also lives of people could be

put at risk. so, fortunately on the 7th, when the weather was more accommodating, then all of the setup was put into place and then the pumping started. so, we were able to in fact empty one of the tanks where there was a spillage. the weather deteriorated again. there were waves up to more than three metres, and therefore, all the way we have gone by the advice of the salvage team. hello, this is bbc news with annita mcveigh. the headlines. the uk is officially suffering its biggest recession on record — the fall in output caused by the coronavirus pandemic is thought to be one of the worst among major economies.

students in england may be able to use their mock exam scores if they're unhappy with their a—level grades, ahead of results being released tomorrow. senator kamala harris makes history after she's named asjoe biden's presidential running mate — the first black woman to be a candidate for vice president. as new zealand's largest city is put back into lockdown, experts investigate whether coronavirus could have re—entered the country through freight shipments. let's get more now on our top story — the uk officially moving into recession after figures published by the office for national statistics showed that economic output plunged by a record 20.4% between april and june. our economics editor, faisal islam, has been speaking to the chancellor, rishi sunak. when we were talking a few months ago i said that hard times were coming and what these numbers

show is that hard times are here. hundreds of thousands of people have already lost theirjob and sadly many more will, but what i would say is that although tough decisions lie ahead, we will get through this and nobody will be left without hope or opportunity. ok, but when you see the numbers, —20% is going to change the historical scale for these charts forever. but it is... early days, but it is worse than some of our international competitors. it's worse on the economy. we've also had some worse comparisons for the underlying pandemic, too. are there not some questions about how your government have handled this — that we are bottom of both these tables? i think it's a fair question to ask on the economic comparison that you did. what i would say is, if you look at our economy, social activities, for example — going to have a meal, go shopping, see a movie — those kinds of activities comprise a much larger share of our economy than they do for most of our european cousins. and in a situation where we have locked down and shut down those

parts of our economy for three months almost — which is a significant period of time — it's unsurprising that that has had an outsized impact on our economy. and on the health side i think we have made enormous progress, whether it's on testing capacity, putting in place a test and trace operation, or discovering new treatments. so the position we're in today is clearly a lot stronger than it was at the beginning of the pandemic. it's such a strange form of recession, though, because ordinarily a chancellor sitting in number 11 could say, "well, i can boost the economy this way," or things will run their course, but you're still waiting on the health results — you're still waiting on a vaccine or a treatment, fundamentally, to go back to normal — have i got that bit right, yeah? no, i think you're right that what we're grappling with is something unprecedented and we don't have a playbook for how to deal with it. and that's why i think we should have some humility about our ability to precisely predict the exact path of the economy or to know exactly what the right policy response is, which is why i have been prepared to put aside ideology and dogma

at the beginning of this crisis and do what i believed was right to protect people's jobs, their incomes and businesses through what is an unprecedented and difficult time. and i think we've done that. our plan forjobs that we outlined last month was a significant set of announcements to support, protect and create jobs across the united kingdom — whether it's our kickstart scheme to support young people who are particularly badly affected by this, or new incentives for apprenticeships, or our eat out to help out initiative to help drive the recovery and protect 2 million jobs in hospitality — we're going to keep doing everything we can to protect people's jobs at what is a very difficult and uncertain time. but are you going to keep doing everything you can? you talked about the concept of a bridge. you plausibly thought when you set up these bridges that they maybe they would only be needed until the autumn. in some industries, certainly, they seem to be needed for longer than that. why can't the treasury be a little bit more flexible about the furlough scheme, for example, because it's just

required for longer? well, lots of the support we've put in place actually does last the entirety of the year, for example. we've cancelled business rates for everyone in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector for 12 months. so some of these things will last. but you asked rightly about the furlough scheme, and that's been one of the most difficult decisions that i've had to make. but if you take a step back, from start to finish, the government will be helping to pay people's wages for eight months. that is a very long period of time for something like that to be happening. i think most people would agree that that is not something that is sustainable indefinitely, and in common with many other, these schemes are coming to an end. forgive me — they're not saying it should be indefinite, they're just saying eight months was a reasonable guess two months ago — maybe it's going to have to be nine, ten, 11 months. and as i said at the time when we extended it, if we'd had six, people would have said it should be seven or eight. the point is, what's the right thing to do? it's not that there's no support after that. thejob retention bonus means that employers are rewarded and have a financial incentive

to bring furloughed employees back — that's going to make a big difference, especially to small and medium—sized businesses. but we also shouldn't pretend that absolutely everybody can and will be able to go back to the job they had. that's sadly not going to be the case and we're not doing people any favours by pretending otherwise. what we should be doing in that circumstance is giving them new opportunities to chart a new future for themselves and to look forward, and that's why initiatives like the kickstart scheme or apprenticeship incentives — all part of our plan forjobs — help do that, they help people look forward and look for new opportunities. are you planning for tax and spend policy? how can you plan for that certainly, given the possibility of a second wave? we're seeing some spikes back up again in neighbouring countries. could you, are you contemplating not having a budget, for example, in the autumn? i've said our plan is to have a fiscal event in the autumn and that is very much what we are continuing to work towards. and indeed one part of that is a spending review where we set department spending budgets for the next few years.

we launched that process a few weeks ago so we are well on track to deliver. but austerity... you talked about hard times. last time a chancellor talked about this in the middle of, orjust after a recession, your predecessor george osborne, that meant additionally cuts, pay cuts. all that sort of stuff. do people have to face that, too? we have said very clearly, both i and the prime minister, that there will not be a return to austerity. we will continue to invest in public services. obviously our public finances this year have taken a significant hit and will continue to do so as the ongoing effects of the pandemic reach our economy. so that is going to mean some difficult decisions in the months and years ahead. we can't sustainably be borrowing at the rate we have done this year but people should be reassured that we will approach the difficult decisions with the same spirit of fairness that we have done throughout this crisis. that was the chance to let rishi sunak talking to our economics editor faisal islam.

a third night of demonstrations has rocked the belarus capital, minsk, as protestors clashed with heavily—armed police. the rallies began after president alexander lukashenko won a sixth term in office in a disputed election on sunday. our correspondent abdujalil abdurasulov followed the protests on the streets of the capital. explosion. another night, another protest in belarus. it's day three of the disputed presidential elections. and this is how authorities here respond to any kind of dissent. riot police are using tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd that has gathered here on the streets of minsk. people refuse to leave even though it's very tense here. people continue to gather spontaneously for nightly rallies despite the total internet blackout. alleged fraud in sunday's collection is fuelling anger here. alleged fraud in sunday's election is fuelling anger here.

translation: i want all of our votes to be counted. votes shouldn't just disappear. people shouldn't just disappear. the riot police are coming. we have to leave. earlier in the day, our team was attacked by men dressed in black who appeared to be security forces. we showed our media accreditation and one of the officers ripped our colleague's card from around her neck. when we demanded it to be returned, one of them lashed out with his baton. protesters were constantly changing locations to make it harder to disperse them. but riot police chased them wherever they went. and when they caught up with three protesters, this is what happened. and when they caught up with fleeing protesters, this is what happened.

people in apartment blocks booed and swore at the officers. someone even threw a piece of furniture at them. after several hours of cat and mouse, the streets turned calmer. the protesters are gone but they vow to return again tomorrow. abdujalil abdurasulov, bbc news, minsk. ceremonies have been held in the lebanese capital as beirut marks the moment a week ago when the city was hit by a devastating blast. there was a moment's silence at the port, which was the at the centre of the explosion. there have also been further anti—government protests in the city. leila molana—allen is a journalist based in beirut and joins us now. thank you forjoining us today. talk to us about the political situation first of all. i guess there is a vacuum, isn't there? so we saw that government resignation that has happened which people were calling

for, and theoretically that is a victory for protesters but of course the problem now is that it is not just this government to blame. we now know that in july just this government to blame. we now know that injuly both the president and the prime minister or former prime minister were told that this was an imminent problem and that it could destroy the city. there were documents attesting to that and still they have done nothing. the prime minister, hassan diab's office put out a statement seeing previous governments knew it. they only had two weeks, others have six years. the present‘s office has not commented but he has said live on tv that he knew but was not responsible for the port, so there was nothing he could do. incredible rage among the people but the problem here is systemic. the fact that over a six years of successive governments knew about this and did nothing about it. this is what the protests have been about for the last ten months. the people feel their government system here is doing nothing for them and it now

feels their government system is responsible for the deaths and injuries of hundreds of thousands of people in the city and the devastation of the city. what happens now is that government is a ca reta ker happens now is that government is a caretaker government, as it was at the end of last year, and the parliament now comes together to try to select a new prime minister, which takes a lot of negotiation in the sectarian system. then they put together a new cabinet. firstly that will take a long time in this disaster situation where they need urgently to try to do things for the country, but people on the streets are saying it doesn't matter, they haven't helped so far, the authorities have not been out doing anything. the entire clean—up job has not been out doing anything. the entire clean—upjob has been down not been out doing anything. the entire clean—up job has been down to volu nteers entire clean—up job has been down to volunteers and international aid. whether there is another election, which could be called, but at the moment for parliament to select them next prime minister to put together a cabinet, people feel the commit is com pletely a cabinet, people feel the commit is completely absent and it will make no difference to their lives. the government really is not able to run atam government really is not able to run at am effectively. you mentioned the subject of aid. —— are not able to

run 11 on. most of the country's store of grain was gone. run 11 on. most of the country's store of grain was gonelj run 11 on. most of the country's store of grain was gone. i have been down on the street with lots of the rescue operation. i was at ground zero at the end of last week when they were trying to dig up people who they thought might still be alive. anyone still missing, this is now a recovery rather than a rescue mission. across the city we have got 6000 destroyed buildings, up to 300,000 people homeless, and we are seeing the clean—up operation which isa seeing the clean—up operation which is a combination of local volunteers out on the street all helping each other at this international aid coming in. the immediate aid has been very helpful and those groups coming in, there has been some rhetoric from the government but they have managed to break free. the issue for the future, we saw in the french president's press conference, they managed to raise $300 million inafew they managed to raise $300 million in a few hours. that is a great sum immediately and they say they will bypass the lebanese government and work directly with partners on the ground and that is so important

because international aid organisations often base themselves in lebanon but haven't worked with them for a long time. the tight—knit communities know what they need to working with small local partners who understand the long—term needs of this crisis is incredibly important. we are seeing problems like lots of people sending food. right now people don't need food, they need help to rebuild their homes so they are not homeless. in the winter, when the interest internationally test to another story, that is when there will be food problems. ifi story, that is when there will be food problems. if i can take of my generalist hat and put on my beirut hat, thank you to the producers were saying i can say this. if people are looking to donate, a lot of people in the uk have asked where to send the money. that lebanese red cross, a local organisation here at reading ambulances on a volunteer basis, are now going house to house, checking on people and if they are safe in the home. impact lebanon are doing amazing work, injecting cash rate needs to be. and the lebanese food

bank, they will keep the money and food for the winter when people were traditionally stockpiled. then they will need food, not now when it is going to waste. if you go to my twitter page, all the donation links either or you can google those names. please give, it is so necessary. that is the issue right now, those partners who know when the help will be needed as you see with every disaster effort, lots of money, lots of attention but we know there has been an economic loss of up there has been an economic loss of up to $15 billion he end trying to rebuild all those homes are the long term when insurers probably will not pay out because the investigation will take forever, that is when people will be really suffering and right now people may be staying with theirfamilies or right now people may be staying with their families or in shelters but if you see a few months down the line and base don't have homes, that is when we see the endemic poverty and people are suffering as the winter sets in. thank you very much. leila molana—allen sets in. thank you very much. leila mola na—allen in sets in. thank you very much. leila molana—allen in beirut. today is international youth day. this years theme is is focused around "youth engagement this year's theme is is focused around "youth engagement for global action".

