developing, some of them becoming heavy infantry with the risk of torrential rain and another hot and humid day. this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. three people, including the driver, die in a train derailment near stonehaven in aberdeenshire. six people were injured. our thoughts are very much with those who've lost their lives, theirfamilies, and of course, those who've been injured in the derailment. on the ticket, joe biden will appear shortly alongside his newly chosen running—mate, kamala harris, to launch their bid for the white house. the suffering of children in beirut after last week's explosion — we have a special report on their trauma. a big fall in the uk's coronavirus death toll, after england changes the way it calculates the daily figures — they've fallen by more than 5,000.

the uk is officially in recession after the economy contracts by more than 20%. the education secretary gavin williamson apologises for the disruption to exams in england after the government makes last—minute changes to the way a—level and gcse results will be decided. good evening. three people have died after a passenger train derailed near stonehaven in aberdeenshire this morning. six others have been taken to hospital. the train was on its way from aberdeen to glasgow when it left the line. 0ne carriage slid down an embankment. it's thought the train may have hit a landslip following bad weather overnight. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports.

the tangled wreckage of the derailed train — one passenger carriage halfway down a bank. another carriage seemingly crushed in the force of the crash. shocking images showing what's left of the early morning service from aberdeen to glasgow. the scale of the incident all too clear. scotland's first minister expressing her shock at the day's events. this is devastating news. this has been a really tragic incident, and my condolences are with the loved ones of three people who have lost their lives — and that includes the driver of the train. clearly, this is an ongoing operation. i have been briefed by network rail and the emergency services on that. but devastating news for the bereaved, but also for those who were on the train, and my best wishes go to those who sustained injuries. the weather overnight was described as "atrocious". around the time of the crash,

network rail published this footage showing how poor conditions were, with lines blocked. heavy rain caused flash flooding in the nearby town of stonehaven. early indications are that the derailment in this rural part of aberdeenshire may have been caused by a landslide. emergency services working through the day to get the injured to hospital and to recover the dead. very sadly, despite the best efforts of paramedics, we can confirm that three people have been pronounced dead at the scene. while formal identification has yet to take place, the driver of the train is very sadly believed to have died. his family have been informed and are being supported by specially—trained officers. the prime minister said his thoughts were with all those affected. one of the reasons this accident is so shocking is, of course, that it is this type of accident on the railways is thankfully so rare. but our thoughts are very much with those who have

lost their lives, their families, and those who have been injured in the derailment. for much of the day, smoke was seen billowing out of the valley below where the wreckage sits. an awful indicator of the force of what happened. an investigation into what caused the first derailment in over a decade is now under way. lorna gordon, bbc news, aberdeenshire. what a challenging environment for the rescue this morning this afternoon. 0ur correspondent lorna gordon is at the scene. do we know where the investigation will be focused? i think it's likely that a very big focus of this investigation will be on what part the weather played. it was truly appalling weather in this part of scotla nd appalling weather in this part of scotland overnight, there was thunder and lightning between 6—10 a.m. this morning and 79 mm of rain

fell. they'll be looking to see if indeed there was a landslide here that caused the train to derail and, if it was the sheer weight of water falling from the skies that caused that landslide to happen. but in make no mistake, this is a very difficult place for those investigators to work in. in the last hour, we have seen those investigators turn up and we are told they will be working through the night, but they'll have to walk through the fields to get to that cutting behind me. it is very remote and difficult to get to, we've seen them bring in floodlights as well, and we expect them to work through the night. british transport police say that unfortunately, —— fortu nately, say that unfortunately, —— fortunately, this was not a busy service. aberdeenshire is still in lock down after a recent covid—i9 outbreak, so it was not a busy service. they believe all passengers are accounted for but, once the site has been made safe, they'll do a

full search of the wreckage just to make sure. and they've said that might take some time. thank you so much. in the next few hours, joe biden, will appear alongside his new running—mate, kamala harris, as together they launch the democratic bid for the white house. the california senator is the first black and asian american woman to be nominated for a presidential ticket by a major party. ms harris tweets they are in a battle for the soul of the nation, but a battle they can win. the pairface donald trump in the general election in november, in the two are set to appear together at a campaign event in a few hours and wilmington, delaware. here she is leaving her home in washington to drive to the venue. she didn't speak to reporters as she left — her life is clearly set to change quite a lot in the coming months.

