this is bbc news with the latest headlines. prince charles leads commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary of vj day, the day world war two ended with victory over japan. we salute all those who remain among us and offer our most heartfelt and undying gratitude for those who are gone before. the prince of wales and veterans of the burma campaign lay wreaths at the national memorial arboretum as part of a service of remembrance.

we'll have the latest from events in the uk and around the world, as we remember the day world war two ended. more anger at a—level results in england. we'll speak to the student who told the schools minister he ruined her life, after her a—level results were downgraded and she was rejected by her chosen university. and coming up, philippa thomas hears from people around the world about their extraordinary experiences during the pandemic and how covid—19 has changed their lives. good afternoon.

the prince of wales has led commemorations for the 75th anniversary of vj day, when japan's surrender ended the second world war. prince charles joined veterans and military personnel for a service at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire. he paid tribute to the courage of those who fought, saying their service and sacrifice would "echo through the ages" and remembered all those who lives were blighted by the conflict. nicholas witchell reports. a lone piper at dawn, aboard hms belfast, marking the fact that 75 years ago this morning, the world awoke, finally, to peace. in the open spaces of the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire, a carefully choreographed commemoration attended by a0 veterans who fought in the 14th,

sometimes forgotten, army against a voracious enemy in some of the most challenging of conditions. many tens of thousands of allied troops from many different nations lost their lives in the jungles of southeast asia and tens of thousands more died injapanese prisoner of war camps. they shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. after the sounding of the last post by a royal marine bugler, a two—minute silence was led by the prince of wales.

and in remembrance of lives lost from so many nations, from the british and indian and other allied armies, wreaths were placed at memorials here and in many of the nations that were involved in the conflict. today, in this hallowed place, and in the presence of all those gathered here or in their homes, or wherever they may be, let us affirm that they and the surviving veterans are not forgotten. rather, you are respected, thanked, and cherished with all our hearts and for all time.

75 years on, the forgotten army was remembered and its last survivors cherished. nicholas witchell, bbc news. we can speak now to the historian sir max hastings. thank you for speaking to us here this afternoon. first off, we're hearing a lot about this being the forgotten war, the forgotten army and just how brutal it was. what was it about this particular time in history that lent to those things we're now? it was a very hard business. it's hard enough at any time to risk your lives and make sacrifices for your country. but it becomes especially so if you feel that what's happening to you is not recognised. especially all through the latter half of the second world war, those who were facing in the

so—called forgotten army in burma did often feel that all they heard about was the normandy campaign and the advance into germany, everything happening in europe to defeat hitler. whereas out there in the jungles of burma in dreadful conditions, british and we must forget —— mustn't forget, allied soldiers especially those in the indian army were suffering. also in the 21st—century etiquette is terribly important to remember that although the british and australians and americans suffered much fighting the japanese, the peoples of asia with people who suffered it was the people of india and china and many other nations who suffered terribly and they did feel that their sacrifices were not recognised in the way they should have been. they felt this in 1945 and i think they still think it now, their descendants in 2020. indeed. we are very aware 110w descendants in 2020. indeed. we are very aware now about learning our

history and having that education. there were those who paid the ultimate sacrifice but then there we re ultimate sacrifice but then there were those who came home bearing the burden of four and unable to speak about it. just tell us the reasoning —— burden of war. about it. just tell us the reasoning -- burden of war. there are lots of ways of coping more with what is now called post—traumatic stress. some people wrote memoirs, many people came home and theyjust felt they wa nt to came home and theyjust felt they want to get on with their lives. also, there was a feeling that some of their own families really didn't wa nt to of their own families really didn't want to hear this sort of, "shut up, dad." and if you were a returning father, very often you were looking at children who did not recognise you and to whom you were a stranger. so coming home was immensely traumatic experience. george macdonald fraser the re—creator of

