the democratic nominee for president, joe biden, and his new running mate, kamala harris, are about to launch their bid for the white house. ms harris is the first black and asian—american woman on a us presidential ticket. three people have died after a passenger train came off the tracks in north—eastern scotland. heavy rain caused a landslip and flooding nearby. the train was on its way from aberdeen to glasgow. the who has warned that more than half of beirut‘s hospitals are non—functional as the fallout over last week's deadly explosion continues. a judicial official has also said that several ministers and ex—ministers will be questioned over last week's devastating explosion. belarus authorities have admitted using live ammunition during protests against the country's disputed election. president alexander lukashenko has accused the crowds of demonstrators of being either criminals or unemployed. good evening to viewers in the uk

and around the globe. you are watching bbc news. three people have died after a passenger train derailed near stonehaven in scotland. six others have been taken to hospital. the train was on its way from aberdeen to glasgow when it left the line. one carriage slid down an embankment. it's thought the train may have hit a landslip following bad weather overnight. the queen has sent a message of condolence, saying, "it was with great sadness that i heard of the train derailment," and that the entire royal family "join me in sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of those who have died and those who have been injured". our 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 the three people who have lost their lives, and that includes the driver of the train. clearly, this is an ongoing operation. i've just 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 family liaison 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've lost their lives, their families and of course those who've been injured in the derailment. for much of the day, smoke was seen billowing out of the valley below where the wreckage now sits. an awful indicator of the force of what happened. an investigation into what caused the first fatal derailment in over a decade now under way. lorna gordon, bbc

news, aberdeenshire. a care worker in the uk who was unable to get tested for covid—19 untiljuly has said she fears she may have spread the disease into care homes despite showing no symptoms. alison taylor from sheffield recently tested positive forantibodies, indicating she once had coronavirus. she now fears she may have worked while contagious and even visited her mother, who later died with suspected covid—19. jamie coulson reports. i find it really hard to think that i might have passed it to care homes, to residents, to my family. cos i could be responsible for other people's deaths. throughout the pandemic, alison taylor has looked after some of the most vulnerable in society. last week, the 51—year—old received a positive antibody test, which means that at some

point she's had covid. she's never experienced any symptoms, so the agency care worker had continued with normal life. i've gone into other places while i've had covid. i've been to see my family and, if i'd have known, there's no way i would've... well, i wouldn't have gone to work, oi’ gone to see my mum in care. alison's 82—year—old mum died on 16th april in a care home from suspected covid—i9. there's no way of knowing how she might have become infected, but alison says it has now left her questioning what she was told at the time. a resident had a fall and went to hospital and came back, and they think that's when it came and started. but now i know that i've had it, and i saw my mum... i've got some sort of guilt, maybe.

alison worked at at least four different care homes before regular testing was introduced for care workers and residents without symptoms at the start ofjuly. however, last week, the government admitted the supply problems with kits and lab capacity meant regular testing would now reach all homes for over—65s and those with dementia by the 7th of september. it's a huge worry. if we're not getting tested then we don't know whether or not we've got it or are passing it on. at least if we know, we can stop what we're doing. i don't want to feel responsible for people getting ill and dying. the government say protecting care homes and residents is a top priority and that 50,000 tests are sent out every day. they say they are working around the clock to minimise the disruption to regular testing. jamie coulson, bbc news.

the uk's 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. 0ur 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, leaving no stone unturned, to make sure that 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 that they've had to suffer. he's dealing not just with cancelled exams, but the growing concern over children missing lessons. so, 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 in 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 mocks aren't standardised tests. everyone does different mocks throughout the country. we cannot replace the actual exams with anything 100% the same. putting everything 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'd written the exam, i would've had that extra mental preparedness. like, i would've studied harder. having that option taken away and using the mock is not a good idea. today, labour said a generation was being let down. this is a complete fiasco. it was obvious that this

was going to be difficult, but it's been weeks or months in the coming. to have an 11th—hour decision that's caused widespread decision amongst people i have spoken to, it smacks of incompetence. schools will fill with students will getting 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 upheaval there's 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. in the us within the next hour, joe biden is set to appear alongside his newly announced 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. the pairface donald trump in the election in november. david willis reports. 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 serva nts". 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 busing. 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 bused to school every day. and that little girl was me. applause. 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. althouththe 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 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. 0ur correspondent barbara plett—usher is in washington. what plett—usher is in washington. are we to expect fro event? what are we to expect from this event? we expect kamala harris and joe biden to make a joint appearance for the first time at a high school in wilmington, delaware and we understand it will be an in person event with invited guests present. and then after that, they are going to be holding a joint fundraiser which we also understand it's going to be in the same city but in a ballroom of a hotel which has a history with joe biden. ballroom of a hotel which has a history withjoe biden. it is the place where he first announced his senate candidacy in 1972 and he has made various public appearances there over the last few decades in there over the last few decades in the last place he had an in person event this year just