meanwhile, donald trump has added more to his response to ms harris being chosen asjoe biden's running mate. in a tweet, he wrote... let's speak now to capri cafaro, who is the former democratic leader of the ohio state senate and a lecturer at american university's school of public affairs. good to have you with us. thank you so good to have you with us. thank you so much. just reading that tweet there donald trump, "she's the kind of candidate you drink mud." what is the real thinking in the white house? usually when donald trump tweets that out, he's trying to deflect. -- candidate you dream of. kamala harris is someone who's been generally vetted by the american public because she ran in the 2020 democratic presidential primary. so people are familiar with her, she

was an incredible debater on the stage through the primary process, and also has proven herself as a very formidable prosecutor not only as attorney general in california, but really utilising her prosecutorial skills in her role as united states editor, in the senate judiciary committee, and including hearings about the impeachment of donald trump —— united states senator. so i would surmise that this is part of trump's shtick, he likes to throw bombs, and i think it is probably reflective of the fact that they are getting a little bit nervous. well, he didn't always think she was a hopeless candidate, he backed her when she ran for attorney general in california in 2013 secular that's right, trump and his daughter, ivanka, have both donated harris‘s campaign to be attorney general. so donald trump

has been known to play both sides of the aisle as a businessman. who knows what's behind this? he's also known to be very mercurial, so that was seven years ago — who knows, there's always a lot of difference in donald trump's opinions from mood to moment. the one thing she is is young — she's 55! the other three in the race are old — white, old men. that must be something that goes in her favour, surely? absolutely. of the united states is changing demographically significantly. we are becoming a much more diverse population with a growing amount of black and brown individuals throughout our nation with changes in our immigration patterns. so i think it is refreshing for a lot of americans to see someone on the ticket as someone is a vice

presidential nominee who is not only female, but a female person of colour on the backdrop of a lot of discussions that this country has had regarding race in the wake of the murder of george floyd back in june. as you mentioned, she is 55, so june. as you mentioned, she is 55, so while she's experienced as a prosecutor and elected official, she's also almost 30 years the junior ofjoe biden. and i think that, because joe biden junior ofjoe biden. and i think that, becausejoe biden will be the old est that, becausejoe biden will be the oldest individual nominated for president of the united states in oui’ president of the united states in our history, the age of his running mate is very important, but also her ability to do the job on day one. and i think that that is something at the top of the mind of vice president biden. there was an article today i believe in the financial times that actually talked about kamala harris being positioned to bea about kamala harris being positioned to be a co—governing individual with joe biden — and i think that's

really howjoe biden made this decision, looking for someone who could really govern side by side with him. always good to get your thoughts, thank you very much for that. thank you. let's get more on this with daniel lippman, a white house reporter at politico. 0ne one of the reasons why hillary clinton lost in 2016 was because the african—american vote stayed home. is it enough for kamala harris to be the black candidate, or does she need to say something in the next 2-3 need to say something in the next 2—3 months to bring that vote out in november? well, she'll say a lot of things over interviews, even some public appearances, although you won't see those big rallies. but she's going to try to get as many african—american voters out to the polls to vote for her and joe biden, but also get young people, progressives — get people that like that she's a woman, she would be the first woman in one of those two top

offices. so she will be busy from 6am to midnight every day until election day. i look at your morning bulletin every day and you have a poll out at the moment with morning console. 19% of black voters believe the country's going in the right direction, 8% approve of the job donald trump is doing. so he has real problems with african—american voters. and you asked in your morning bulletin today, "does the choice of harris force team trump to ta ke choice of harris force team trump to take a more serious look at removing vice president pentz from the ticket? " you really think that is happening? it would be almost unprecedented in american history, and it would show vast weakness which trump does not like to project. it would also her trunk among evangelical voters that he

really needs to help out —— it would also hurt trump. they really don't have a good attack strategy against kamala harris and joe biden, nothing they've tried has worked. they'll try to paint her as the left—wing radical, but she's hardly the avatar of the left, isn't she? she was a prosecutor for 26 years, so of the left, isn't she? she was a prosecutorfor 26 years, so it'll of the left, isn't she? she was a prosecutor for 26 years, so it'll be ha rd prosecutor for 26 years, so it'll be hard for the trump campaign to say she's in favour of defunding the police. so their charge is, the people around the biden campaign are in favour of that. but this is not an aoc type figure — she's pretty moderate compared to how the democratic party is going. what do you expect her to say this afternoon? because the world will be watching this afternoon when she ta kes watching this afternoon when she takes the stand withjoe biden. what do you think she can say that would add to the ticket? well, she will talk about her story, introducing

