this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. hundreds of thousands of students in england, northern ireland and wales get their a—level results. amid controversy over the awarding of grades due to coronavirus. a, b, c! i've spoken to a lot of people who've all said their grades have been lowered. ijust think it's, like, really random and unfair. overall, you've got a very robust set of grades, plus you've got a situation in which more pupils than ever before are getting their first choice course at university and more kids from disadvantaged backgrounds are going to university. donald trump announces what he calls an historic peace deal between israel and the united arab

emirates. workers at some state run companies in belarus down tools as protests continue over the president and his disputed reelection victory. the pressure on the nhs in england from the coronavirus pandemic — a record 1.8 million people injune have to wait longer than the 18—week target for routine treatment. here they are in close—up for the first time in newsreels. and 75 years after the end of the war againstjapan, we hearfrom one specialforces veteran fighting behind enemy lines. 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. hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales and northern ireland have received their a level and vocational exam results today. schools and colleges were asked to estimate grazers were then moderated by exa m estimate grazers were then moderated by exam boards to reassure the results were not significant a higher or lower than in previous yea rs. higher or lower than in previous years. in all, 78% of a—level results were a star— c and 28% a * and a. but this controversy because the figures for english oath that he never of grades were marked down while 2% went up. though students taking vocational qualifications such as btec have received estimated results in recent weeks with the department for education saying the grades are broadly in line with previous years. here is our education editor.

this student has been rejected by all her unis. teachers estimated three bs at a—level. every one downgraded to c. i have spoken to a lot of people who say their grades have been lowered. ijust think it's random and unfair. we don't even know what it's based off. for others, relief, the grades they needed, slightly more today getting their first choice of uni. it's gone really well, to be honest. i have done well for myself and i am proud. but others wondering whether to appeal. i know that in the mark, i got a b for biology, so i am a bit disappointed. but i can always appeal for that one because i could get that b if i wanted. not every one will go on to university. some heading to apprenticeships or vocational courses. but even so, being downgraded hurt. i put in a lot of work.

so, i worked from 8:30am till 5pm every day at college. so being downgraded feels like a kick in the stomach. this is a uniquely stressful and uncertain results day for them. some will walk away with the results they hoped for. but for those who have been downgraded, there's a sense of being caught up in an impersonal system. while btec results here were stable, almost half the a—level estimates were downgraded. hundreds of mock results were better, so staff may advise many to appeal. this is the coronavirus generation, the generation that has been impacted by changes in the gcses. so many different things, and the drip feed of constant regular changes in how the system might work through appeals. all of that's added to the emotional roller—coaster they have been through. what you wanted ? yes. at a state sixth form,

good news for some, but top grades for private pupils have gone up more. labour says too many students have lost out. this has fundamentally failed. the government needs to rethink this. they shouldn't rule anything out, including the approach that was forced on the scottish government to get back to the assessments last week. but they need an answer, individual appeals, waive the appeal fee. but this has been a disaster. where pupils are disappointed, where they feel they could have done better, where they feel an injustice has been done to them, there is the possibility of appeal and they can resit. they can resit this autumn as well. universities have been busy confirming places, but appeals based on mock results could change a lot. the uncertainty comes from the fact that we might not know until the middle of september who is coming and who isn't, and that clearly is important for us

in terms of class sizes, particularly in the new covid environment where we have to be careful about that, but also with things like accommodation. this is what many students worked towards. for some, thejourney here started today. for others, stressful weeks ahead. this is a test of a system that has never been used before so why have grades been moderated? past research has shown teacher estimates are very rarely accurate and usually they are over generous. but that does not diminish the blow for many individual students who are disappointed today. ministers are now rely on that appeals process and that means the scramble for university places goes on for many weeks. our correspondence oui’ correspondence gave our correspondence gave updates on this and it wales and northern ireland today.

yes, here in wales, more than 40% are predicted grades which have been downgraded. and while some are salivating tonight, many students and staff i have been speaking to today, while many are celebrating, many feel genuine anger and anxiety. this sixth form college is part of a national group that is already demanding an urgent review of the situation in wales, one of several concerns that they have is that students from the most disadvantaged areas of wales, those who receive free school meals, were more likely to have had their grades adjusted. a headteacher at another local school told me today some of his brightest and best had been in tears today. he says it's not fair that their life chances had been changed by an algorithm. just over 2a hours ago, the welsh government came up with its own solution to this shared problem, saying students could fall back on their as results from last year. it's a more important part of the a—level process here in wales. so it won't go to their marks, the as result