five 14?22 year olds will be marking it in a special way, as they share their story with more than eight million people in the first—ever takeover of the british royal family's instagram account, @theroyalfamily. the initiative celebrates some of the inspirational young participants involved in the duke of edinburgh's international award and the resilience, they have shown during the challenges of covid—19. with me is duke of edinburgh's international award participants, metta and jordan — both injakarta in indonesia — and i'm alsojoined by rochelle in canada. hello to all three of you. great to talk to you today. let me begin with you, metta. you and jordan are both 14 you, metta. you and jordan are both 11; and taking part in the bronze award. how did you get chosen or selected to take part in this digital takeover of the instagram channel? it was actually a surprise

to us. we never expected it. we think the royal family actually found one of our videos that we made about keeping awareness of covid—19 and it was such an honour when me and it was such an honour when me and jordan. jordan, people in the uk will be familiar with the duke of edinburgh award. perhaps slightly less so with the international award, but how big is the award scheme that where you are? the award, ijoined it because my school is one of the operating partners. i decided tojoin because their motto is we are ready. it helps people around the world to become world ready. let's go to rochelle in canada. you are taking part in the gold award. a little bit further on through the scheme. how have you used what you are learning through this process, having done the other

parts of the award, and now on the gold award, how have you learned skills through that that have helped you cope with the pandemic? that is a big focus of what we are about today. yeah, the award has helped me become better and helped me develop soft skills to lead an amazing community projects in canada. we have been able to give away 200 meals, 100 care packages, 20 metres of fabric and so much more in our community. you are at university at the moment, taking a teaching and political science degree and you have founded a foundation called the spike foundation and through that you have delivered food parcels to vulnerable people —— spark foundation. does not go toward gold award? it does. what the award shapes is to do which is great. metta and jordan, i'd love to get a thought from both of you. how do you

feel about this digital takeover and a potential 8 million people seeing what you are doing? it's a really great opportunity for us because it is one of the ways of how we share our thoughts and tell the world how to be creative within this pandemic. metta, nervous at all?|j to be creative within this pandemic. metta, nervous at all? i mean, yeah, it isa metta, nervous at all? i mean, yeah, it is a really good opportunity. we really hope from this chance we can really hope from this chance we can really spread more over the world and could possibly inspire other youths to also make a change to the well. how difficult has it been, metta, to complete or to get through all the different elements of the bronze award during the pandemic? presumably some things have had to go on hold. for my physical

recreation, i finished go on hold. for my physical recreation, ifinished it before go on hold. for my physical recreation, i finished it before the pandemic. but by the community service, for example, me and jordan, at first, we only meant to promote the activities, but since the pandemic we kind of changed the content pandemic we kind of changed the co nte nt of pandemic we kind of changed the content of our instagram. we tried to increase awareness of covid and also we posted a video about the social distancing. jordan, for you, have there been challenges because of the pandemic in actually completing the different elements of this international award? everyone has been challenged during the pandemic. it is not how you do it but also how you get creative about it. for example, i it but also how you get creative about it. for example, lam it but also how you get creative about it. for example, i am one of the instagram administrative with temple micah. we make videos on our

account. we write our script together but because of the pandemic we are writing it online and we are shooting the video by ourselves in our homes. it's all about our creativity in home. you and metta being the school's instagram administrators, you have the right cv for the takeover of the royal family's instagram account. rochelle, give us a sense of how big the duke of edinburgh's international award scheme is there. it's huge in canada. it's widely respected. it is such an honour for the connections and the skills that the connections and the skills that the award programme in canada is able to connect. what are the key things you hope to be getting a for this digital takeover? for sure, might one key model that i'm trying to get across is that age doesn't matter when it comes to making a difference and that you do matter and we are the next generation.

yeah, that's it. i think the three of you are all great ambassadors. good luck with all of it and just keep doing what you're doing. metta and jordan keep doing what you're doing. metta andjordan in keep doing what you're doing. metta and jordan in indonesia and rochelle in canada, thank you all very much. the top ten highest—earning actors in the world took home just over one half a billion dollars combined last year, according to the latest figures from forbes. the streaming giant netflix was responsible for a lot of that money, paying over a quarter of those wages to film stars as paul hawkins reports. dwayne "the rock" johnson — officially the highest—paid actor in the world last year, according to forbes. no wonder he looks so happy! in the last 12 months tojune, he pocketed $88 million. a quarter of that was from netflix, just over $23 million for his role as an interpol agent in the film red notice. how did i get here? by being the hardest worker in the room! while his sportswear brand

also boosted earnings. ryan reynolds is second on the list with $72 million — $20 million for red notice and $20 million for six underground, both made by netflix, who also made mark wahlberg's action—comedy spenser confidential. no surprise then that mark wahlberg is third on the list, with $58 million. in fact, netflix is responsible for 25% of the total earnings of last year's top ten highest—paid actors, cementing itself as a big rival to the traditional film studios, many of which have suffered because of covid—related cinema closures, while online streaming has boomed with many of us in lockdown. adam sandler only made one film last year, called murder mystery, but because it was for, you guessed it, netflix, he still made it into the top ten, number nine, with $41 million. actor akshay kumar is the only bollywood star, with $49 million.

as for the highest—earning female actors, the list is yet to be announced but, given last year's top female earner, scarlett joha nsson, earned $33 million less than the top earning actor — dwaynejohnson again — it will be interesting to see if hollywood has closed the gender pay gap. paul hawkins, bbc news. you're watching bbc news. in parts of the country at least we are all complaining about the heat. it's not that way every where, i know. let's look at the weather forecast with sarah keith lucas. it was another uncomfortable night for sleeping last night. it was a tropical night, which means in parts of the south, temperatures didn't fall below 20 degrees all night. and as the heatwave continues, we're likely to see potentially another tropical night this night, it would be the sixth of the year so far. we've also had five consecutive days with temperatures over 34 celsius, which is thought to be unprecedented in the uk. now, there is a lot of sunshine out. we've also got a bit of mist and fog

and low cloud around with all that humidity, moisture in the air. so a hot, humid—feeling day with scattered thunderstorms. we won't all see the showers and thunderstorms — they'll be fairly hit and miss. we had flooding earlier today across parts of eastern scotland. those showers are now going to be gradually easing away towards the north and the east. further heavy showers and thunderstorms bubble up this afternoon across parts of england, wales, as well. northern ireland should stay mostly dry. temperatures across northern ireland and scotland in the low to mid 20s. but across england, wales, 30 degrees likely — we could even see 32 to perhaps 34 celsius, once again, down towards the southeast. into this evening and overnight, further heavy showers and thunderstorms rattle across parts of england and wales. the green colour showing the heavy bursts, but don't take the positioning too literally — they will be fairly hard to pinpoint. once again, temperatures for the likes of cardiff and london staying at about 20 degrees overnight. and further north it is going to feel really warm, humid as well. through the day tomorrow, we've still got humidity, so quite a lot of low cloud.

mist and murk around, too. some sunshine developing, especially across southern and western parts of the uk, but also further heavy showers and thunderstorms — especially across parts of southern england and wales. i think tomorrow, during the afternoon, it won't be quite as hot as recent days. temperatures probably staying just about below 30 degrees, but it will feel hotter than this when you add on the humidity as well. temperatures across scotland and northern ireland in the high teens or low 20s by thursday. looking further ahead into friday, we'll start to see this weather front moving its way in. that's going to bring some unsettled, showery conditions, easterly breeze. so it'll be quite warm, but certainly not quite as hot as it has been over recent days. further heavy showers and thunderstorms, and then things turn gradually fresher as we head through the end of the week and on into the weekend. that's it for now. bye— bye.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk is officially suffering its biggest recession on record. the fall in output caused by the coronavirus pandemic is on course to be one of the worst among major economies. today's figures show that hard times are here. hundreds of thousands of people have already lost theirjobs, and sadly many more will. students in england may be able to use their mock exam scores if they're unhappy with their a—level grades, ahead of results being released tomorrow. senator kamala harris makes history after she's named asjoe biden's presidential running mate — the first black woman to be

a candidate for vice—president. as new zealand's largest city is put back into lockdown — experts investigate whether coronavirus could have re—entered the country through freight shipments. and size does matter — dwayne "the rock" johnson leads the forbes list of the world's highest—paid male actors. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. the coronavirus pandemic has now officially pushed the uk into recession for the first time

in more than a decade. figures published by the office for national statistics today show that uk economic output — as measured by gross domestic product — plunged by a record 20.4% between april and june. the ons says the uk economy bounced back injune as government restrictions on movement started to ease. but the data indicates the slump is one of the biggest among advanced economies, according to preliminary estimates. the fall puts the uk on course to be the worst in the g7 group of countries. last month, the us announced its economy had shrunk by 9.59% in the same period. within europe, the spanish economy is the most similar to the uk with a fall of 18.5% between april and june. france, germany and italy's figures are all much lower. back to the uk, and the opposition labour

chancellor, anneliese dodds, decribed the deep economic slump as a tragedy — and the chancellor, rishi sunak, said the figures confirmed that hard times were here. what we are grappling with is something that is unprecedented. we don't have a playbook for how to deal with it. that's why i think we should have some humility about our ability to precisely predict the economy, or know exactly what the right policy response is. which is why i've been prepared to put aside ideology and dogma, at the beginning of this crisis, and do what i believe was right to protect people's jobs, their incomes and businesses, through what is an unprecedented and difficult time. and i think we have done that. our plan forjobs that we outlined last month was a significant set of announcements to support, protect and create jobs across the united kingdom, whether it is our kick—start scheme to support young people who are particularly badly affected by this,

new incentives for apprenticeships, or the eat out to help out initiative, to protect two million jobs in hospitality. we are going to do everything we can to protect people's jobs in what is a very difficult and uncertain time. let's talk to our business presenter, ben thompson, who's in high wycombe town centre. it is official. confirmation i guess of what many people were expecting. put this into context for us. yes, good morning, and just a word, the heat out to help out scheme is in full flow here in high wycombe, and thatis full flow here in high wycombe, and that is just one of the measures the chancellor outlining to give the economy a boost. confirmation officially that the uk economy is in recession. this is already happening. this is looking back at what has happened over the last few months and if you look at where we are compared to the crisis in 2008

and 2009 the economy then shrank less. 20 —— 20.4% recently. what about the recovery? that is the question. when will the economy start to pick up and how long will it take? the recovery began in may when some shops were able to reopen but it picked up pace injune when nonessential retailers reopened and more of us were able to get back at spending again. does the economic reality on the ground just like the figures that we have had today? with me isa figures that we have had today? with me is a florist here in high wycombe, a florist of 21 years. tell us wycombe, a florist of 21 years. tell us what the last few months has been like. these figures tell as the economy was pretty rubbish, frankly. what has it been like for you? very up what has it been like for you? very up and down. we are slowly getting back to what we would see as normal for our business which is just over the other side of the road here. we