kamala harris to most americans who weren't paying as much attention to the democratic primary debate. social be talking about what she's donein social be talking about what she's done in political life, and what her vision is for being vice president and for supporting joe biden. so i'm sure there will be lots of talk about the coronavirus pandemic, which is hurt african—americans and many americans in this country. so we will expect to hear some type of version of that. and of course, we will hear from them in the democratic convention. we never talk about money much over here in europe, but fundraising is key over there in the us. and i read that the fundraising after the announcement was insane. so the enthusiasm is a real? it is, they raised 9 million in short order. kamala harris is a pretty good fundraiser herself, so

this is kind of energising the democratic party, so donald trump doesn't have that cash advantage like he did in earlier this year. daniel, thanks very much for those thoughts. that speech is coming up in around an hour of cosmic time, so do stay with us for that. in beirut, unicef is warning that around 80,000 children have been made homeless following last week's devastating explosion. doctors say many are suffering from trauma. the bbc‘s rami ruhayem has been speaking to some of the families affected — and a warning that viewers may in beirut, unicef is warning that around 80,000 children have find some of the footage in his report distressing. this is yara, a quiet 11—year—old who likes to play alone. she was at home with her father when the explosion happened. her mother was out. a week has passed since the blast at the port of beirut sent shards of glass flying into her face and sent her flying down the staircase.

many children have been injured, and many more have gone through moments like this. explosion oh, my god! parents will be wondering how it will impact them now and in later years. this is noor, his father carried him and pushed him under a desk as their home shook after the blast. this woman says her kids no longer sleep in their rooms and keep asking whether this will happen again. she says the blast brought back memories of the civil war that ended three decades ago.

many behaviours will be part of a healthy processing of the event, but separating those from symptoms which require therapy is no easy task. this is st george's hospital, severely damaged by the blast. it houses, or used to house, a prominent mental health ngo which has been focused recently on studying post—traumatic stress disorder amongst syrian refugee children. a memorialforfive nurses who died in the blast. this doctor says the explosion added to lebanon's economic meltdown and covid—19 will affect parents and children alike.

the brain does not forget. the brain says, "wow, you know, life is not safe". beyond the ptsd, you will have increase in depressions and anxiety. and in kids, you'll have lots of impulsivity and irritability. he says parents should look out for strong symptoms, for symptoms that get worse after around a week, or for symptoms that weaken, but linger. but parents will have their hands full and their nerves stretched. schools were meant to be opening soon, but in beirut the blast damaged many of them, and the past few days have seen record covid infections. on every front, the pressure keeps building. rami ruhayem, bbc news. the education secretary, gavin williamson, has apologised for the disruption to education

in england after the government was criticised for making last minute changes to the way a—level and other grades will be decided. the changes to the appeals system have prompted confusion, controversy and dismay. schools might now be able to appeal for an upgrade on the basis of mock exam results. our education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. their generation has had its education turned upside down. in england, he's the man in charge, under pressure on student grades, defending changes made at the last moment. what parents and children would expect is that i do absolutely everything i can, with no stone unturned, to make sure we have a system that is always fair to the child. you've known since march that exams were going to be cancelled. just yesterday, you were saying that the system was good,

and now you're changing it. you make no apology for changes at the last moment? well, what i said, and this goes back months — i apologise to every single child right across the country for the disruption they have had to suffer. he is dealing notjust with cancelled exams but the growing concern over children missing lessons. just to be clear, you have no regrets about how education in england has been handled during this pandemic? branwen, if we had the opportunity... god forbid... what would you do differently? there are many things that we would take a different approach from, because the situation we were dealing with a completely unprecedented set of circumstances. and, you know, where we haven't got everything right, of course, i'm incredibly sorry for that. these a—level students could now appeal using mock exams.

they can resit in the autumn — so are they reassured? as much as i can understand why the government have given that option, i don't feel very reassured by that because mock exams are not standardised tests. you'll make everyone does different mock exams throughout the country. we cannot replace the actual exams with anything 100% the same. putting all together, the teacher assessment will be the closest option we can have. using the mock as an appeal is not an option to me, because i think if i had written the exam i would have had that extra mental preparedness. i would've studied harder. having that option taken away and using the mock is not a good idea. today, labour said generation was being let down. this is a complete fiasco. it was obvious this was going to be difficult, but it's been weeks or months in the coming. to have an 11th—hour decision that

has caused widespread decision amongst people i have spoken to, it smacks of incompetence. students will get a—level results tomorrow, but won't get details of the new appeal system until next week. we want a robust, fair system whereby mock evidence can be brought to bear. we'll be doing that urgently over the next couple of days. in terms of a student getting their results, we hope they will do as in any other year, and move on and be able to take those decisions tomorrow. he's had to deal with one crisis after another. education, a growing political headache for the government. do you feel as though you're fighting for your political survival, given the upheavel there has been in education? i'm fighting for every single child. i'm not just fighting for my own children, but every single child out there. for students, just one more night