would be adjusted, but we don't know when, so there is still huge uncertainty, shared also in northern ireland. it has been an unsettling day here for lots of students, with more than a third of grades lowered by northern ireland's exams body from those grades that were predicted by teachers. we have heard some unhappy stories of pupils who received results at several levels below the teachers' predicted grades. some schools have been calling that system erratic. we have had northern ireland's exams body defending its working, if you like, saying it believes teachers can be overconfident when predicting grades and that if they had simply taken the teachers' predictions, it would have led to quite a jump in exam results overall, which would not have been a fair reflection. but having said that, it is really not a straightforward picture because some schools, like here, ashfield boys' high school where i have spent the day, say they think they have had some pretty fair results, results have come back in line with teachers' predictions. so it's not clear why

some schools appear to have fared better than others. i think we will see people paying close attention to what the appeals process reveals in the weeks to come. emma party reporting from northern ireland. more on the results later in the programme. let's turn to the news of a historic middle east peace deal between israel and the united arab emirates. the two countries, once enemies, have agreed to normalise relations under a deal brokered by the united states. only two arab nations, egypt and jordan, have previously signed peace deals with israel. white house officials say that as part of the agreement israel has agreed to suspend applying sovereignty to parts of the occupied west bank that it had considered annexing. president trump made the announcement from the oval office a short while ago. let's have a listen to what he said. after 49 years, israel and the united arab emirates will fully normalise their diplomatic relations. they will exchange embassies and ambassadors and begin cooperation across the board and on a broad range of areas,

including tourism, education, health care, trade and security. this is a truly historic moment. not since the israel—jordan peace treaty was signed more than 25 years ago has so much progress been made towards peace in the middle east. by uniting two of america's closest and most capable partners in the region, something which said could not be done, this deal is a significant step towards building a more peaceful, secure and prosperous middle east. president donald trump speaking a short while ago and the prime minister of israel confirming that the deal have been signed between himself, president trump and the uae. this is the greatest move for peace between israel and the arab world in 26 years and it marks the

third deal between israel and an arab nation. in 1979, our premise are made peace with egypt. in 1994, the promised or made a peace treaty withjordan the promised or made a peace treaty with jordan and today i'm honoured to announce a formal peace agreement with the united arab emirates. i believe there is a good chance we will soon see more arab countries joining this expanding circle of peace. i should just tell you that jerry kushner who helped broker the deal said there is a good chance another country could make a deal in the coming days. our correspondent sameer hashmi joins us from dubai. that is really interesting because all eyes are now turning to saudi arabia. that is right and i think that if the clue he is giving that saudi arabia could be next and that would be a surprise. if you look at the donald trump administration, they are very close with saudi

arabia and the uae. they both being strong allies with the trip administration and they have ensured that this relationship has grown. but even a deal like this would not have been possible without saudi arabia backing the decision because saudi arabia and the uae are very close. they make sure to consult on all major decisions. saudi arabia can be next in the deal but what is really pressing to know is what the uae has shown at least over here is the message they are putting out in the message they are putting out in the narrative they are pushing is this deal was important to put brakes on israel's plan to annex palestinian territory and also it keeps alive the hope for a two state solution. so the uae leadership is very careful in terms of pushing out that narrative. 0k thank you very much for that. it will get reaction from the palestinians soon. but there has been plenty of reaction starting with a senior palestinian

official who we have had on the bbc many times and she said... here is the uae ambassador for the us... the iranian news agency which is affiliated to the revolutionary guard unsurprisingly condemning the move. and finally the un has responded with the chief will coming initiative that can promote peace and security in the middle east. and now that promised reaction from palestine. i'm joined now by diana buttu, a lawyer and former legal advisor to the palestine liberation organization. thank you for being with us. can i pick up on that last point that sameer made? the uae said that it was done to normalise relations with

israel so as to stop further annexation of palestinian territories in the west bank and in doing so they have preserved the two state solution? what do you say to that? it is an absolute farce. i think it is important to keep in mind that there have been two processes of annexation. the formal one and the informal process. the formal process has gone on for 53 yea rs formal process has gone on for 53 years and has included the confiscation of palestinian land, the theft of palestinian land, building of is really only infrastructure on that land, the creation of an apartheid system and the denial of freedom to palestinians. the formal annexation was the part that was supposed to happen in july and was the part that was supposed to happen injuly and that is the only pa rt happen injuly and that is the only part that is going to be stopped but ican part that is going to be stopped but i can guarantee you that tomorrow there will be more settlements that will be built and there will be in apartheid system in place and posting it will be denied freedom and we will forever be living under and we will forever be living under a system of which we are denied our basic human rights. so if you are