have been here for 30 years still to try to give you an idea it is slowly getting back to what we would call normal. what would you normally be doing at this time of year and how have you managed to adapt the business to make sure you still have some customers? we have been very lucky with our regular customers who have been phoning and doing orders since the 15th ofjune. we should be doing weddings but obviously they have gone at the moment with the wedding situation as it is. we are very lucky that we do diversify and we did plenty of different things. tell me about what customers are telling you when they come into the shop. do they have the money in their pocket? are they spending like before? not really. they are only really buying for guests and things they would deem as essential, not for their homes. the thing we are trying to do is to try to do silk

arrangements to tap into people wanting to keep things for longer. that sort of answers my question. what have you learned during lockdown, what are you doing differently and how do you change the business? one guest said we have been nimble and change what we do a little bit and we have learned a lot about the business. we certainly have. our owner did about the business. we certainly have. ourownerdid a about the business. we certainly have. our owner did a lot of the funeral work while we were furloughed and that has continued and luckily we have kept our contracts with the undertakers that way. we have learnt we have just got to try and do whatever we can to keep the customer coming back. you we re keep the customer coming back. you were telling me social media is really important to keep that connection with customers. absolutely. i have been going through social media making sure we are still out there, that we are growing our amount of followers on mine, notjust for high growing our amount of followers on mine, not just for high wycombe growing our amount of followers on mine, notjust for high wycombe but across buckinghamshire and across the world. good luck. really nice to see you. businesses just trying to

adapt and change and we know that big business may be is better able to survive a big recession because maybe they have got deeper pockets or money in reserve. what we have been hearing from smaller businesses as they are a bit more nimble and able to change what they do a bit better to react to local demand as needed and in a place like there's a lot of people would normally commute into london which has not happened so local businesses feeling some benefit from local customers, whether it is restaurants or bars, shops as well seeing more custom rather than at going into the big city centres. we are going to show you around and meet some of the other businesses operating here and find out whether that awful economic fall of 20.4 is reflected on the ground because remember that is looking back at what has already happened. the big question is how long the recovery takes on what these businesses can do to cash in on that. we look forward to go

providing us with some answers perhaps. students around the world have been getting their exam results but there's controversy here in england less than 24 hours before a—levels are due to be published. ministers have moved to avert a backlash, by telling pupils unhappy with their grades that they may be able to use their mock exam results instead. the education secretary, gavin williamson, has announced what he called a "safety net" for a—level, b—tech and gcse students unhappy with their official grades. the triple—lock means pupils can accept the grade they get, based on teacher estimations, or change it for a mark gained in a mock exam, or they can instead choose to take the exam in the autumn. the house of commons education select committee chairman, robert halfon, told bbc news he fears the government's proposals will favour the sharp elbowed and well heeled.

head teachers have attacked the last—minute change as "panicked and chaotic". it comes after ministers in scotland had to apologise before announcing an upgrade in results. our education correspondent dan johnson reports. with exam halls standing silent this summer, the life chances of a generation were instead to be determined by estimated grades, awarded by teachers but then moderated, standardised and potentially downgraded. listen to the worries of those who are expecting their results tomorrow. my biggest fears are that the grades i get will not be a representation of what i would have been capable of, had i sat the exams. because i'm not applying to university and having a gap year, that means i have limited opportunities and next year's universities will not take me in. my independent ability is going to be underestimated by the standardisation method.

what do we want? fairgrades! scottish students protested after 75,000 had their results downgraded last week. when it became clear the poorest were hit hardest, the man in charge apologised and reinstated the original estimates. we set out to ensure the system was fair, we set out to ensure it was credible, but we did not get it right for all young people. before i go any further, i want to apologise for that. it makes a big difference going forward because i can focus on schoolwork this year and university, rather than being doubtful of my results in the past. it's really motivated me for this year. and with that putting scottish results overall up 14% on last year, there were calls for the same to apply to students in the rest of the uk. the u—turn from the scottish government absolutely shows us the system was flawed and was further entrenching

education inequality and it was the right move. i hope to see that reflected across the uk. last night, officials in northern ireland promised broader grounds for appeal. students in england will now face three choices — sticking with the estimated moderated grade awarded tomorrow, sitting an exam in the autumn or appealing to get the results from their mock exams instead. these are major last—minute changes, further complicating a pivotal moment for so many young people who already face difficult decisions, clouded by uncertainty. dan johnson, bbc news. our political correspondent, jonathan blake, is at westminster. these are major last—minute changes. what has been the reaction? there are always nervy days before exam results are published, first of all for the students who are waiting to

get their grades, their parents, but this time a nervous time for the government as well because they are well aware in england that they do not want a repeat of the situation we saw in scotland where so many stu d e nts we saw in scotland where so many students so they are great revised down and after the outcry and criticism that followed the government had to make an apology and reassess everything. the government has made this decision to allow students to appeal against the grade they are given through their school if they mock exam grades are higher or they believe they more fairly reflect the results they should be getting and it has come at the last minute, the day before a—level results are released in england tomorrow, and it reflects concern that there is going to be criticism of the results and how they are allocated. the schools minister this morning has been defending making changes at this stage and says the government overall is very confident in the

standardisation model being used to award grades in the absence of stu d e nts award grades in the absence of students actually sitting exams this year and says bringing mock exam results into the equation is a safety net for a small number of students. our concern was to make sure that — with the best model in the world, there will be students who fall outside it, and we didn't want any student to suffer disadvantage. we apologise to nobody for finding solutions, even at the 11th hour, to stop any student being disadvantaged by the system. for some time the government has faced criticism for how it is handling the exams process this year. mps on the house of commons education select committee want the exams regulator to publish the method that they are using to work out students' grades and the pressure on that body and the government will only increase as we see the results come out tomorrow and then next week for gcses and other qualifications as well. labour

was calling on the government to intervene to avoid the situation that happened in scotland. now this change has been made the shadow education secretary says it doesn't go far enough. what we have now got is a system which clearly is not looking fit for purpose. the government itself is clearly acknowledging that by announcing more and more changes to it. what they are now proposing really isn't strong enough. that is why we think that students absolutely need to have a proper, robust appeals process. it is not quite as simple as stu d e nts it is not quite as simple as students taking their mock exam results and comparing it to the grade they are awarded than simply swapping one for the other if one is better than the other. it needs to better than the other. it needs to be the basis of an appeal which goes through a school, not done on an individual basis by students, and the government makes the argument that that will only apply in a very small number of cases because it is unlikely that the awarded grades

will be lower than the grades achieved in mock exams, but still a lot of questions and exactly how this is going to work, given the inconsistency in the way marks are done and marked, and the government seeing only certain exam conditions for mock exams may be able to be considered so as those results are awarded to model the government still seeing it has confidence in its model for awarding grades and the vast majority of students should get the grades they would have had had they sat exams that were that accurately reflects their ability but until those grades are published on the resulting reaction comes through we simply will not know whether further changes will have to be made. jonathan blake, thank you. let's speak to the chief executive of the universities and colleges admissions service here in the uk, clare marchant. what great would you give the

government for these changes?” think certainly it is a complex landscape, but covid has brought us over the last four or five months. there are a key role is to make sure stu d e nts there are a key role is to make sure students have the best support on hand to navigate what is a very complex situation and particularly over the next 24 hours and weeks thereafter. about 80% of students who apply before the 30th ofjune will get theirfirst who apply before the 30th ofjune will get their first choice of university. our advice is to continue to university even if you wa nt to continue to university even if you want to appeal in parallel, continue to make that choice to progress to the next stage on your personal educational journey. the next stage on your personal educationaljourney. looking at this in more detail, if someone tomorrow doesn't get the grades they need to get into theirfirst doesn't get the grades they need to get into their first choice of university, what should they do first? absolutely, if tomorrow they see their grades and they haven't got theirfirst choice

see their grades and they haven't got their first choice university, those students should first and foremost look at clearing. we have a new matching service that gives them lots of opportunity to progress and interest in a personalised course for them. if they want to appeal and go through the appeals process using this new route of mock exams that is entirely down to them and their school but do that in parallel and that would be our advice tomorrow. how would that work? with the university keep a place open pending an appeal? we worked with the universities and university sector to extend into early act september the decision—making process effectively so what will happen is any appeals where you have a student thatis any appeals where you have a student that is looking to progress to higher education will be prioritised by those exam bodies and particularly those that are looking to progress to higher education who haven't yet found their first choice and so those are the ones that will be prioritised through to early

september. what if a student decides they want to sit an exam in october? will they automatically lose their university place this year if they decide to do that and have to reapply next year? there are a number of options if they decide to ta ke number of options if they decide to take an autumn exam. first there are a number of universities and courses available for a january 2021 start date so we will be supporting stu d e nts date so we will be supporting students through that in terms of those january starts. also there is the option to look at an autumn 2021 start. my advice to students would be think very carefully about the options available to you and you are not alone. we are all with you to help you navigate what is more complex choices than usual. give us an insight into the universities side of this because my understanding is they were made aware of the results on friday so they could get ready for clearing so

to speak. if those results are back up to speak. if those results are back up in the air how complicated does it make it for universities? certainly universities in the background has started looking at confirmation decisions from the weekend ahead of tomorrow and it is potentially more complex for them but i have spoken to universities this morning, i have spoken to the body that represents the majority of those universities, and they are absolutely going to be flexible. we all want students where they wanted to progress to the next stage of their journey to progress to the next stage of theirjourney and again those stu d e nts theirjourney and again those students who got their first choice and we know that will be the overwhelming majority i would encourage them to progress even if in parallel they want to go through an appeal with his new route at looking at mock exams. if the result of all these changes as we see a year of better than average results, are there enough university places for everyone? we know those that go

through appeal sit outside of those stu d e nts through appeal sit outside of those students number controls but we know universities have very practical considerations are take into place a weather that is about teaching resource or placements or technical lab facilities and so on, there are some of the complexities universities are going to have to work through over the coming weeks that they will be flexible and they will be bending over backwards, particularly with global uncertainty in terms of global mobility, they will be bending over backwards for those students. your main advice is to stu d e nts those students. your main advice is to students to try not to worry. thank you for talking to us. and for viewers in the uk at 12.30 this afternoon, we'll answer your questions on the changes to the way a—level and gcse results are to be decided. send them in to us at yourquestions@bbc.co.uk, or on social media

using #bbcyourquestions. the us democratic presidential candidate, joe biden, has chosen the california senator — and one—time rivalfor hisjob — karmala harris as his running mate for november's election. ms harris is the first black woman — her father is jamaican and her mother is indian — on a major presidential ticket in us history. here's our north america correspondent, david willis. in kamala harris, joe biden has chosen a black running mate 22 years his junior. the first woman of colour ever to appear on a major party's presidential ticket. born in oakland, california, the elder daughter of an indian mother and a jamaican father, kamala harris was a public prosecutor and a california senator before launching her own campaign for the democratic presidential nomination in january last year. she dropped out of the race in december.