of nerve—racking waiting. tomorrow, universities will be competing to offer them places. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. my my school used to sit the hardest exa m ples into my school used to sit the hardest examples into fighting me to do some work. there's a real question mark as to whether this last offer from the government will make things even fairer. i won't talk about my pre—lives in scotland because they weren't good at all. i think what we're seeing is the government quite worried about what's going to come out of tomorrow. they've seen the furore over the way the system operated in scotland and the subsequent fallout from that over the course of a week was up and in the course of a week was up and in the last few days, ministers have been looking at what happened there and frightened themselves. so you are right, there's holes in the system. it's fair to say there would be holes in any system where you

don't have exams, where you're trying to have to do things very differently. but it is also a sign of the way this has been dealt with that today, it is literally the day before at many children in england and other parts of the uk are finding out their results, that we are finding out about this change in the system. it's notjust the change in england. there's been a very similar change announced in northern ireland, and there's been a variant last—minute change in wales too where peepers are told that there results from last year will be used if they didn't get the results they wa nted if they didn't get the results they wanted —— pupils. but we are left in the situation where it feels like the situation where it feels like the government is playing catch up to some of the discontent within the education community. and that's before these results are out — remember the bit that tipped this overin remember the bit that tipped this over in scotland was when you started to hear about children who had got results that bore no

resemblance to what their teachers we re resemblance to what their teachers were suggesting. and it does feel like there will be a number of people tomorrow who are unhappy too. where leave universities? because normally tomorrow is the process where offers are excepted and all this sort of thing. but if there are appeals on mock results or people are sitting an exam in october, it's just so confused, isn't it?|j are sitting an exam in october, it's just so confused, isn't it? i think that's right. one of the complaints we've heard from the university and couege we've heard from the university and college sectors is that they didn't have forewarning before the uk was about to announce for england. we know that one of the options children in england would have if they aren't happy with their results comes back to that point you are making, that they can sit and exam in october. ministers have said if they'll do that, universities should be accommodating. we will watch what how that happens. do stay with us,

we will have the headlines very shortly. hello there. well, we're seeing some severe thunderstorms break out take thunderstorms break out a look thunderstorms break out at the storms developing afternoon look at the storms developing early afternoon across parts of west london first of all. a few big storms working across the midlands and some very nasty storms in across wales as well for us to know those storm clouds look something like this — towering up through the skies as viewed through kent. but they also brought some potential downpours with large hail, gusty winds — that was one of those downpours. right now we've got an amber weather warning in force for torrential rain and some flash flooding across wales and parts of western england. so the main concerns, these batches of storms could bring about 30—a0 mm of rain in the space of one hour. over the

space of a few hours, we could see more than that in some of these fairly slow moving downpours, 70—100 mm of rain. that is extreme rainfall falling in a short space of time as there is the risk of some flash flooding. aside from that severe weather overnight, and by the way there will be some dazzling lightning displays, it will be very humid and warm. we've been used to enduring these conditions overnights, but thursday we have a largely dry picture across northern parts of the uk. high—pressure building in, keeping most showers at bay. throughout the south, another humid day with sunny spells breaking through the cloud, and we will see those downpours become locally torrential through the afternoon and evening time. so england and wales could see some further localised flooding conditions, then we see those temperatures probably pushing towards the 30 celsius mark or so. for friday, quite a lot of cloud on the charts. still human across england and wales, there will be

further heavy downpours, so we aren't out of the woods and we could see some further localised flooding from these storms. some cloud could be low and murky around the coasts, the best of any shelter will give sunshine mainly across northwestern areas. for the weekend, showers will be replaced by more general outbreaks of rain as the beacon goes by. this lack area of low pressure looks at to drift up from the south. either way, it looks cloudy this weekend, feeling with... particularly in the north and west.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. three people — including the driver — die in a train derailment near stonehaven in scotland. six people have also been injured. our thoughts are very much with those who lost their lives, the families and of course those who have been injured in the derailment. on the ticket — joe biden will appear shortly alongside his newly chosen running—mate, kamala harris — to launch their bid for the white house the trauma of children in beirut after last week's explosion — we have a special report on their suffering in the wake of the blast. a big fall in the uk's coronavirus death toll after england changes the way it calculates the daily figures — the total has fallen by more than 5,000.