dismissing the uae case and they we re dismissing the uae case and they were working in the interest of the palestinians, what do you think was the real reason behind this decision? i think that there are other reasons behind this decision, whether it is the position when it comes to iran, whether it comes to the question of the security ties and they have with israel or whether it comes to this respect to the donald trump administration and the pressure they have faced. but what i can say is we should not be the ones who are paying for that price. this is instead what they should be doing is instead what they should be doing is imposing economic sanctions on israel for denying palestinians their freedom israel for denying palestinians theirfreedom for such a israel for denying palestinians their freedom for such a long period of time. and instead we have this perverse logic where they are embracing israel. this is the kind of diplomacy that we certainly don't wa nt of diplomacy that we certainly don't want and certainly don't need. i've covered the middle east negotiations from the region for a number of yea rs. from the region for a number of years. i cannot help noticing that the palestinian hand is considerably wea ker

the palestinian hand is considerably weaker today than it once was. the resolve of arab states is weaker. israel closely allied now to the us. now the palestinian president says he will bring leadership together in the coming days to discuss what has happened. is he likely at all to feel pressured to come back to the table? no, not at all. and i think that while it may appear as though the diplomatic hand is weaker because of the actions of the arab states, i assure you that on the ground this is exactly the opposite. palestinians will not give up our rights to have our freedom to live in dignity and equality and while the rest of the world may be pushing for us to continually submit and give up our rights this is something that no palestinian out there is willing to do. even somebody like the president who has made numerous concessions in a way that has and others would never have done. this is not a question of us now

submitting to israel he dictates. i think instead we will see that the world will swing back in the world will recognise that this is a system of apartheid and will start putting into place economic sanctions. it is just a question of time i believe. grateful for your time this evening. thank you for being with us. my pleasure. in belarus, protests over the disputed presidential election have gone into a fifth day with no sign that either side is giving way. in solidarity with the protesters, workers from one of the biggest state—owned factories have walked out, demanding the result of sunday's vote be overturned. and the police violence, the brutal attacks we have witnessed on protesters, appears to be stoking the anger. sarah rainsford reports from moscow. they are shouting for alexander lukashenko to go. the president of belarus was once feared. sure his re—election was rigged.

outside the factory gates, people thank them and cheer them on. 80% of the country's economy is state—run, so this will worry the authorities. the strike follows four nights of street protests. they were smaller on wednesday, people like me scared off by the security forces. the police have been brutal as they attempt to crush this wave of anger. thousands of people have been detained across the country. some were paraded on state television, their bruises and terror clear to see. "will you try and start a revolution again," the interrogator asks. "never," they tell him. for days, relatives have been gathering outside detention centres desperate for news of others who've disappeared. volunteers are keeping lists, trying to find them. a handful were released today looking like this. the police are making no attempt to hide what they're doing. translation: i was arrested two days ago. i did nothing illegal.

they told me to lie on the floor. i did, and they started to beat me. i didn't resist. then i was beaten in the van as well. eu ambassadors have now visited the spot where a protester was killed. they've called for the violence to stop and say sunday's vote was neither free nor fair. but alexander lukashenko calls the protest a foreign—backed plot. the nation he's ruled for 26 years, though, is telling a different story. they are angry at the violence and at the election results, and they vow to keep coming out calling for change. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. more now on our more now on oui’ main more now on our main story that hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales or northern ireland have received their a—level and vocational results today will stop

but there has been controversy as it figures in england shows 39% of grades were marked down. the university admissions service, ucas, says the number of british students who've already accepted places is up by almost 3% on this time last year. nearly 359,000 students have confirmed their choice of university so far, including more than 7500 who've found a place through clearing. 0ur education correspondent, danjohnson, has more details. you got an a? yes! oh, well done. a for achievement... oh, my gosh! ..means many students taking places as planned. but with the agony of some of these calculated grades comes the question of what next. i've never failed anything, actually. i'm not used to not getting into places. i think that's why it hit me so hard this morning when i opened it. abbie was one of those left disappointed. we've all been downgraded. i haven't got into uni because of it. and i was supposed to be

going to durham, and now i can't. so, i've got to look over options, i've got to appeal, go through clearing, resit my exams and we haven't been learning since march. leila also received unexpected marks. so, one grade above, but one grade below, so i was like, "i don't know what it means." and ucas had crashed and no—one could get on, but luckily i've just seen online that i still got in. so, i'm quite thankful. others are trying their chances through clearing. some with lower grades, some who did better looking to trade up. here at hull, the advice is even those appealing should be able to start their course. it's at least a month away. there's a lot of time actually to maybe again undertake that appeals process, but still start university in september. so, my advice would be still secure that place. these are really importnat calls, they're decisions risk being delayed by the number of students who are unhappy with their grades this year.