announcing his choice of running mate, joe biden called her a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country's finest public servants. she vowed that he would unify the american people, and build a country that lives up to our ideals. they've not always seen eye to eye, however. in the first democratic primary debate, she rebuked him for speaking warmly of senators who had once defended racial segregation. you also worked with them to oppose bussing. and, you know, there was a little girl in california who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools. and she was bussed to school every day. and that little girl was me. that's a mischaracterisation of my position across the board. i did not praise racists. kamala harrisjoins the democratic ticket at a time of unprecedented crisis in america, as the country grapples with the thorny issues of police brutality

and racial injustice. since the death of george floyd, she has toughened her stance on police reform, but remains, in essence, a centrist likejoe biden. voters rejected harris. although the trump campaign is already seeking to portray her as a radical left—winger. and president trump called her selection a surprise. i think a lot of people were saying that might be the pick. i was more surprised, than anything else, because she did so poorly, many people did much better than her in the primaries, she did very poorly in the primaries. and that's like a poll, you know, that's like a poll. were he to beat donald trump in november, joe biden would be the oldest person in american history to become president, thus there is speculation that he might choose to only serve one term. that could leave kamala harris the front runner to lead her party into the presidential elections, four years from now. david willis, bbc news, los angeles.

breaking news. a train has derailed near stonehaven in north—east scotla nd near stonehaven in north—east scotland not far from aberdeen. a major emergency service responses happening as a result. you can see pictures of smoke billowing over the tree line where the railway track runs. we understand from a colleague at bbc scotland that an air ambulance is in attendance and ambulances are arriving by the minute, so we are hearing that a train has derailed near stonehaven in north—east scotland and a major emergency response is happening as a result, and you can see the smoke

billowing over the tops of the trees, where the railway track runs. details are still sketchy at the moment but we will bring you more information as soon as we get it. officials in new zealand are reportedly investigating whether or not the coronavirus could have re—entered the country through freight shipments. it comes as the country's largest city, auckland, has been put back into lockdown after recording the country's first coronavirus infections in 102 days. the four new cases are all members of one family, but none had travelled outside new zealand recently. bars, restaurants and schools there have been closed — and workers are being told to stay at home. earlier we heard from the chair of the lancet ncd action group and a former professor of community health, robert beaglehole. it isa it is a very sad day for us in new

zealand. various lines of investigation are under way. the most likely source of these four definite cases and now four definite cases “— definite cases and now four definite cases —— four probable cases is leakage either directly from the border or from leakage either directly from the border orfrom one of leakage either directly from the border or from one of the leakage either directly from the border orfrom one of the isolation or quarantine facilities. i think the possibility of it coming in in association with a store needs to be excluded but is extremely unlikely. let's round up some more news from around the world. coronavirus cases in france have nearly doubled in the past 24 hours as the prime minister warned that the country had been going "the wrong way" for two weeks. the health ministry reported 1,397 new infections of covid—19 since monday and 14 people have died. australia has recorded its deadliest day from the coronavirus pandemic — with 21 deaths in the past 24 hours, all recorded in the state of victoria.

australia's second most populous state is just over one week into a strict six—week lockdown put in place to control a resurgence of cases. the state health authorities also reported a further 410 new infections. prosecutors in mexico have accused the former president, of taking millions of dollars in bribes and using the money to buy votes in congress. the allegations are part of a major corruption investigation involving the brazilian construction giant odebrecht. the authorities in mauritius say cracks in the hull of a cargo ship which ran aground last month — sparking an environmental emergency — are worsening. efforts to remove about 900 tonnes of oil on—board the stricken vessel are continuing. a similar amount has already leaked from the japanese—owned ship. mauritius is home to world—renowned

coral reefs, and tourism is a crucial part of its economy. in his first international interview with a major broadcaster, the prime minister of mauritius told the bbc why it took longer than two weeks for his government to declare an emergency. well, because initially when the salvage team was in mauritius, they are the experts and we had to rely on their advice. so, throughout they said that there was a very low risk of oil spilling, and that they were trying to stabilise the ship in order to try to tow it out. so, weather conditions did not also permit that we start pumping the oil from the tanks. so, we of course go by the advice of those experts. unfortunately, the weather deteriorated so much that one of the tanks was damaged,

and oil started to spill over. even at that time, we could not start pumping from the tank, because the weather conditions were still very bad. we were advised that the pipes would break and, therefore, also lives of people could be put at risk. so, fortunately on the 7th, when the weather was more accommodating, then all of the setup was put into place and then the pumping started. so, we were able to in fact empty one of the tanks where there was a spillage. the weather deteriorated again. there were waves up to more than three metres, and therefore all the way we have gone by the advice of the salvage team.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the uk is officially suffering its biggest recession on record, the fall in output caused by the coronavirus pandemic is thought to be one of the worst among major economies. students in england may be able to use their mock exam scores if they're unhappy with their a—level grades, ahead of results being released tomorrow. senator kamala harris makes history after she's named asjoe biden's presidential running mate — the first black woman to be a candidate for vice—president. as new zealand's largest city is put back into lockdown, experts investigate whether coronavirus could have re—entered the country through freight shipments. as we've been hearing, here in the uk, the education secretary, gavin williamson, says gcse and a—level students in england can

apply to use their mock exam results, if they're unhappy with the grades due to be awarded by computer algorithm in the coming days. the students would have to go through an appeal. the move follows a u—turn by the scottish government, which says tens of thousands of pupils will have their results upgraded. we can now speak to the general secretary of the university and college union jo grady. thank you forjoining us. what make of these changes? i think it is a shambles. the idea of addressing at the 11th hour system in which mock exa m the 11th hour system in which mock exam results are going to potentially trump the calculated grade really does beggar belief. we have been predicting that there are going to be problems with these grades for a long time. disadvantaged students who have been hit by covid and not done are now being impacted by this and it is a real shame that it has got to this

point. teachers said this would happen from the beginning. what would have been a better system for assessing the grades of pupils for assessing the grades of pupils for exams they never sat? there has to bea for exams they never sat? there has to be a better system going back —— might then going back to the mock exams. we think in the situation the predicted grades from teachers would be better, but really what we have been campaigning for a long time we do not use predicted grades at all, we moved to a better system. i think what we're seeing at minute is not acceptable. we have had staff working incredibly hard in the run—up to clearing, in the run—up to admissions, we are going to have stu d e nts admissions, we are going to have students tomorrow who do not know what is happening. an incredible amount of emotional labour for staff and students at the moment... the has been moments for the government to work with the system with

educational specialists and now we are in aniith educational specialists and now we are in an 11th hour scramble to clear up this mess. you mentioned a better system, what are your members saying that would have been ben? we are in favour of post—qualification admissions is when students apply when they have the grades. you will not have a system that is not fit for purpose. no other place in the world uses the system that we do. goodbye unconditional offer is, in a system where students' achievements on the basis of their and not what is in these grades that have been produced, which is relying on the past performance of schools. we are in the middle of a global pandemic, we do know that students did not sit these exams, do you accept that it has been incredibly difficult to come up with something that will actually please everyone? i think the issue is not about pleasing everybody, it is about fairness for students and

educational professional said at the very beginning, our union said this, this particular way of measuring performance when it was put forward, it was going to damage students and it was going to damage students and it was going to damage students and it was going to disproportionally damaged disadvantaged students and that has happened. this is not about pleasing everybody. this is about the government not listening to people who said they should have been a better system formulated at the very beginning and we are month—end on the very problems that we said would happen after happening. thank you so much for your time. thank you. protesters in the belarussian capital, minsk, have clashed for a third night with heavily—armed police. the demonstrations began after president alexander lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in sunday's election, which many believe was rigged. abdujalil abdurasulov is in minsk.

what can you tell about the protests that have been happening? in the past, plate usually took place in the centre of the capital —— make protests. they happened in big squares where people could... because police blocked off the roads, people now move away towards the outskirts of the city and they gather in the stations and that is what the collisions happened with police. we went to the metro station and this is what we witness. another night, another protest in belarus. it is day three of the disputed presidential elections. and this is how authorities here respond to any kind of dissent.

riot police are using tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd that has gathered here on the streets of minsk. people refuse to leave even though it's very tense here. people continue to gather spontaneously for nightly rallies despite the total internet blackout. alleged fraud in sunday's election is fuelling anger here. translation: i want all of our votes to be counted. votes shouldn't just disappear. people shouldn't just disappear. the riot police are coming. we have to leave. earlier in the day, our team was attacked by men dressed in black who appeared to be security forces. we showed our media accreditation and one of the officers ripped our colleague's card from around her neck. when we demanded it to be returned, one of them lashed out with his baton. protesters were constantly changing locations to make it harder to disperse them.

but riot police chased them wherever they went. and when they caught up with fleeing protesters, this is what happened. people in apartment blocks booed and swore at the officers. someone even threw a piece of furniture at them. after several hours of cat and mouse, the streets turned calmer. the protesters are gone but they vow to return again tomorrow. what was interesting to observe compared to previous clashes, yesterday we think there were fewer people on the streets. perhaps this isa sign people on the streets. perhaps this is a sign that the protest mood in belarus is declining, but it is still too early to say because during the daytime things are very

calm on the streets. people usually gather in the late evening and this is one clashes happen. we need to watch. thank you so much for that update. i'm joined by olga dryndova, a political scientist and editor of the belarus analysis at bremen university in germany. let us pick up on the last point, thoroughly interesting saying that he thought there were fewer people on the streets. we know that protests are continuing, what is your sense of how widespread the anger actually is? it is of course difficult to say since we only have stable internet connection in belarus since today, since this morning. what i have seen, the people have changed their tactics are bed so they do not gather in large groups but they try to concentrate in smaller groups so it is harderfor the policeman to

find the man to chase them, so they are changing the strategy. i have no idea how many people there were because there are no organisations, and the journalists are being... because there are no organisations, and thejournalists are being... of course people are frightened, a lot of people are detained. human rights organisation speaks over 5000 people who have been arrested since the election day. people are... people are frightened and people do not understand what to do next, there have been some attempts to organise strikes in belarus, it is still not had information what happened because according to the latest information, the police officers we re

information, the police officers were sent to dynamic so it was possible they were arrested. it is very difficult to spread information because of the internet. where does this leave alexander lukashenko? will he survive? well, it depends what you mean by survive. i've because he will survive, he could survive as a president. he still has the health, security and military structures. if you mean the popular support that his use to have many years ago, it will never come back. he used to be a popular nation pot president —— nation's president. we arejust pot president —— nation's president. we are just observing in the coming months, the new level of relations

between society and state. the social construct that we are talking about earlier, which meant that people are not interested in politics and said that they get more or less stable lives and ace stable economy and save on their own country is just not there any more. autocracy can also function with the minority of people supporting it but it will be another kind of large clock to see. i do not want to make any predictions and we do not know what people do next. is there any effective political opposition ten? we know what happens to the women who stood against him, this is what la na who stood against him, this is what lana —— who stood against him, this is what la na — — svetla na. she was taken there by the authorities, their secret forces. so

we have to understand that she had several hours talk with the secret services and they made pressure on her so she decided that it is better to leave the country. i did not think, she was not a leaderfor the protest, she never called the plater so it is not now people are disappointed, they could be but not all of them disappointed that she left the country because she was never a politician. she decided that the dosh is not representing any structured political party in belarus. they cannot really do anything and most active ones were already arrested long before

elections. they have this experience, street protest, they we re experience, street protest, they were injail before experience, street protest, they were in jail before the elections. what we are observing now with the protest is 100% organised by the people themselves, even without three days of internet, they managed to gather the whole country to do this potus. it is a new quality of protest, without any leader. —— they gathered the whole country to do this protest. thank you for your insights, we have to leave it there. covid—19 hit the democratic republic of congo on march 10 — a new health challenge for a country still fighting malaria, measles and ebola. but that's not all. five months later, doctors are also battling scepticism about the disease itself. our correspondent gaius kowene met one of these doctors in the congolese capital city, kinshasa. it's time to enter the red zone.