the uk is officially in recession after the economy contracts by more than 20%. the uk's education secretary gavin williamson apologises for the disruption to exams in england — after the government makes last minute changes to the way a—level and gcse results will be decided. let's get more on our top story this evening — three people are confirmed to have died after a train came off the rails near stonehaven in scotland. the driver of the train is among those killed. it follows widespread storms across scotland last night, with landslips reported in the area where it happened. the uk's prime minister boris johnson offered his sympathy to those affected. one of the reasons this accident is

so shocking, is, of course that is this type of accident on the ra i lwa ys this type of accident on the railways is thankfully so rare. our thoughts are very much with those who lost their lives, their families and of course those who have been injured in the derailment. i talked to the first minister, nicola sturgeon, about what has happened and clearly the most important thing now is that the british transport police who are in charge of the investigation find out exactly what happened, and we all work together with network rail, and anybody else who is responsible to make sure that we get onto it and nothing like this happens again. given that we are expecting thunderstorms in the next few days, with the risk of flash flooding, is there anything the government or any of the rail authorities need to do to try and prevent a repeat of this as we get some really dramatic and extreme weather? i do think it's probably a

very good idea to look at the effect of substantial rainfall on all of our vulnerable infrastructure everywhere, and there was about a months worth of rainfall in a very short period which undoubtedly aggravated the problem there. i think we will have to do is wait and see what's the british transport police come up with, what exactly they identify as the cause of this derailment, and working with network rail, with everybody to make sure that nothing like this happens again. well british transport police say they believe everyone on board the train have now been accounted for. chief inspector brian mcaleese gave this statement earlier today. offices remained on scene this afternoon alongside the evident service, fire brigade and colleagues from police scotland. and a major incident operation has been under way. very sadly, despite the best efforts of paramedics, we can confirm that three people have been pronounced dead at the scene. formal identification has yet to take place, the driver of the train

is very sadly believed to have died. his family have been informed, and are being supported by specially trained officers. officers are continuing to work to inform the families of other people who sadly died. six people have been taken to hospital to be treated for injuries, which thankfully are not believed to be serious. this is a tragic incident, and first and foremost our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have very sadly died this morning. i would like to reassure the public that this was not a busy service. and from cctv inquiries, and witness statements we believe all passengers have been accounted for. however, once it has been made safe and full and thorough search will be conducted, which is likely to take some time. a full and thorough search will be conducted. anybody concerned with friends or family can contact the casualty bureau on 0141775 5122. i know many people will understandably have questions, and investigation will be directed by the crown office and fiscal service.

we will also be working closely with them alongside the rail investigative branch and office of road and rail to establish the full circumstances of how this train came to derail. let's speak now to tony miles who writes for modern railways magazine. it would seem an accident of this kind is pretty unusual. it's very unusualfor kind is pretty unusual. it's very unusual for them to derail so significantly that there's been increasing number of land slips in recent yea rs increasing number of land slips in recent years which are believed to be results of the way that the weather has changed, but in most cases the trends are already driving ina cases the trends are already driving in a cautionary speed or the drivers have time to come to a halt in the most we get is the end of the train may be being derailed. something as horrific as this is very unusual indeed. the rail accident investigation branch has been called m, investigation branch has been called in, where will they start their search for the answers?”

in, where will they start their search for the answers? i think the first thing they will do is look at any first thing they will do is look at a ny cctv first thing they will do is look at any cctv from trains that went through the area yesterday. possibly even earlier train this morning, a train and went on the same line earlier ahead of this train they got through ok, if it had front facing cctv cameras the ability to check to see if there is any movement arty starting and then looking at the way the other land slips train had initially stopped before it reversed back towards aberdeen. having a look at how that developed as well. it does appear also that some records of other work having already been done many years ago but not that long ago in the area to try and stabilise the infrastructure, so obviously looking back at what was done and discovered at that point, and then the black box and strain as well that will enable the investigators to check when the driver put the brakes on, how he reacted to the incident, how the train behaved and things like that. in terms of response how can you

create an early warning system for land slips? i think if we try to do it for the whole of the uk there will be sponsor information but perhaps we will get more clever at looking at the ones that may be more vulnerable to him and looking at some systems that can detect when ground moves. we have systems in place in areas where there could be rock falls where there is there way or that brakes if a rock falls down and breaks it, and so it sends the signals and whether this ground movement sensors to be introduced with the big challenge is to identify where do you put those come if you don't put them on the piece of ground that we know will be safe. as the technology gets better i'm sure the jealous will be involved here and also maybe take a slight more cautious approach. he would get angry when their trains are running slowly because there are high winds or whatever, and this is a driver should just get on with it. well, this is a very stark lesson of while