i got a u in biology... emily is one of those holding out for an appeal to get on her midwifery course. the university's holding my place. so when i appeal my grade, i'll see if i get in. there are more clearing places this year, and they're already being accepted. overall, university admissions are up, but after so much upheaval, some students will take a little longer to work out their next step. danjohnson, bbc news, in hull. let's speak now to natalie perera, executive director at the education policy institute, which is an research institute looking at the quality of education for children and young people. thank you for being with us. let me pick up the point that the government makes that if there was not a standardization process, then the level of grace would have gone up the level of grace would have gone up 12% this year. was there really a better way to do this without the anomalies, without getting these anomalies, without getting these anomalies we have just heard about? yes, i mean it is a really complex

problem the government faced when schools closed and exams were cancelled. but we do think there is a better option than just relying so significantly on their standardization model. we think that they should have given greater weight or given schools the opportunity to review grades well before grades were issued to students. and that way schools could have provided evidence of school improvement over all or for individual peoples and that could have been taken into account instead of relying on an appeals process. did you get the government that advice before they changed tack two days ago? we did. we spoke to them and we included in our consultation response and it was notjust us who argued for this kind of approach. many other organisations did, too. see you want to put the onus for the

appeal on the school rather than the students. the onus for the appeal is largely on the school actually. before hand, before the results were issued. the result should have gone to school. they could have had a chance to review it and then if they disagreed with the results, they could have put that back to off, and presented evidence to support their own argument about the weather grades should be different from what their model set out. one of the controversial element today was percentage of downgrades was higher for state schools and it was for private schools. can you give us a reason for that? we think it is because the model that they used does not take into account if the school has improved. so for state schools which may be have been performing badly over previous years but have started to improve, their

model does not take that into account. and also there pupils will have been starting from a lower attainment base when they left primary school than those in private school. so ultimately that means it does pupils who were really hard and school that always still get the best grades have lost out the worst. that's what it looks like. this is a lwa ys that's what it looks like. this is always a risk that we and others set out to the government and to the regulator and that's what we think there is a missed opportunity for them to have dealt with this much earlier on. ok, thank you very much indeed for that. a lot of unhappy stu d e nts indeed for that. a lot of unhappy students around the country in a course or if the appeals process and they can look back at their mock results in england and some of them may be will have to the exam for the time in the autumn. not an ideal solution for many students but we will get more reaction to that through the evening. do stay with

us, more to come here on bbc world news. hello there. it's still been very humid today, but it's not been very hot across parts of the uk today. because we've had all these downpours developing, some very heavy bursts of rain, particularly across southern parts of england. over the next couple days or so, it will be the southern half of the uk that sees most of these downpours, and again it'll feel on the humid side as well despite those temperatures dropping off a little bit further. further north, mainly dry with sunshine around at times, but there will be some areas of mist and low cloud coming in off the north sea. like we've had today, and that can be rather stubborn to move away, keeping it cooler as well. higher pressure across the northern half of the uk, that's why it's drier, but we have easterly winds bringing in the low cloud. clusters of cloud coming

in from continental europe or developing across southern parts of england into wales. that's where we see most of the downpours. continuing into this evening, they may ease off a little bit later in the night, but we may introduce more from continental europe. so, wetter in the south, drierfor the north, low cloud comes in bringing drizzle. it'll be a muggy night across the southern half of the uk like it has been of late. tomorrow starts off grey and misty, we will see sunshine developing in many areas. still the potential for more thundery downpours breaking out across wales, the midlands, east anglia and southern england. that cloud still sticking into the north east of england, some northern and eastern parts of england. quite warm for western scotland and north west england, with temperatures in the south east lower than today at 25—26 celsius. into the weekend we still have the area of high pressure in the north starting to move away, allowing the downpours that we see in the south to move northwards.

saturday is very similar to friday, again it is wales, the midlands, east anglia, southern england that are likely to find some heavy and thundery rain with the threat of localised flooding. further north, low cloud keeping it on the cooler side. temperatures won't change a great deal over the weekend but we are likely to find those showers still potentially heavy and thundery. moving further north into northern england, up to northern ireland, threatening southern parts of scotland. sunshine in between the downpours in the south, the top temperature 25 celsius.

this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. hundreds of thousands of students in england, northern ireland and wales get their a—level results, with controversy get their a—level results, with co ntrove i’sy over get their a—level results, with controversy over the awarding of the grades over coronavirus. a, b, c! i've spoken to a lot of people who've all said their grades have been lowered. ijust think it's, like, really random and unfair. overall, you've got a very robust set of grades, plus you've got a situation in which more pupils than ever before are getting their first choice course at university and more kids from disadvantaged backgrounds are going to university. donald trump announces what he calls an historic peace deal, between israel, and the united arab emirates.