covid—19 patients are waiting. first there was malaria, measles and ebola. now doctors in the democratic republic of congo are struggling with the latest health emergency. translation: leaving ebola and then coming to covid scared me, but i thought it's almost the same scenario because with ebola, you have to respect all the barrier measures. doctors like him were the first to be called up on having proved themselves fighting ebola. translation: it's an icu unit. so, as you can see, there's a patient who is on oxygen. his condition is very critical. this pandemic has spread to provinces. but it is kinshasa, the busy and bustling drc capital, that remains the epicenter. treatment centres like this

are the only option for severely ill and on the front line of the pandemic. in the last four months, drc has recorded more than 9,000 covid—19 cases. it's the most contagious disease to infect the adult population in the country's recent history. but just like ebola, doctors are struggling with misinformation. translation: you shouldn't wait until you get sick to believe in the disease because the disease exists and it didn't start here in the drc. former covid deniers like this man have turned full circle. translation: us, we have suffered from covid—19, knowing what stage we reached this hospital. today, i am able to talk thanks to the effort of effort of its workers. we ask you to acknowledge the work of these people taking risk at the forefront of the response. but for every convert like this one, there are still many who denied the virus exists.

as the doctor goes home to visit his young family at the end of a long shift, it's notjust his family's health he worries about. it's also his reputation. and yet his determination remains unshakeable. i want to take you back to the news that a train has derailed near steve her maiden —— max stonehaven, not too far in the aberdeen. an emergency service response is under way. you can see the area there and the smoke coming out above the tree line, as you can see there where the railway track runs. ambulances arriving, and airambulance railway track runs. ambulances arriving, and air ambulance is in attendance. the british transport police have released a statement in the last few moments. it says...

we're currently responding to an incident on the line in stonehaven, aberdeenshire, where a train has derailed. officers were called to the scene at 9.43am and remain there alongside paramedics and the fire brigade. all further updates will be shared here. details are still sketchy at the moment the confirmation that the train has derailed near stonehaven, it appears to have happened at about quarter to ten this morning and emergency services are in attendance. we will bring you more details as soon we get them. the remains of a new species of dinosaur has been discovered on the isle of wight. palaeontologists at the university of southampton believe four bones found at shanklin last year belong to a new species of dinosaur.

it lived in the cretaceous period, 115 million years ago, and is estimated to have been up to 13ft long. doctor neil gostling is an evolutionary—developmental biologist and joins me now from the isle of wight. doctor, a very exciting discovery, tallis about what you find what we will call this new dinosaur. it is really exciting, we have full vertebrae which were found by members of the public over the course of six months last year. they built them into the island and from that moment, the people here at the museum realise that there was something unusual. they were found ina weight something unusual. they were found in a weight environment, and the lower green sound which is a marine deposit and dinosaurs are terrestrial. that was quite unexpected, we don't get many good dinosaur bones coming out of the green sand. they normally come out of the older formation. the bones

are from the neck, the upper torso and the tail, we have a good idea that it and the tail, we have a good idea thatitis and the tail, we have a good idea that it is all from the new same animal they are very hollow unlike bones that you can see where lung tissue would have invaded the bones, very similar to see what we see in living dinosaurs, the beds today and this gives an efficient breathing system so they can be fast and active and predators. we have come up active and predators. we have come up with this name, we have called it vectaerove nator up with this name, we have called it vectaerovenator inopinatus. it is the unexpected hollow airfield hunter from the isle of wight. the latter name for the —— latin name for the isle of wight. part of it is hunter and unexpected. we put all of these things together, finding it an

unusual deposit, unexpectedly, and putting it together, it is a thorough pod, and the same group as the t racks, velociraptor and living birds. it is a wonderful find. the t racks, velociraptor and living birds. it is a wonderfulfind. we are excited to have it. your enthusiasm is infectious. how can you be so certain about the dating? ijohn 15 can you be so certain about the dating? i john 15 million can you be so certain about the dating? ijohn 15 million years ago. that is the bit that is relatively easy. the greensand is very well known deposit, you can take radio metric date from above and below the deposit so you can get a very good idea of the age either side. the age very easily worked out from radiometric dating. tell us how significant this discovery is.” think it is really interesting because the isle of wight is probably the best place in europe

and at the top ten in the world, many would say, for finding and at the top ten in the world, many would say, forfinding dinosaur remains and this particular dinosaur is important because, again, it shows the diversity of dinosaurs in europe at the time because the formation, hundred 25 million years, isa formation, hundred 25 million years, is a preserved terrestrial environment. that is where we would expect to find dinosaurs. i won 15 million years ago, there had been a large inland sea aggression, so europe was pinnacles of land sticking up out of the water, and we do not have a good record of dinosaurs. to find four vertebrae, we are hoping to find more, but to find four where we can diagnose them and say this is something new, we have not seen anything like this before and be able to put into the context of the tree of dinosaurs, we

know it is a thorough padd, this is really important because it helps us to understand the diversity of dinosaurs in europe when actually there remains a pretty scarce. we are olted time, and a couple of words, where are the bones now? they are on display on the dinosaur isle. thank you very much. the top ten highest earning actors in the world took home just over half a billion dollars combined last year according to the latest figures from forbes. the streaming giant, netflix, was responsible for a lot of that money, paying over a quarter of those wages to film stars as paul hawkins reports. dwayne "the rock" johnson — officially the highest—paid actor in the world last year, according to forbes. no wonder he looks so happy!

in the last 12 months tojune, he pocketed $88 million. a quarter of that was from netflix, just over $23 million for his role as an interpol agent in the film red notice. how did i get here? by being the hardest worker in the room! while his sportswear brand under armor also boosted earnings. ryan reynolds is second on the list with $72 million — $20 million for red notice and $20 million for six underground, both made by netflix, who also made mark wahlberg's action—comedy spenser confidential. no surprise then that marky mark is third on the list, with $58 million. in fact, netflix is responsible for 25% of the total earnings of last year's top ten highest—paid actors, cementing itself as a big rival to the traditional film studios, many of which have suffered because of covid—related cinema closures, while online streaming has boomed with many of us in lockdown. adam sandler only made one film last year, called murder mystery, but because it was for — you guessed it — netflix, he still made it into the top ten, number

nine, with $41 million. actor akshay kumar is the only bollywood star, with $49 million. as for the highest—earning female actors, the list is yet to be announced but, given last year's top female earner, scarlett joha nsson, earned $33 million less than the top earning actor — dwaynejohnson again — it will be interesting to see if hollywood has closed the gender pay gap. paul hawkins, bbc news. i want to give you an update on the news we have bringing you this hour about a train derailment in scotland. emergency services are at the scene at stonehaven in north—east scotland, you can see the smoke the billowing out above the tree line. that is what the railway track runs. reduce transport police haveissued track runs. reduce transport police have issued a statement in the last few moments that they are currently responding to an incident on the line in stonehaven, where a train

has derailed. officers were called to the scene and about 9:45am uk time and remainder, alongside paramedics on the fire brigade. —— and remain there. you are watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. hello. it was another uncomfortable night for sleeping last night. it was a tropical night, which means in parts of the south, temperatures didn't fall below 20 degrees all night. and as the heatwave continues, we're likely to see potentially another tropical night this night, it would be the sixth of the year so far. we've also had five consecutive days with temperatures over 34 celsius, which is thought to be unprecedented in the uk. now, there is a lot of sunshine out. we've also got a bit of mist and fog and low cloud around with all that humidity, moisture in the air. so a hot, humid—feeling day with scattered thunderstorms. we won't all see the showers and thunderstorms — they'll be fairly hit and miss.

we had flooding earlier today across parts of eastern scotland. those showers are now going to be gradually easing away towards the north and the east. further heavy showers and thunderstorms bubble up this afternoon across parts of england, wales, as well. northern ireland should stay mostly dry. temperatures across northern ireland and scotland in the low to mid 20s. but across england, wales, 30 degrees likely — we could even see 32 to perhaps 34 celsius, once again, down towards the southeast. into this evening and overnight, further heavy showers and thunderstorms rattle across parts of england and wales. the green colour showing the heavy bursts, but don't take the positioning too literally — they will be fairly hard to pinpoint. once again, temperatures for the likes of cardiff and london staying at about 20 degrees overnight. and further north it is going to feel really warm, humid as well. through the day tomorrow, we've still got humidity, so quite a lot of low cloud. mist and murk around, too. some sunshine developing, especially across southern and western parts of the uk, but also further heavy showers and thunderstorms — especially across parts of southern england and wales, i think tomorrow, during the afternoon. it won't be quite as

hot as recent days. temperatures probably staying just about below 30 degrees, but it will feel hotter than this when you add on the humidity as well. temperatures across scotland and northern ireland in the high teens or low 20s by thursday. looking further ahead into friday, we'll start to see this weather front moving its way in. that's going to bring some unsettled, showery conditions, easterly breeze. so it'll be quite warm, but certainly not quite as hot as it has been over recent days. further heavy showers and thunderstorms, and then things turn gradually fresher as we head through the end of the week and on into the weekend. that's it for now. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: emergency services are on the scene after a train derailed in aberdeenshire. it's not year clear if there are any injuries. students in england may be able to use their mock exam scores if they're unhappy with their a—level grades, ahead of results being released tomorrow. the uk is officially suffering its biggest recession on record. the fall in output caused by the coronavirus pandemic is on course to be one of the worst among major economies. today's figures show that hard times are here. hundreds of thousands of people have already lost theirjobs, and sadly many more will. senator kamala harris makes history after she's named asjoe biden's presidential running

mate — the first black woman to be a candidate for vice—president. as new zealand's largest city is put back into lockdown, experts investigate whether coronavirus could have re—entered the country through freight shipments. emergency services are on the scene after a train derailed in aberdeenshire. british transport police says it's responding to an incident on the line in stonehaven, and there are parademics on the scene, alongside the fire brigade. these the fire brigade. are the latest pictures we

have. these are the latest pictures we have. we know emergency services are at the scene, the fire service, police and ambulance service when the at about quarter to ten this morning. smoke, as you have been watching, can be seen billowing from the train onto the track in the countryside, while several emergency service vehicles are parked in a field. let's talk now to phillip haigh, a freelance railway writer, the former deputy editor at rail magazine. thank you forjoining us. details are obviously still sketchy. this is are obviously still sketchy. this is a major developing incident but are you able to tell us any more. as you say, details are very sketchy at this time, but i think given the heavy rain that scotland saw overnight that is a real risk that a landslide or something like that could be involved and they do quite