the railway does notjust get on with it but tries wherever possible to approach things with caution. obviously horrendous weather up there in aberdeen of the last two days from a borisjohnson in the clip you might have heard suggested that we should be looking more at how substantial rainfall and climate change and general effects are infrastructure. would you agree with that? absolutely. things we have learned in recent years were discovered that rail embankments are the protected and the relish and not be being used as part of a defence system either. we need to look very carefully at how infrastructure that's been there for a or more yea rs that's been there for a or more years and has not deteriorated that much in that time is suddenly starting to fall apart, with the climb is doing and ways that we either make sure that we monitor it more carefully or even in some cases rehabilitate or modify it to make sure it can cope with the different weather patterns. thank you for your

thoughts this evening. the latest update on coronavirus data across the uk shows that in the latest 2a hour period — 77 deaths have been reported. that takes the total number of deaths in the uk to 46,706. there were 1,009 new confirmed cases of covid—19 across the uk in the latest 2a hour period. with the average number of new cases each day in the last week standing at 945. 5,000 deaths could soon be wiped from the uk's total coronavirus death tally. a reportjust out says that the daily headline figure of coronavirus deaths for the uk should be reduced from nearly 47,000 tojust over 41,000. here to discuss is our head of statistics, robert cuffe: tell us what has changed. the way that you count deaths in england has been brought into the line with the

way the coronavirus deaths are counted in the rest of the uk. this daily headline figure that you just mentioned, people who died after testing positive for coronavirus and died for any reason. in scotland, northern ireland or wales, if you die more than four weeks after that test, then you are not included. but in england it includes people who died atany in england it includes people who died at any time, so you could get better from coronavirus and died at any time, so you could get betterfrom coronavirus and in died at any time, so you could get better from coronavirus and in three orfour months later get better from coronavirus and in three or four months later get run over by a bus he would be included in the death figures. while the report is suggesting that is changed in the england applies the same 28 day cut off and then if you do that it would wipe about five and a bit thousand deaths of the figure. if you are in hospitalfor deaths of the figure. if you are in hospital for five weeks and intensive care being treated and then you die because of coronavirus you want to be included in the death toll. but the decision that has been made here is clear that you have one simple clear measure that can be

used across the uk. that figure i have given to people, 46,000 would be reduced to around 41,000, how does that affect the uk's standing internationally. it's a fall of around ten or 12% that may change the positions of the leads tables that some people are running but would not qualitatively change the story. england and the uk have the one of the hardest hit countries in europe the matter how you cut the data and the difference between the uk and countries like germany or south korea that has seen very few coronavirus deaths, that's not going to change either. why is it so important? if you look at the deaths that have been reported most recently you can see it makes a big dance to the current trends in the coronavirus figures. a huge difference. were we have been seeing, for example, an average of

about 60 deaths per day recorded in recent weeks that's a much lower under the new measure is the audience can see now, in fact in the week to the 24th ofjuly and brings a number of deaths recorded down by about three quarters, and that's really important now for how we judge this new section of our response to the pandemic, because we have been seeing cases rising. the government are taking measures to control that and there's the debate about the rising case means and what that is. until we see deaths start to rise and people will be a little bit more secure that the rise in cases is not a big deal. it will be debate about whether any luck i measures are justified if the death figures continue to decline and stay so very low as the new figures suggest they would. that's an argument that donald trump makes in the united states. it's a measure thatis the united states. it's a measure that is made in a lot of places, more testing means more cases, like

other measures like hospitalization or deaths to understand what's really going on. they are not a perfect measure of what's going on to me look at excess deaths in the clear picture when this measure leaves the people who die from covid after a long time, but it gives you after a long time, but it gives you a clear pattern of the trends that helps to interpret the cases much more clearly. across western europe. in france cases have nearly doubled in the past 24 hours. 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 14 people have died. the spike in cases has led to the paris marathon being cancelled. it was originally due to take place on april but was postponed to november. the organisers said they had felt obliged to call it off because of the difficulties faced by runners.

spain is facing the worst coronavirus infection rate in western europe. it recorded 1,418 new infections in its latest daily count on tuesday. the country has more than 326,000 cases — the highest number in western europe and the 11th highest in the world. germany has recorded its biggest daily increase in cases for more than three months. the latest official figures show a rise of more than 1,200 infections in the past 24 hours. the health ministry said it was due to people returning from holidays, but also parties and family gatherings. and facemask—wearing is now compulsory in all public spaces in brussels in belgium. it previously applied largely to indoor spaces. there are some exceptions, including for children under 12, and those doing sport. the uk has fallen into its largest recession on record because of the coronavirus lockdown