workers at some state—run companies in belarus down tools, amid continuing demonstrations against president lukashenko and the violent crackdown that followed his disputed election victory. the pressure on the nhs in england from the coronavirus pandemic — a record 1.8 million people injune have to wait longer than the 18—week target for routine treatment. hello, and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. and stay with us for the latest news. "we weren't good enough." that's the verdict of the head of network rail, following yesterday's train derailment in aberdeenshire in scotland, which killed three people. he denied network rail had failed to act on a report, which warned about the impact of extreme weather.

an investigation is now under way into what caused the accident, with a scottish government minister today saying extreme weather did have an impact, and urgent checks are now being carried out on the network. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon has this report. the painstaking, meticulous investigation into why this train left the track. the emergency services working to make the crushed and broken carriages safe, while experts in rail safety look for evidence of what exactly happened. the head of network rail visiting the site said urgent checks are now being carried out at all similar high—risk cuttings. we have the best safety record in europe, but we weren't good enough yesterday. whatever happened yesterday, we will want to find out eventually what that was. it's important that the rail accident investigation branch are given time to do that properly and forensically. three people died in the derailment, passenger christopher stuchbury, along with the train's conductor donald dinnie. a family man, he was said to light up the room

with his cheery banter and stories. while the train's driver brett mccullough was described by his family as "the most decent and loving human being we have ever known. his passing leaves a huge void in all our lives." i'm thinking particularly of the bereaved families who face an experience that all of us dread, coming to terms with the sudden and tragic loss of a loved one. no words can ease their pain nor the awful reality that they are now forced to confront. but the hearts of a nation are with them today. there was appalling weather here in the hours shortly before the accident. it's thought the train was derailed by a landslide following the heavy rain. and there are concerns that increasing bursts of bad weather like this has made the wider railway network more vulnerable. i've said to network rail first of all in the next few days, few hours, we want to have some reassurance resilience check on the railway, particularly with the flash floods. the second thing is i want a report by the 1st of september on my desk,

which will be an interim report about the wider issues that may have impacted this, with the final report in the autumn. six others were on board this train. their injuries are not thought to be serious. but there are questions into whether there are any wider safety implications from what happened here and what more can be done to stop it happening again. lorna gordon, bbc news, aberdeenshire. dr andrew quinn is a reader in amtospheric science and engineering at the university of birmingham. his research focuses on the interactions between rail systems and climate change and how these impact on the resilience of communities and services. good to have you with us. you might have just heard there the transport secretary saying he wants an interim report by the 1st of september and a full report in the autumn on the resilience of the network. why do some of that work not already being done? thank you, christian. i think

the work is ongoing. we have — to put this incident into context, this year we've had similar incidents in japan, china, france and the usa. and serious weather impacts are something that is growing because of climate change. however we do need to put into the context of the british railways, they are some of the safest in the world, and the extreme weather action teams that network rail employee actually pick out a lot of these incidents before they ever affect any trains or passengers becoming a risk. so we need to put this into context. are you just now saying we are just coming to understand the real implications for our entire railway networks? no, not at all. we've been working on our research for the past ten yea rs working on our research for the past ten years in helping global railway

organisations to develop their resilience to understand the effects that climate change are having and will have on the networks now and in the future. and we've been working closely with network rail as a partner on many of those projects. so they have been at the forefront of global understanding in these kinds of issues. part of your expertise is in civil engineering — what could be done to reassure passengers and to improve the safety of the network in areas where, as in aberdeenshire, it is cutting through deep gorges alongside steep embankments. what could you practically do? we also need to remember that network rail monitor and run over when he thousand miles of network, and much of it through similar kinds of remote areas with embankments. in practical terms, similar kinds of remote areas with embankments. in practicalterms, our research has focused on things like remote monitoring, so our projects

have been looking at how we can link up have been looking at how we can link up satellite data with sensors along the track in order to detect ground movements earlier, and also to work with meteorological organisations to work with the met office, for example, to help predict the locations of flash flooding so that the train operations can begin to be warned about that at an earlier stage. so with my layman's hat on, are you suggesting it would be something like we see at the ski resorts with avalanches, and early warning system when mountainsides become unstable? you would know when embankments were saturated and might dip onto the track? absolutely. there are many different causes of landslides in different areas, so this is a very complex problem. but certainly we can identify risk areas and begin to give early warnings of where there are likely to be issues. we wish you the best with your work. thank you so much for being on the