easily derail trains if they run into them. we have had incidences like this in the past so my reckoning at the moment would be some sort of landslide has derailed the strain and we wait to hear more details of what has been involved.” don't suppose you have any sense of whether this was a passenger train ora whether this was a passenger train or a freight train? my initial understanding is that it was an early morning passenger train from aberdeen down to glasgow, so taking that into account i suspect there will have been passengers, people on board, but of course we wait to hear confirmation from scotrail, the major operator of trains in scotland, and from network rail scotland, and from network rail scotland, who own, operate and run the tracks. what is the stretch of line like, do you know? as far as i

understand it the stretch of line just a bit beyond stonehaven heading southis just a bit beyond stonehaven heading south is very twisty and turney, steep hillsides, trees on them, so it is the sort of landscape with a train on the tracks running that could be susceptible to a landslip after heavy rain but i have to emphasise we have no details of that confirmed but the pictures look like the train is down on cutting. can you give us a sense of the safety record of the uk rail industry? the best in europe is the simple bottom—line. there hasn't been a train accident in which a passenger

has died for many, many years. i think it is over ten years. you have to go back to 2007 i think to find the last fatal accident involving a passenger, so i really hope that is not what we are going to hear today, but againi not what we are going to hear today, but again i am in no position to confirm or otherwise. we will leave it there. thank you. i appreciate details are still sketchy but you have given us some important information. i would also like to bring you news that nicola sturgeon the first minister has just tweeted this is an extremely serious incident. i have had an initial report from network rail and the emergency services and am being kept updated. all my thoughts are with those involved. philip hague suggesting this may have been an early morning passenger train

travelling from aberdeen to glasgow. we understand that some people are suggesting, philip was, and i were correspondent, that there may be some suggestion of the fact that the derailment might have been caused by a landslip. at the minute we are still trying to establish what the weather conditions were like that in scotla nd weather conditions were like that in scotland in stonehaven this morning. the first minister nicola sturgeon has tweeted this is an extremely serious incident. we know the local mp has said he has spoken to grant shapps the transport minister, who is liaising with network rail scotla nd is liaising with network rail scotland and scotrail about the derailment. he has said that thoughts are with every single person involved. we will update more

when i can. he hasjust tweeted. i think we can speak to our correspondent ben philip who was at the scene a little earlier. there has been a major emergency service response. they are dealing with a report from police scotland about a train derailment near stonehaven. the initial report was received at 940 this morning and we arejust around received at 940 this morning and we are just around four miles from stonehaven railway station. emergency services are continuing to arrive here at the scene. around 30 vehicles including an air ambulance and smoke is coming from the tree area behind me which is where the railway track runs. it is not clear at there have been any injuries but this is still very much an ongoing investigation. then phillips centres

that update earlier. we are hoping to speak to him for a live update shortly. we will bring you more information as we get it. students around the world have been getting their exam results, but there's controversy here in england less than 24 hours before a—levels are due to be published. ministers have moved to avert a backlash by telling pupils unhappy with their grades that they may be able to use their mock exam results instead. the education secretary, gavin williamson, has announced what he called a "safety net" for a—level, b—tech and gcse students unhappy with their official grades. the triple—lock means pupils can accept the grade they get, based on teacher estimations, or their school can opt to use mock exam results for all their pupils, or students can instead choose to take the exam in the autumn. the house of commons education select

committee chairman, robert halfon, told bbc news he fears the government's proposals will favour the sharp elbowed and well heeled. head teachers have attacked the last—minute change from ministers as "panicked and chaotic" and warn it will lead to "massive inconsistency" in the way grades are awarded. it comes after ministers in scotland had to apologise before announcing an upgrade in results. our education correspondent dan johnson reports. with exam halls standing silent this summer, the life chances of a generation were instead to be determined by estimated grades, awarded by teachers but then moderated, standardised and potentially downgraded. listen to the worries of those who are expecting their results tomorrow. my biggest fears are that the grades i get will not be a representation of what i would have been capable of, had i sat the exams. because i'm not applying to university and having a gap year, that means i have limited

opportunities and next year's universities will not take me in. my independent ability is going to be underestimated by the standardisation method. what do we want? fairgrades! scottish students protested after 75,000 had their results downgraded last week. when it became clear the poorest were hit hardest, the man in charge apologised and reinstated the original estimates. we set out to ensure the system was fair, we set out to ensure it was credible, but we did not get it right for all young people. before i go any further, i want to apologise for that. it makes a big difference going forward because i can focus on schoolwork this year and university, rather than being doubtful of my results in the past. it's really motivated me for this year. and with that putting scottish results overall up 14% on last year, there were calls for the same

to apply to students in the rest of the uk. the u—turn from the scottish government absolutely shows us the system was flawed and was further entrenching education inequality and it was the right move. i hope to see that reflected across the uk. last night, officials in northern ireland promised broader grounds for appeal. students in england will now face three choices — sticking with the estimated moderated grade awarded tomorrow, sitting an exam in the autumn or appealing to get the results from their mock exams instead. these are major last—minute changes, further complicating a pivotal moment for so many young people who already face difficult decisions, clouded by uncertainty. dan johnson, bbc news. the coronavirus pandemic has now officially pushed the uk

into recession for the first time in more than a decade. figures published by the office for national statistics today show that uk economic output as measured by gross domestic product plunged by a record 20.4% between april and june. the ons says the uk economy bounced back injune as government restrictions on movement started to ease. but the data indicates the slump is one of the biggest among advanced economies, according to preliminary estimates. within europe, the spanish economy is the most similar to the uk with a fall of 18.5% between april and june. france, germany and italy's figures are all much lower. here, the shadow chancellor, anneliese dodds, decribed the deep economic slump as a tragedy — and the chancellor, rishi sunak, said the figures confirmed that hard times were here. what we are grappling with is something that is unprecedented. we don't have a playbook for how to deal with it. that's why i think we should have

some humility about our ability to precisely predict the economy, or know exactly what the right policy response is. which is why i've been prepared to put aside ideology and dogma, at the beginning of this crisis, and do what i believed was right to protect people's jobs, their incomes and businesses, through what is an unprecedented and difficult time. and i think we have done that. our plan forjobs that we outlined last month was a significant set of announcements to support, protect and create jobs across the united kingdom, whether it is our kick—start scheme to support young people who are particularly badly affected by this, new incentives for apprenticeships, or the eat out to help out initiative, to protect two million jobs in hospitality. we are going to do everything we can to protect people's jobs in what is a very difficult and uncertain time. let's speak to the shadow chancellor anneliese dodds.

thank you forjoining us. we are in the middle of the global pandemic of course and as rishi sunak said it is an unprecedented and difficult time. iam sure an unprecedented and difficult time. i am sure you will not disagree with that. wasn't the size of the contraction in the economy inevitable? it was certainly inevitable? it was certainly inevitable unfortunately that we would see some kind of a recession. as you mentioned we have seen that across the eu. we have seen it across the eu. we have seen it across the eu. we have seen it across the g7. what is particularly concerning about today's figures is the underline that with the health response, we are very the underline that with the health response, we are very sadly the uk has the highest level of excess deaths in europe, we seem to be experiencing the deepest recession in europe as well, worse than other, of course we have left the eu, but worse than all the eu countries. that indicates we are having a

particularly ha rd that indicates we are having a particularly hard challenge in the uk and it suggests the policies that have been put in place are not correcting the enormous challenges that they face sufficiently. we have not seen a strong enough bounce back in the uk and we really need one. are you suggesting that the depth of the recession could have been avoided and if so how?” the recession could have been avoided and if so how? i think we need to look first of all at the ons analysis of this, the statistics authority, they point to the nature of the lockdown measures. labour has said that we entered the lockdown too late. we have also taken too long to get into place bad taste, track and isolate machinery that has been operating effectively in other countries and we have pointed to solutions to try to get that system fixed but that seems to be having a

long—term dragon confidence in the uk economy. we still have very large numbers of people saying they are not confident going into different business premises. of course a number of them are so close but for those that are open we need to be seeing a situation where people feel confident going back into them but we also have to be facing up to the fa ct we also have to be facing up to the fact this is impacting on places that are still closed, where there is the capacity restrictions, it is hitting them much harder than the rest of the economy, which means three dell might need much more tailored support. we need to have targeted financial backing and we have not had that sufficiently yet from the conservative government and we need it and until we have that we will continue to see potentially a deeper recession in the uk than in other countries. having said that, and you have been mentioning the

office for national statistics, they are seeing gdp rose by 8.7% injune, is that not a cause for optimism? of course it is incredibly important that it rises. that was following the very extreme lockdown measures which were necessary for public health reasons that were applied before. if we hadn't seen an increase in gdp i would have been deeply concerned. the problem however is that the increase we have seen has not been sufficient to cancel out the very big reductions in gdp that we saw previously. this isa in gdp that we saw previously. this is a question of whether we are seeing that so—called bounce back effect or not. we are seeing economies in other nearby countries recovering more quickly than they are in the uk. that is of deep concern because it suggests that just as with the health response where the uk has been an outlier we are becoming an outlier on economic

response as well. shadow chancellor, thank you very much forjoining us. iam going i am going to take you back to the news that the train has derailed in the north—east of scotland. the rmt has said they are aware of a major incident at stonehaven and reps are liaising directly at senior level with scotrail and network rail. our priority at this time is to support our members, their colleagues and theirfamilies our members, their colleagues and their families and to do all that we can to assist the rescue operation, which rmt members are currently involved in. the facts behind this incident will need to be established in due course but at this stage we are focused on support and assistance and our thoughts are with all those impacted by this tragedy.