— contracting by more than 20% between april and june — in the biggest slump of any major global economy. the services sector was worst affected. the recession — defined by six months in a row of falling output — is the first since the 2008 financial crash. the chancellor rishi sunak said the figures confirmed that hard times were here and many more people were expected to lose theirjobs. here's our economics editor faisal islam. this is a recession like no other. the consequence of having to shut the economy down, the result is an unprecedented hit — the hope that it proves to be short lived. at this somerset outdoor events manufacturer, what remains of dozens of music sports and cultural events that never occurred. this shed would normally be completely empty at this time of year. recovery here, far from assured. it's heartbreaking. march, april, may time, it was really rough.

we try and stay positive, but for some of our staff, they couldn't stay with us longer term now, it's horrible. a fall of over 20% isn'tjust a record, but it's off all historical scales. the last recession, the great financial crisis of 2008/9 saw a worse three—month fall ofjust over 2%. go back the entire history of official calculations and there's never been a fall bigger than 3%. i said that hard times were coming and what today's numbers show is that hard times are here. hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their job and, sadly, many more will. in june, the economy did bounce back a bit, making up about a third of the shutdown slump. that can be seen here in bath, where only some of the lost international tourism has been replaced by domestic tourists, tempted out by the chancellor's cheap meals. we are maybe 35 to 40% of normal. in nearly four decades here, the local antique shop has seen nothing like this. there's a shop here that's

closed, i don't know when they are reopening. another one there. closed down, i think it has gone under and i don't think they will be back. on the main street there are several. so people are kind of holding on. yes. the government said they had a bridge to the other side, but not everyone is going to make it through? not everyone is going to make it through. the official confirmation of a recession is no surprise, but the number reported this morning was simply staggering. a colossal hit to the economy affecting every high street and home up and down the country, mainly in march and in april. since then, the economy has started to grow a bit again, but not all the lights that were switched off to protect public health will turn back on. while the recession was inevitable, it doesn't explain why the uk has been amongst the worst hit of major nations, both in terms of health and the economy. this morning's number is the worst

of the major g7 economies reporting so far from france to the us, with canada and japan also forecast to confirm smaller hits. are there not some questions about how your government has handled this, that we are bottom of both these tables? social activities — for example, going to have a meal, go shopping, go and see a movie, those kinds of activities comprise a much larger share of our economy than they do for most of our european cousins. the opposition said the recession showed the need to retain the furlough job scheme beyond the autumn. we need to have targeted financial backing. we haven't had that sufficiently yet from the conservative government and we really need it. i think, until we have that, we will continue to see, potentially, a deeper recession in the uk than in other countries. but the chancellor, adamant today that the scheme will not be extended, but the economy and people will have to adapt, that some jobs will not return after this record pandemic recession. faisal islam, bbc news, in bath. a curfew is in place in parts

of the indian city of bangalore, following riots on tuesday evening after a relative of a local politician posted an allegedly offensive social media comment about the prophet muhammad. crowds threw stones and set fire to official vehicles. three people were shot and killed by the police and around 60 officers injured. over a hundred people have been arrested and gatherings of more than five people have been banned across bangalore. imran qureshi is a freelance journalist in bangalore, he gave me this analysis from there. this man happens to be a local lawmaker who belongs to the communist party, and he had been posting and making videos in the last couple of weeks largely bordering on very criminal lines. and this particular post went viral, and some of these people who were

members of the particle the social democracy party of india, that belongs to the popular front of india which is a slightly radical muslim organisation, and they had gone to complain to the police, they told them to settle it among themselves. and that's where i think social media played a very interesting role in this case. so was this a sort of communal riot with different sex of a religion? no. no. except this blasphemous post with different sex of a religion? no. no. except this bla nothing is post on social media there's nothing communal rest ‘it on social media there's nothing communal rest ‘ it has more it's been

been more anti—police. it's been giving rise to various questions. when the small crowd went to police station to complain social media was used to garner a large number of supporters they are coming very soon assembled a mob and the residents at the lawmaker and attacked his house. and then... this is where the question arises as to, obviously, it leaves room for suspicion that something which is premeditated here. there have been tensions between hindus and muslims in india nationally, what's the situation like they are in bangalore? well, like they are in bangalore? well, like most cities bangalore is quite cosmopolitan. no doubt about it. one of the most cosmopolitan cities after mumbai. the relationship is