programme. thank you very much, christian. the pressures heaped on the nhs in england by the coronavirus pandemic, have been highlighted by new figures, showing a record 1.8 million people injune, having to wait longer than the 18—week target, for routine treatment. more than 50,000 have waited over a year, and there's real concern cancers are being missed or diagnosed late, because urgent referrals are down more than 20% injune, compared to last year. 0ur health editor hugh pym reports now on some of the ways the nhs is trying to tackle the backlog. remember the nightingale hospitals? this one is in exeter, with more than 100 beds. but with no coronavirus patients right now, part of the site is being put to a different use, patients coming in for scans for a range of conditions. so the scan will take three orfour minutes. carol has lived with cancer for several years. this scan is for a possible complication which doctors wants checked out. are you 0k? she says it's a much easier

process than her usual hospital appointments. you go into a separate waiting room, but you never know who's going to get called first because you don't know, everybody's having different scans. i sat on the chair in there for about two minutes and then i got took in. it was brilliant. it gives us a really good environment to provide high—quality care. the medical director told me they were ready to expand services for cancer patients and others needing scans. we'll be looking at how can use the facilities to help other groups of patients like the people who are having scans, possibly other sorts of investigations and interventions, so that we're sure we get good value about of the investment that has been made in the region. but nationally, there are concerns about cancer treatment delays, with charities arguing that there's an alarming backlog. we are seeing positive work done in some local areas or some parts of cancer services,

but that does not equal the kind of national emergency response we need to meet what is a ticking cancer time bomb because of undiagnosed and untreated cancer. here they are doing what they can to help, but they can't lose sight of what the hospital is there for. this was the last of the nightingale hospitals to be completed. so far it hasn't cared for any patients with covid—19, but intensive care wards like this with all their facilities are ready, should there be another surge in the number of patients seriously ill with coronavirus. it's a difficult time for the nhs in england, trying to diagnose and treat the patients whose care was delayed, and at the same time keeping wards and intensive care units like this free for what might be a second covid—19 peak sometime in the winter. hugh pym, bbc news, exeter. more than 290 people linked to a food factory in northampton,

have tested positive for the coronavirus. the company, greencore, employs more than 2,000 people making sandwiches for marks & spencer. local authorities say the company had introduced highly effective measures, to prevent the spread of the virus. greencore says production at the plant is "continuing as usual" and it has no concerns, about its products. borisjohnson says the uk must be "ruthless" when deciding whether travellers returning from countries with rising rates of coronavirus infections, should have to quarantine. asked whether france will be removed from the list of countries that are exempt from quarantine measures, the prime minister said he was looking at the data, but that such measures couldn't be ruled out. well, we've got to be absolutely ruthless about this, even with our closest and dearest friends and partners around the world. and i think everybody understands that. we'll be looking at the data a bit later on this afternoon, but i think... and looking at exactly where france and other countries are getting to.

and, you know, we can't be remotely complacent about our own situation. but everybody understands that in a pandemic like this, you've got to make sure that you don't allow our population to be reinfected or the disease to come back in from abroad. so, that's why the quarantine measures are very important, and we will continue to apply them in a very strict way. india has overtaken the uk in the number of people who've died with coronavirus. the country has recorded more than 47,000 deaths, and the number of infections is rising rapidly. rajini vaidya nathan reports. at one of the world's wealthiest temple complexes in south india, they're paying a heavy price. it's been two months since the shrines at tirumala tirupati reopened after lockdown. but, even with strict measures in place, at least 740 staff have tested positive with coronavirus. three have died, including a priest.

this temple remains open, despite the outbreak, as places of worship across india welcome visitors again. as the country continues to relax restrictions, markets are packed and streets are busy. so, too, are the country's graveyards. coronavirus deaths continue to rise. india has now overtaken the uk and is now fourth in the world for fatalities. in a country of 1.3 billion, it's still a relatively low death rate. but for every family losing a loved one, there's fresh pain. more than 200 doctors have now died of the virus. 27—year—old joginder chaudhary one of the youngest. seen here at the great wall of china, joginder‘s father, a farmer, borrowed money so his son could study medicine overseas. translation: my son was fearless

while on covid duty. he was dedicated to his job. we never imagined he wouldn't survive. he was a covid warrior. and in the fight against covid in india, these are the foot soldiers. an all—female army of health workers, who visit slums and villages. thousands recently went on strike, calling for proper protective equipment and better wages. their work to track and trace cases is key, as is increased detection. compared with other countries, india's testing rates are low. the country's prime minister, narendra modi, has called on states to ramp up tests, as india works to flatten its upward curve. it's very difficult to say what the trajectory of the epidemic will look like here in india. there are some studies that have shown that substantial proportions of the population in some areas may have already been exposed to the virus, and therefore