our news correspondent ben philip is near the scene. what more can you tell us? there has been a major emergency service response here in aberdeenshire. the scottish fire and rescue service confirmed it is dealing with a report from police scotland about a derailed train near stonehaven. the initial report was received at 9:40am this morning were around four miles from stonehaven emergency vehicles are continuing to arrive here at the scene. there are around 30 vehicles including an air ambulance and a coastguard helicopter. as we are speaking another helicopter is circling above. they are packed in a field around 300 metres from where i am standing. smoke can be seen coming

out of the tree line in front of me where the railway track runs. we cannot actually see the train data access restrictions but the smoke continues to billow out of that area. it is not clear if there has been any injuries on what the cause of this incident is. there was some severe weather here in the early hours of this morning with heavy rainfall and thunderstorms with some disruption to rail services. in the last few minutes the first minister nicola sturgeon has tweeted that this is an extremely serious incident and she had an initial report from network rail and the emergency services are being kept updated and all thoughts are with those involved. of course this is a very early stage of investigations and it is a rapidly developing situation. we are hoping to hear an update shortly. do we have any sense

of whether this was a passenger train ora of whether this was a passenger train or a freight train? i was talking to someone in the rail industry a little earlier who said there is an early—morning train that passes through stonehaven travelling from aberdeen to glasgow. we haven't had that confirmed yet, but as you say this is the main track that heads south of aberdeen through stonehaven. we have not had a sighting of the train from where we are currently standing. we are waiting for confirmation on that, whether it was a passenger train or a freight train, as you say. all i can say is at the moment there is still an extremely large emergency service response here in front of me, multiple ambulances, the air ambulance helicopter, coastguard helicopter, multiple police cars and fire engines, quite a serious situation, and in the last three

minutes we have been pushed back from the cordon to allow emergency vehicles to get access to the road. we are in a very rural area of aberdeenshire, country roads around here are very aberdeenshire, country roads around here are very narrow aberdeenshire, country roads around here are very narrow roads and emergency service vehicles have been rushing to the field then these narrow roads and in some small farm tracks and parking in a field around 300 metres from where i am standing. ican 300 metres from where i am standing. i can still see the smoke coming from the trees. a short moment to the smoke turned very black but it seems emergency services are trying to get control of the situation and get to the bottom of what happened. as you are talking we are watching the latest pictures that have come into us from bbc news. we are seeing a large number of emergency vehicles, the air ambulance, as you have been suggesting, arriving at

the scene and smoke billowing over the scene and smoke billowing over the tops of the tree tops which the line cuts through. as you said this isa line cuts through. as you said this is a very rural area, country roads, a stretch of line, it is also from the pictures that we are looking at at the moment clearly a fine bright day but weather conditions are different overnight. you also mentioned the first minister of scotla nd mentioned the first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon already tweeting about the very serious situation that is happening there. the transport secretary grant shapps has also treated, just met urgently with network rail for has also treated, just met urgently with network railfor a briefing on stonehaven derailment, british transport police and network rail are on location along with their workers who were nearby. we are

going to leave it there for now but thank you and bring us any more news as soon as you get it. in the meantime we can speak to our correspondent. stonehaven is served by scotrail trains heading north to aberdeen and south to edinburgh and glasgow. what more do you know about that line and that stretch of track? it isa that line and that stretch of track? it is a main line, as we have been hearing, that runs through a very rural area, which is obviously something of a challenge for the emergency services. the focus at this point is obviously to get the emergency services and deal with any casualties. we have no idea at this stage what casualties there may or may or may not be. beyond that there will be an investigation process and

we know that an inspector from the office of rail and road, the rail regulator, is already travelling up to the scene, the rail accident investigation branch in farmborough will be becoming involved if it is as major and incident as it seems to be they will be sending an on—site team. british transport police will also be involved so even at this stage where the emphasis is very much in dealing with any casualties attention will be turning to what actually happened, ensuring that the greatest amount of information can be gained at the earliest possible opportunity. while you have been speaking, scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon has said that there have been a number of serious injuries from best train derailment and that a major incident has been declared. the local mp has said the local hospital has declared a major

incident. he told the pa news agency it is obviously a terrible situation, a train derailment, the emergency services, as you have been saying, and as we have been seeing, are on the scene. that is the latest news, that there are a number of serious injuries, and it appears to be the early morning passenger train was travelling from aberdeen to glasgow, but actually on uk trains the safety record is very good, isn't it? it is an excellent safety record. a remarkably safe industry, which is why we remember the really big accident such as clapham junction or ladbroke grove because they are isolated by their rarity and what we can hope for in the situation is although it was a passenger train you have to remember at the moment the rail network is

being used relatively lightly because of the lockdown so hopefully there were fewer passengers on the train then you would normally expect to have and that may help keep the casualty level lower than it might otherwise have been although we are hearing reports of severe casualties and it is clearly a major incident. we are also hearing that the weather may have been a factor in the sand we know there was stormy weather overnight and there may have been a landslide. we are still getting the information as it comes in but hopefully the fact that there would have been fewer people on the train and there might have been under more normal circumstances will be a mitigating factor. the rail network most of the time is incredibly safe and serious accidents are fortu nately very and serious accidents are fortunately very rare indeed. thank you for that. if you are just joining us, a reminder of the news that a major incident has been declared in scotland after each train derailed in aberdeenshire.

fire service, police, ambulance service are at the senior stonehaven. they were called around to ten this morning. smoke seen billowing from the track and scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon has said there are a number of serious injuries. the us democratic presidential candidate, joe biden, has chosen the california senator — and one—time rivalfor hisjob — karmala harris as his running mate for november's election. ms harris is the first black woman — her father is jamaican and her mother is indian — on a major presidential ticket in us history. our correspondent barbara plett—usher joins us now. why has joe biden why hasjoe biden made this choice?

for a number of reasons. diversity is one of them. it is pretty clear the democratic party in the country doesn't look all that much likejoe biden, an old white man, and his choice needed to reflect that, especially of the back of those protests for racial equality we have been seeing in the past month, and kamala harris has political experience and she ticks that box. although she is a historic choice she is a safe choice because she has a pragmatic moderate, she has been nationally vetted in a way because she ran to become the presidential candidate in those primaries over the past year so if there had been a dinosaur in her closet it would have come out by now presumably so that makes her less of a potential target for the republicans who will try to target her anyway of course. she can be his attack dog. she is a former prosecutor who has shown she has the capacity to grill trump administration officials during her time in congressional committees and

that will be a very valuable commodity on the campaign trail. the key factor is she really could be president. well, that certainly has beenin president. well, that certainly has been in people's mines, asjoe biden has been thinking about who he will call for his running mate. he would be the oldest president ever elected in the united states. he has indicated it is not unlikely he would only serve for one term if he was president. his vice president could have to step into his shoes during that time, in which case you would have the first female president, not only the first female black president but the first female president in the united states, and its joe president in the united states, and itsjoe biden president in the united states, and its joe biden decides president in the united states, and itsjoe biden decides not to run in 2020 for his vice president would be the frontrunner for the democratic presidential pick so all of those things have been running through peoplelike minds as they looked at who he would be packing for his

running mate, not just who he would be packing for his running mate, notjust his partner inafirst running mate, notjust his partner in a first term but also beyond that. we will leave it there. thank you. we will bring you more on that major incident declared in scotland inafew major incident declared in scotland in a few moments. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. hello. the heatwave continues for another few days yet. we've already had five consecutive days with temperatures over 34 celsius. today could bring us the sixth day. it's going to feel hot and humid and there'll be some scattered showers and thunderstorms on the cards, too. thunderstorms already caused flooding issues across parts of eastern scotland. most of those showers are clearing away, but through the day elsewhere, we'll see some scattered showers and thunderstorms. they will be hit and miss — we won't all see them. temperatures will reach the low, possibly the mid 30s once again down towards the southeast — the mid 20s further north. as we move through tonight, then, more heavy showers and thunderstorms, particularly across parts of southern and southwestern england, into wales as well. another tropical night likely in the south with temperatures not falling below around 20 degrees.

hot and humid further north, too. through the day tomorrow, we've still got the humidity with us. quite a lot of low cloud and mistiness, especially around the northeast. further heavy showers and thunderstorms, especially in the south. and top temperatures probably just below 30 degrees. bye— bye. hello, this is bbc news with rebecca jobes. the headlines: emergency services are on the scene after a train derailed in aberdeenshire. it's not year clear if there are any injuries. students in england may be able to use their mock exam scores if they're unhappy with their a—level grades, ahead of results being released tomorrow. the uk is officially suffering its biggest recession on record. the fall in output caused by the coronavirus pandemic is on course to be one of the worst among major economies. senator kamala harris makes history after she's named asjoe biden's presidential running mate — the first black woman to be

a candidate for vice—president. as new zealand's largest city is put back into lockdown, experts investigate whether coronavirus could have re—entered the country through freight shipments. let's return now to news of that major incident near stonehaven, where a train has derailed. we are bringing you pictures of the scene. let me tell you what we know. we know that multiple emergency services are at the scene, at stonehaven, which is in aberdeenshire, north—east scotland, after this train derailed there. now, the fire service, police and ambulance went to the scene at about 9:45am, you can see the air

ambulance arriving there, smoke seen billowing from the train on the track in the countryside. nicola sturgeon, scotland's first minister, says a major incident has been declared and has talked about a number of serious injuries. our correspondent ben philip is at the scene, he gave us this update. as you can see, there has been a major emergency service response here in aberdeenshire, they started fire and rescue service say they are dealing with a report from a train derailment near stonehaven. initial report was received at 9:40am, around four miles from stonehaven railway station. emergency services are continue to arrive at the scene, around 30 vehicles including an air ambulance. as you can see, smoke is still coming from the tree area behind me which is where the railway

track runs. it is not clear if i have been any injuries, but as you can see there is very much ongoing investigation. our correspodnent ben philip at the scene. a scottish air ambulance spokesperson has said, we currently have multiple resources in attendance at this train derailment near stonehaven, you can see some of them that in the pictures that you are watching with me, including six ambulances, special operations response teams, air ambulance, patient transport vehicles and the emergency service. scotland boss mike first minister has said that there are a number of serious injuries and the local mp has said that the local hospital has declared

an major incident. he told the news agency it is obviously terrible situation, a train derailment. i am aware that aberdeen royal infirmary has declared a major incident. we understand, although this has not been confirmed, that this was a passenger train, an early—morning passenger train, an early—morning passenger train, an early—morning passenger train travelling from aberdeen to glasgow. it is quite a twisty, turn a bit of track heading south at this point in stonehaven and there have been some unconfirmed reports on some sort of a landslide. you are watching these pictures with me, saying the smoke billowing over the landscape. the weather at this point looks fine and dry, but there are reports that there had been wet

weather earlier on and indeed the local mp had been surveying flood damage near the area in the last few days. but as i say, we don't know if thatis days. but as i say, we don't know if that is connected. the local mp had beenin that is connected. the local mp had been in stonehaven surveying the flood damage earlier and he said this morning that the situation was really bad, that the main river which flows through it had burst its banks are not the heavy rain had caused flooding in the centre of stonehaven and notts of the side streets leading off it, but he added that the water receded very quickly, the river peaked and had gone down. he has said, possibly making a link with wet weather, none of us expected that to be such a serious

incident as a rail derailment at the same time. but itjust goes to show how damaging the bad weather can be. he added, i don't think speculation is helpful at this time, we obviously don't know why the derailment took place, but we have suffered what he is described as terrible weather here. a spokesman, a spokesperson for nhs grampian has said, we can confirm we are on a major incident fitting following an incident involving a train near stonehaven. we have well rehearsed protocols and procedures for dealing closely with such incidents. you are watching these pictures with me of the area in stonehaven, where

there's derailment had taken place. in the past few minutes, scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has been speaking about the incident during first minister's questions. a scot rail passenger train derailed earlier this morning. the emergency services are currently on site and a major incident has been declared. i have just come off a call with network rail and emergency services and although details are still emerging, iam and although details are still emerging, i am a fate to say that there are over early reports of serious injuries. the scotland residents from its operation and i will be doing a meeting with partner organisations as soon as possible this afternoon. updates will be provided as they become available. however, my immediate thoughts and i'm sure the thoughts of everyone across the chamber i with all those involved in this incident. the first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon declaring that a

major incident is happening over the stonehaven train incident, as he had, she said the deaths are still imagining there are —— she said details are still emerging, there are reports of serious injuries. in are reports of serious injuries. in a moment, we will be answering your questions on the changes to gcse and a—level grades. that's with freddie whittaker, chief reporter and political editor at schools week and sian griffiths, education editor at the sunday times. but first let's speak to mia cleal—bramley, who's just finished her a levels and is worried about her results tomorrow. mia, what concerns do you have? what are you expecting? i took my marks in around february, march, andi i took my marks in around february, march, and i expected them to be marks, a dry run before the real