excellent. during covid times you will have these group of younger guys, they call themselves the mercy angels. and they have been doing the relaxed rights for all communities. —— last rites. about ten or 15 days back they made a special mention of this group saying that when christian community members refused to a cce pt christian community members refused to accept the banning of covid patients and their graveyards they did theirjob. there's nothing communal in this. 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. heatwave conditions are continuing with temperatures above 34 degrees celsius for the sixth day in a row in parts of southern and central england — for the first time in almost 60 years. but for other areas — including several parts of scotland and lancashire — there's been heavy rain and thunderstorms and flooding. so what is causing these extremes of weather? our science correspondent victoria gill has more. a week of extremes. in some parts of southern england, there've been a record breaking six consecutive days above 34 degrees. intense storms further north and overnight in parts of scotland, a month and a half of rain fell injust six hours. so many of us are asking the question, what on earth is going on with the weather? this week we've seen remarkable contrast in our weather, 20 degree contrast from the far north, the uk to the far south. and it's within that contrast where we've seen two different air masses clash.

cool atlantic air clashing with hot air coming up from the near continent. and it's around that boundary that you often get serious thunderstorms developing. the effect that climate change is having on temperatures is increasingly evident. a report by the met office today revealed that 2019 concluded the warmest decade since the industrial revolution. it feels more like the tropics than the north west of england here, but it's not unusual to get weather patterns like this that drive heatwaves. but with climate change, we're just turning up the dial on that thermostat and that increases the probability of this kind of weather. the fact that the average temperature has increased by one degree over the last hundred years, we've lifted the baseline of the temperature. so it means we get more frequent heatwaves and when we do get these heat wave events, that the heat in them is much more intense than we have ever seen before. for now, though, there won't be too much more meteorological drama. this unseasonal heatwave is set to break across the countryjust

in time for the weekend. victoria gill, bbc news. scientists say four bones found last year on the isle of wight, off the coast of southern england, belong to a new species of dinosaur, from the same family as the tyrannosaurus rex. the team from the university of southampton believe it lived in the cretaceous period, 100 and 15 million years ago, and would have been up to four metres long. if you're a fast, active hunter, having an efficient air system and the ability to take more oxygen out of the atmosphere than just two bags, then that'll be a really useful thing. so these holes are an extension of the lungs and allow the animal to be a fast and active predator. reporting on a new find and a new

dinosaur. that's it from me by outside source is coming up with the headlines at eight. stay tuned for kamala harris alongside joe headlines at eight. stay tuned for kamala harris alongsidejoe biden. hello there. through the course of the afternoon, we've seen some severe thunderstorms break out. take a look at these storms developing early this afternoon across parts of west london, first of all. a few big storms then working across the midlands and some very nasty storms in across wales, as well. now those storm clouds look something like this, towering up through the skies, as viewed from kent. but they also brought some torrential downpours, we've had some large hail and gusty winds — that was one of those downpours passing bradenham in buckinghamshire. right now we have an amber warning in force for torrential rain and some flash flooding across wales and parts of western england. so the main concerns, really, are these batches of storms that could bring 30—40mm of rain injust the space of one hour. but over the space of a few hours, we could see more than that in some

of these fairly slow—moving downpours — 70—100mm of rain. and that's extreme rainfall falling in a short space of time, so there is a risk of some flash flooding. now, aside from that severe weather overnight — and by the way, there will be some dazzling lightning displays, i'm sure — it'll be a very humid and warm, close kind of night. we've been used to enduring these conditions for a number of nights, with lows about 20 celsius in cardiff and london. thursday, we've got a largely dry picture across northern areas of the uk with a ridge of high—pressure building in here, keeping most of the showers at bay. but further south, it's another humid day with sunny spells breaking the cloud, and again, we'll see those downpours becoming locally torrential through the afternoon and evening time. so england and wales could see some further localised flooding conditions, then we'll see those temperatures probably pushing up to the 30 celsius mark or so. friday, quite a bit of cloud on the charts. it's still humid across england and wales and still unsettled. there will be further heavy

downpours, so we aren't out of the woods — we could see some further localised flooding from these big storms. further northwards, a lot of low clouds, could be quite murky across some of the coasts, with the best of any shelter giving a bit of sunshine mainly across northwestern areas. for the weekend, showers will be replaced by more general outbreaks of rain as the weekend goes by. this slack area of low pressure looks set to drift up from the south. either way you look at it, it looks cloudy this weekend with rain or showers around, feeling humid for england and wales with just a few limited sunny spells in the north and west.

hello, i'm philippa thomas. welcome to outside source. the democratic nominee for presidentjoe biden and his new running mate kamala harris are about to launch their bid for the white house. in the next hour, they'll be addressing an event together for the first time in delaware. the who warns more than half of beirut‘s hospitals are "non—functional", as the blame game over last week's deadly explosion continues. all the managers of the port are now under house arrest, as well as ministers. they didn't do anything

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