could have some level of immunity, meaning that the peak could come sooner, rather than later. containing the spread of covid—19 in this densely—populated country continues to be challenging. it's still unclear when india will be past the worst. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news. xijinping wants xi jinping wants people to waste less food, but not everybody is on board. operation clean plate has picked up its own share of ridicule. will hand it is encouraging people to order one dish less than at diners, which produced this one quip from news on social media... here is

more from the bbc monitoring. from news on social media... here is more from the bbc monitoringm china, ina more from the bbc monitoringm china, in a post cove it 19 area, there have been more and more people eating alone, so people are surprised by this. it's not so much law, but it is being heavily pushed on everybody across the country now that they have to be wasting a lot less. so people are eating when they eat in big groups. this is very common to see, large groups with lazy susan is with ten people sat around the table. it is culturally a cce pta ble around the table. it is culturally acceptable for people to leave a bit of food to show the hosts that you appreciate how much you've been given. because historically, china has been a country of famine. so this is a way of showing your grateful. so this is very different, people are being told when you go to a restaurant, you are expected to ta ke a restaurant, you are expected to take away what you leave, so literally you will get a doggy bag of food when you leave the restau ra nt. of food when you leave the restaurant. i do like a doggy bag, i

must say. i read here that china waste enough food every year to feed 30-50,000,000 waste enough food every year to feed 30—50,000,000 people, which is quite shocking. is this born out of necessity? because i know there's been some pretty big floods across china this year. are some of the crops being destroyed, or are they issuing this now because they are short of food? there are a number of reasons. china has experienced a really bad flooding across the country this year. it's not seen a situation like this and recent decades, so as long as we've had covid—19 sweeping and, affecting large parts of the country, but there are bigger issues here. there's an obesity problem in china, very much fuelled by the fact that the one child policy being abolished means a lot of parents are retiring and there's fewer people in the labour market. these people are working longer hours, sitting for

longer periods of time, so they're getting bad posture — like me in lockdown. so this is another problem that's been happening in china. but waste as a whole, china's population of1.4 waste as a whole, china's population of 1.4 billion people has notoriously wasted lots of different products. there's been lots of laws introduced particularly in urban cities across the country to cut down on waste and to make a punishable if you are not using it all. a very quick question, we talked about notch theory, shaming people into changing their habits and behaviour. in china, might this work more than in other countries? very much so. china has put a social credit system, and people can be shamed if they are not recycling properly or not being seen as socially responsible citizens. so absolutely. this weekend marks 75 years since japan's surrender in the second world war, the moment that finally brought an end the conflict, months after peace was declared in europe. as part of the effort to end the war

in asia, troops from the uk, india and across the commonwealth, were tasked with retaking myanmar, at the time known as burma, but due to the distance and military successes back in europe, they‘ re often referred to as the "forgotten army". 0ne veteran, john hutchin who's 96, was part of the chindit special forces, which fought behind enemy lines in burma, facing disease and monsoon rains. he's been speaking to our correspondent, robert hall. twice a day for five weeks, they attacked. morning... ..and evening. 0ur losses were very heavy. archive: here they are in close up for the first time in newsreels, the chindits. they took their badge from the lion statues which guarded burmese temples, the ragged contingents from britain and the commonwealth, outnumbered by the japanese, unrecognisable through hunger and illness.

john hutchin had volunteered for the chindits, fighting through the monsoons in 1944. he came close to death. when i went in, i was 11 stone. i was now eight stone four, a skeleton. i had no energy, no fight, no spark. so the rule was, before we went in, if you're killed, you're dead because your purpose in there is to kill or be killed. if you were walking wounded, you carried on. if none of those things were possible and it impeded the advance of those men, you were left. i was left...

..with four days' rations... ..and ammunition. i lay and i couldn't move. and ifound i had a spark. i wasn't dead. i wasn't immobile, and i got up. and for four days and four nights, i marched alone... ..until i reached our men. the lions of the chindit army are remembered here on the banks of the thames. a modest monument to outstanding bravery and resilience. i love talking about it because it's a whole part of me, but i shall never, ever forget any of those men. and i'm delighted to have had the honour

of being called a chindit. john hutchin speaking to our correspondent, robert hall. more now on our main story — that hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales, and northern ireland have received their a—level and vocational qualification results today — and this generation of young people have endured the most challenging of years and the road ahead is uncertain. elaine dunkley has been to great yarmouth in norfolk to see what lies ahead for three young people who have taken different paths. # who knows what miracles you can achieve? i get so nervous, but as soon as those curtains open, and i walk out on stage and the lights go up, it's like, amazing. it's an amazing feeling. i think definitely the adrenaline side is one of the best bits.