thing around now. —— mocks. i have done everything that i possibly can to ensure i get the best results that i can get, something that reflects my ability as a student in all my subjects. and when the government announced the exams were cancelled, this put me in a high street of distress, a lot of frustration and worried about my grades —— make a high state of distress. so much uncertainty about how they have been calculated, how they have been moderated and then you hear all this hearsay about how it has been moderated and with postcodes and all the rest of it. today, certainly, there is a high level of stress going about my mind and a lot of worry about tomorrow. ican and a lot of worry about tomorrow. i can actually imagine and i'm sure anybody listening will be able to understand as well. what went through your mind when you perhaps woke up this morning and discovered

the changes that had been announced, what seemed a bit like the 11th hour? exactly. because it is so last minute, likei hour? exactly. because it is so last minute, like i said, i was very worried because my mocks, i had treated them as far and i did not expect them to have that much impetus in my results. soi impetus in my results. so i had them as a way for me to understand where i'm sort of needing assistance and help and better ways to revise. when i woke up this morning and had not mocks could be used as a back—up, but did not put me in relief at all, a bit more panic into my head. i understand, what would be a better solution for you? i think, i feel that predicted grades, whilst

obviously they have to be moderated so that nobody plays silly with them, i think they are a good estimation of where students are at because the teacher, they have taught them for two years, they understand their work ethic, they understand their work ethic, they understand their work ethic, they understand their understanding of the course, they understand the stu d e nts the course, they understand the students as an individual and they can forecast the students' potential in the exam, in the final exam that is. i think predicted grades, whilst moderated, were a good system of understanding. we have got to leave it there, it won't make any difference to you if i say try not to worry, but i think we can all understand distress you must be feeling at the moment. thank you so much for talking to on bbc news. thank you.

now on bbc news — it's time for your questions answered and you've been sending us your questions on the changes to gcse and a—level grades. we may not be able to get through as many of the questions as we had had hope to biggest news of the major train derailment in scotland. we will attempt to answer as many of them as we can. we're joined by freddie whittaker, chief reporter and political editor at schools week and sian griffiths, education editor at the sunday times. thank you forjoining us. let's start with the first question, which comes from twitter. how can the government use mock grades as an alternative when students do not give the effort and sometimes know the questions? students to further

learning to correct the mock grades and so the mocks would not be a true representation of the student. this is following the news that the government announced light last night that students may be able to say that they want to appeal and say they want their exams graded on the mock results. what do you of the question? i think it is a good question, it makes fair points. the whole thing about mock exams is not normally a—level and gcse students sit them around christmas time, sometimes january, several months before they said the real thing, the papers in the summer, they said they did not sit any exams at all. the usual thing with mocks is the grades are usually much lower or to a certain extent lower tha n usually much lower or to a certain extent lower than the candidates would have got when they sat the exams in the summer because they are, they sort of practice papers really and you look at those grades and you think, this is what i need to learn so i do better in the

summer. it is absolutely right that mock grades are not likely to be a true reflection of a candidate's ability if they had sat those exams in the summer several months later. nevertheless, what the government has now said if you're mock grades we re has now said if you're mock grades were better in the grades that are going to be issued tomorrow, using the sort of computer model, then your school can appeal on your behalf and ask that you be given the mock grades instead. so that has a sort of, you know, you come out tomorrow and you think, no, i have got three bs, but in my mocks i got ana and got three bs, but in my mocks i got an a and two bs. it does not com pletely an a and two bs. it does not completely resolve a difficult situation but it is the step on the right direction. freddie, there is a specific question here which i think is very interesting, it has come in via

e—mail. her daughter is expecting gcs grades next week, with the new change proposed by the government, if she is disappointed with one subject's great, let's say english for example, can she choose to go with that subject's mock result or will she have to take all her mock grades as herfinal will she have to take all her mock grades as her final grades? so, the guidance that has been put out on this states that the whole mock exam grade process will be done through the appeals process, this is not something that is automatically applied for one or any subject, it's not something that can be automatically applied by the school, the student must ask the school appeal on their behalf. that is the thing that will be worked out in these conversations with the school because it is up to the school to do

that on behalf at the students. i would say the first port of call is to speak to the school on results day about where they want to go. appeals can be for individual students, individual subjects or whole cohorts of students on certain subjects. these schools will be managing that sort of thing. i do not think there will be any need for someone to have all of the results based on a mock that it will be up to them and the school. asi to them and the school. as i say, we do not have as much time asi as i say, we do not have as much time as i would like to, we have so many questions. what happens, this is from twitter, if you have an offer that medicine and you miss your grades, this is back to a levels, they are not holding office until 2021, are we expected to reapply and retake you cat and do the a—levels in the autumn? that is another good question. the

government has asked universities to try and hold office open for students, if a student the cms as their offer by one grade to accept them anyway. i think it is asking middle school schools to do that as well, even asking oxford and cambridge to do that —— make i think it is asking medical schools to do that as well. oxford is minded to be lenient, even if you do miss are great when you get your results tomorrow, it is d eftly get your results tomorrow, it is deftly worth feigning up the university, your first choice, including medical schools and asking them to take you anyway. if they will not, yes, you would have to reapply is my understanding for some universities and that would mean going through the whole process again next year. thank you both to

my gas. so sorry we haven't got —— thank you both to my guests, so sorry we haven't got more time. thank you to everyone who got in touch with their questions. back to that major incident in north east scotland where a train has derailed near stonehaven. borisjohnson hasjust given his reaction saying on twitter, i am saddened to learn of the very serious incident in aberdeenshire and my thoughts are with all of those affected. my thanks to the emergency services at the scene. more on that as we get it. the top ten highest earning actors in the world took home just over one half a billion dollars combined last year according to the latest figures from forbes.

the streaming giant, netflix, was responsible for a lot of that money, paying over a quarter of those wages to film stars as paul hawkins reports. dwayne "the rock" johnson — officially the highest—paid actor in the world last year, according to forbes. no wonder he looks so happy! in the last 12 months tojune, he pocketed $88 million. a quarter of that was from netflix, just over $23 million for his role as an interpol agent in the film red notice. how did i get here? by being the hardest worker in the room! while his sportswear brand under armor also boosted earnings. ryan reynolds is second on the list with $72 million — $20 million for red notice and $20 million for six underground, both made by netflix, who also made mark wahlberg's action—comedy spenser confidential. no surprise then that marky mark is third on the list, with $58 million. in fact, netflix is responsible

for 25% of the total earnings of last year's top ten highest—paid actors, cementing itself as a big rival to the traditional film studios, many of which have suffered because of covid—related cinema closures, while online streaming has boomed with many of us in lockdown. adam sandler only made one film last year, called murder mystery, but because it was for — you guessed it — netflix, he still made it into the top ten, number nine, with $41 million. actor akshay kumar is the only bollywood star, with $49 million. as for the highest—earning female actors, the list is yet to be announced but, given last year's top female earner, scarlett joha nsson, earned $33 million less than the top earning actor — dwaynejohnson again — it will be interesting to see if hollywood has closed the gender pay gap. paul hawkins, bbc news.

let us return to news of the train derailment at stonehaven in the aberdeenshire in scotland. let me remind you what we know so far. we know that emergency services were alerted to that derailment at around 9:45am. we know that the air ambulance, many other ambulance and fire service and other rescue vehicles are at the scene. our correspondent ben philip is there and he sent us this update. there has been an a major emergency service response here in aberdeenshire. the scotland fire and rescue service say they are dealing with a report from police scotland about a train derailment near stonehaven, the initial report was received at 9:40am. we are four miles from stonehaven railway station. emergency services are continuing to arrive at the scene.

around 30 vehicles, including an air ambulance. smokers still coming from the tree area behind me which is the railway track runs. it is not clear if the half bend any injuries but as you can see, this is very much an ongoing investigation. ben philip who is at the scene. we know that scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon has declared a major incident and she has talked about reports of serious injuries. we know that aberdeen infirmary has also declared a serious incident and, as i say, there are reports of serious injuries. we think the train was an early morning passenger train travelling from aberdeen to glasgow. borisjohnson hasjust travelling from aberdeen to glasgow. borisjohnson has just given travelling from aberdeen to glasgow. borisjohnson hasjust given his reaction, saying on twitter, i am saddened to learn of the very

serious incident in aberdeenshire and my thoughts are with all of those affected. my thanks to the emergency services at the scene. we understand it is a twisty, tiny bit of track through the countryside that you are looking at the with me. it looks like fine weather there at the moment, but it has been very white under has been flooding in the area. much more is that of course —— make it has been very wet the and there has been flooding in the area. much more on the story throughout this afternoon here on bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. hello. it was another uncomfortable night for sleeping last night. it was a tropical night, which means in parts of the south, temperatures didn't fall below 20 degrees all night. and as the heatwave continues, we're likely to see potentially another tropical night this night, it would be the sixth of the year so far. we've also had five consecutive days with temperatures over 34 celsius, which is thought to be unprecedented

in the uk. now, there is a lot of sunshine out. we've also got a bit of mist and fog and low cloud around with all that humidity, moisture in the air. so a hot, humid—feeling day with scattered thunderstorms. we won't all see the showers and thunderstorms — they'll be fairly hit and miss. we had flooding earlier today across parts of eastern scotland. those showers are now going to be gradually easing away towards the north and the east. further heavy showers and thunderstorms bubble up this afternoon across parts of england, wales, as well. northern ireland should stay mostly dry. temperatures across northern ireland and scotland in the low to mid 20s. but across england, wales, 30 degrees likely — we could even see 32 to perhaps 34 celsius, once again, down towards the southeast. into this evening and overnight, further heavy showers and thunderstorms rattle across parts of england and wales. the green colour showing the heavy bursts, but don't take the positioning too literally — they will be fairly hard to pinpoint. once again, temperatures for the likes of cardiff and london staying at about 20 degrees overnight. and further north it is going to feel really warm, humid as well. through the day tomorrow, we've still got humidity,

so quite a lot of low cloud. mist and murk around, too. some sunshine developing, especially across southern and western parts of the uk, but also further heavy showers and thunderstorms — especially across parts of southern england and wales, i think tomorrow, during the afternoon. it won't be quite as hot as recent days. temperatures probably staying just about below 30 degrees, but it will feel hotter than this when you add on the humidity as well. temperatures across scotland and northern ireland in the high teens or low 20s by thursday. looking further ahead into friday, we'll start to see this weather front moving its way in. that's going to bring some unsettled, showery conditions, easterly breeze. so it'll be quite warm, but certainly not quite as hot as it has been over recent days. further heavy showers and thunderstorms, and then things turn gradually fresher as we head through the end of the week and on into the weekend. that's it for now. bye— bye.

a major incident is declared after a train derails in aberdeenshire. dozens of emergency services vehicles including an air ambulance are responding as smoke billows across the countryside. i have just i havejust come i have just come off a car with network rail and emergency services. although details are still emerging, i'm afraid to say there are early reports of serious injuries. we'll be live at the scene. the other stories this lunchtime: students in england may be able to use their mock exam scores if they're unhappy with their a—level grades, in a change announced just ahead of results being released tomorrow. the uk is officially suffering its biggest recession on record. the fall in output caused

by the covid—19 pandemic