the last place he had an in person event this yearjust before the coronavirus shut down the campaign trail. so it is expected that that joint fundraiser will be virtual but based in that ballroom. and of course most of the campaign with miss harris and mr biden will be virtual because of the virus. everything is different this time around. will has been most interesting to you about the reaction around the announcement? well, two things. one is it has been seen well, two things. one is it has been seen as well, two things. one is it has been seen as both historic and ground breaking but also safe and conventional at the same time. and the other thing is that so people, give me so many different things to so give me so many different things to so many different people. so when the first case, it is a story because she is the first woman of colour to ever be named to a major party ticket in the united states if thatis party ticket in the united states if that is important. but at the same time, she is seen as quite a safe candidate. 0ne democratic analyst even referred to her as the goldilocks candidate because she is too far to the left, not too

inexperienced, she does not put in jeopardy a democratic senate seat when she leaves hers, she does not give the republicans unnecessary political ammunition. so she is conventional in many ways. having said that, many people could take different things from her. she is exciting. she injects excitement into the campaign especially for women and especially for women of colour. she is disappointing to left—wing activists who wanted to see somebody who was more radical in terms of social and economic policies. she is a minimum that black activists wanted. they wanted a black woman. silicon valley seems happy with her. she is a known quantity and does not seem inclined to become dominant companies. wall street seems 0k. she is more moderate than some of the other left—wing candidates. climate activists see her as the environmentaljustice candidate. activists see her as the environmental justice candidate. so it is interesting that she has some many things to semi people and she checked so many boxes and that is why it clearly she was chosen. you

said exciting and i wonder whether she brings in energy that might be lacking otherwise. we know donald trump like to talk about sleepyjoe. he does like to talk about sleepy joe. and mr biden if he is like it would be the oldest president the us would be the oldest president the us would have ever seen. so he is kind of in that category of an old white man. a well—known one, kind of an uncle that everybody sort of likes. but that does not give excitement to a campaign. also he is not really been on the radar for much of it because he has been very careful about the coronavirus threat and i think also of his campaign felt that it was not such a bad idea for him to sort of keep a low profile because mr trump is not doing that well in the pulse may their view was that should let mr trump make mistakes. but now he has brought mr biden a candidate who is young, she is dynamic, she is fiery, she is known to be sort of a fierce

questioner. she is more comfortable with talking about left—wing or liberal policies that mr biden is even though she has a record as a pragmatic moderate, and she has this sort of historic moment i'm around her, this newness of a woman and a woman of colour. so, yes, i think any vice presidential announcement a lwa ys any vice presidential announcement always does inject a certain amount of excitement. it is that moment when the campaign gets momentum and some direction but probably more in this case. barbara, thank you very much and you will have a busy few hours ahead. as we approach that event in delaware, let's speak now to camille busette, a senior fellow at the brookings institution in washington. i see also director of the race, prosperity and inclusion initiative. welcome to bbc news. what do you think? what do you think kamala harris brings to help to mobilise voters ? harris brings to help to mobilise voters? well, i think one of the

fantastic attributes that kamala harris brings is obviously as your previous gas with a tremendous amounts of energy and intellect to the campaign. in addition, she brings experience. she is very seasoned as a campaigner. she is very seasoned seasoned as a campaigner. she is very seasoned as a seasoned as a campaigner. she is very seasoned as a politician. many of your viewers will know that she started her political career as a local county district attorney, prosecutor in san francisco. she then moved from there to be the attorney general of california, which is a fairly major feat. and then moved on to the us senate. so she has a tremendous amount of experience in the actual governance of various bodies. so she brings experience, she brings energy and she brings diversity. and i think thatis she brings diversity. and i think that is incalculable and encapsulates essentially all that

she contributes to the campaign. we have been hearing that among those who think this is a good pick perhaps are those on wall street. is she centrist enough? what do you think the left—wing, the progressive wing of the democrats will make of her? those who wanted bernie sanders or perhaps elizabeth warren. will they be happy enough to for themselves into campaigning for kamala harris? i think that is an interesting question especially for us politics. when you think about people who are very leftist, you typically think about people who really wa nt typically think about people who really want kind of policies that are a little bit more focused on how do we make the economy work for everybody. how do we make sure that we have the kinds of social safety net that other developed countries enjoyed? said typically that is what you would think of as the left

portion of the electorate. but in this case, what is interesting even though she may have more centrist policies, she actuallyjust in her embodiment asa policies, she actuallyjust in her embodiment as a person of colour, the first woman of colour on a major party ticket, that also is important to leftist advocates. so i don't think it is entirely clear that leftist advocates are going to be very disappointed. in fact, i think they will be quite happy, particularly those who are younger, 18 up to 40, and white women who have been asking for eight major party to have a woman of colour on the ticket. i have to ask you what you think you will be like to see kamala harris and vice president mike pence in their big debate together, i think it is the 7th of 0ctober. these two politicians could hardly be more different. 0ctober. these two politicians could hardly be more differentlj 0ctober. these two politicians could hardly be more different. i would

agree with that. and it's going to be very interesting because we don't know how the debates are going to work out. obviously in this covered not the moment. but she is fantastic asa not the moment. but she is fantastic as a debater. very, very sharp as we have all seen. and i think we will be extremely forceful —— will be forceful in holding mike pence accountable for a range of policies. everything from the way the pandemic has been handled to various executive orders to the way we have handled our international alliances. i think she is going to be quite shrewd and quite sharp and i expect the sparks to fly. pleasure to speak to you, thank you so much. thank you. here, 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.