it hits 6pm when service comes, and time goes so quick, and you get addicted to that. university, it's quite a big deal for me because i'm the first one to go from my family, so it's a big achievement, definitely. hopes and dreams in the most challenging of times. joanna is doing a btec in performing arts. archie had been studying a—levels, and jack is an apprentice. they've taken different educational routes, but this class of 2020 have all felt the impact of the pandemic. i would use the word shambles, unfortunately. it is a bit of a mess—up. to try and cope with it as well in such a short amount of time with all the changes, it's kind of like it all having to adapt to different things and a big shock, i would say, shock to our generation definitely. it's had huge impact. performers have been let go, even the backstage roles like lighting, sound technicians, front of house, marketing — they've all been affected as well. you know, no one could prepare for this. but there is good news. i got a triple distinction star.

can't wait to go to stirling. joanne and archie have now got a place at university. but what about those in the world of work? in great yarmouth, the slowdown in key industries such as hospitality and tourism has hit young people hard, butjack remains optimistic. i think with an apprenticeship, you can really prove yourself in the workplace when perhaps you might not have the experience coming from university. with an apprenticeship if they like what they see, you are more than likely to get a job at the end of it. getting the right skills and qualifications is crucial in these turbulent times, but so is the need to believe there is hope. somewhere in the industry there will be a place for me, whether that and the shining lights and on the big west end stage, or if it's a may, helping and inspiring other young people to follow their dreams and kind of do what makes them happy.

that report there from our education correspondent, elaine dunkley. have you ever seen a dolphin stampede? well have a look at these pictures. it's also known as porpoising. the dolphins leap so fast they spend more time in the air than in the water. around 300 dolphins were caught on camera as they travelled at rapid speeds near dana point in southern california. david anderson is a sail boat captain, and he's been describing what he saw. people ask me, what is the most amazing thing you have ever seen? it is for sure without a doubt it is a dolphin stampede. imagine you are in a truck and you are driving along in a stampede of horses, that is what it is like. how do they know how to take off all of a sudden? a lot of the times these things will happen as though somebody fired a gun and theyjust go.

isn't that wonderful? he must‘ve been late. i wonder where were heading? philip is up next. hello there. it's still been very humid, but it's not been quite as hot today across more southern parts of the uk. that's because we've had all these downpours developing, some very heavy bursts of rain, a lot of lightning as well, particularly across southern parts of england. and over the next couple days or so, it's going to be the southern half of the uk that sees most of these downpours, and again it's going to feel on the humid side as well despite those temperatures dropping off a little bit further. further north, mainly dry actually, some sunshine around at times, but there will be some areas of mist and low cloud coming in off the north sea. like we've had today actually, and that could be rather stubborn to move away and it will keep it cooler as well. we've got higher pressure across the northern half of the uk. that's why it's drier, but we've got the easterly winds bringing in the low cloud. further south, lower pressure, clusters of cloud coming in from continental europe or developing across southern parts

of england and into wales. and that's where we're seeing most of the downpours. they're continuing actually into this evening. they may ease off a little bit later on in the night, but we may well introduce some more from continental europe. so, wetter in the south, drierfurther north, the low cloud comes inland. it may bring a bit of drizzle. it's going to be a muggy night, particularly across the southern half of the uk, like it has been of late. so, tomorrow starts off rather grey and misty. we'll see some sunshine developing in many areas. still the potential for some more thundery downpours breaking out across wales, the midlands, east anglia and southern england. and that cloud still sticking into the north east of england, some northern and eastern parts of scotland, so like today rather cool. but quite warm for western scotland, northern ireland, north west england. temperatures in the south east a bit lower than today, 25—26 degrees. into the weekend, we've still got that area of high pressure in the north. it starts to move away and allows the downpours that we're seeing in the south to move their way northwards. not just yet, though. saturday is very similar to friday. again it's wales, the midlands,

east anglia, southern england that are likely to find some heavy, thundery rain, the threat again of some localised flooding. further north, generally dry, but that cloud lingering around some of those north sea coastal areas, keeping it on the cooler side. temperatures aren't going to change a great deal over the weekend, but we're likely to find those showers, still potentially heavy and thundery, moving further north into northern england, up towards northern ireland, threatening southern parts of scotland. some sunshine in between the downpours in the south, and the top temperature of 25 celsius.

hello, welcome to outside source. donald trump announces an historic peace deal, between israel, and the united arab emirates. workers at some state—run companies in belarus down tools — as demonstrations continue against president lukashenko over his disputed election victory. more than 6000 people have been detained there are reports of torture and brutality. we will speak torture and brutality. we will speak to the