the books was a very young soldier in burma in1945 the books was a very young soldier in burma in 1945 and he will wrote wonderfully vivid memoirs, one of the best of the second world war and he described how in may 1945, his company were about to go into the attack but suddenly a rather pompous officer stood up in front of them and said" men, the european war is over. " and these men who were about to risk their lives for a moment we re to risk their lives for a moment were sort of stunned silence and they burst into a sort of black laughter and one of these said have you told tojo, like? tojo being the japanese dictator. and to them it was almost the last straw to be told that everyone was rejoicing in europe whereas they still had months more of suffering and risking their lives. so yes it is very important we continue to remember what those

quys we continue to remember what those guys on the other side of the world went through. sir max, we have heard lots of discussions about some within the japanese society unable to face this period in their history. what is the legacy of that campaign when we look at relations between the east and the west today? it's very striking. whereas germany has come to terms with its past in the most courageous fashion, but japan has always found it much more difficult. and today china of course exploits the terrible legacy of the warfor exploits the terrible legacy of the war for political and nationalistic purposes but it's hardly surprising, many people in the west often forget china lost at least 15 million dead during the invasion and occupation their country by the japanese between 1931 and 1945. and it's not surprising that the chinese were

full of angerfor this surprising that the chinese were full of anger for this day. about the fact that modern japanese are either talked about nothing in the war in asia or that they are told a pack of lies and the museum alongside the shrine in tokyo where 110w alongside the shrine in tokyo where now convicted war criminals are also remembered, that war museum its version of what happened in the second world war and what japan version of what happened in the second world war and whatjapan did to asia, let's not let's forget what they —— let's forget australia and they —— let's forget australia and the uk, but just they —— let's forget australia and the uk, butjust asia. japan has not been entirely successful coming to terms with it. but we all find it difficult coming to terms with the less attractive parts of our own history but it's fair to say japan has found it more difficult than most countries to face any part of

the truth. could you shed some light on why those two towns, we know the names well, nagasaki and hiroshima we re names well, nagasaki and hiroshima were chosen. what was the strategic reason behind that? it was a complicated story but a sort of frightening in many ways like an awful lot of world war ii targeting. almost the casualness with which they were chosen but they did not drop an atomic bomb on tokyo because tokyo drop an atomic bomb on tokyo because to kyo ha d drop an atomic bomb on tokyo because tokyo had already been completely flattened by so—called firebombing by american bombers. it's important to remember that formerjapanese we re to remember that formerjapanese were killed by american firebombing than were killed in the nuclear explosions of hiroshima and nagasaki. and also there had been talk of dropping a bomb on kyoto, the most sacred of alljapanese cities but for political reasons that was ruled out and hiroshima and la cazette were just

that was ruled out and hiroshima and lacazette were just deemed a cce pta ble lacazette were just deemed acceptable reachable accessible —— nagasaki, almost undamaged targets. the casualness with which they are chosen was one of the things prosthetic find difficulty to come to terms with. —— posterity finds it difficult. i also think one of the biggest mistakes many people make todayis biggest mistakes many people make today is we try and judge things by the standards of the 21st—century and not by those of 1945. and i'm afraid in 1945 when a scientist went to one of the european scientists most closely involved in the manhattan programme went to the us secretary of state and said, talked about this stupendous weapon in the ghastly damage and urge it should not be dropped in a city, and the us secretary of state said that the us congress would have a great deal to

see if the japanese were still fighting in the us had spent i think $2 billion on, a stupendous sum them, creating the atomic bomb and if it was not used as long as the japanese were still fighting, and it sends a very callous thing to say but after six years of world war ii, people were sometimes frighteningly callous and all people could see was that they wanted this to be over and they did not want to have to stage an invasion of the pan with terrible american casualties. 0ne an invasion of the pan with terrible american casualties. one of the ironies of that period. the reason the japanese kept fighting was they felt they still had a chance of resisting an american invasion. if they had known that the americans we re they had known that the americans were not likely to invade them, they might have made peace sooner. sir max hastings, thank you very much indeed. thank you.

in tokyo, the japanese emperor naruhito has expressed deep remorse for his country's past military actions. the war was brought to an end shortly after the us dropped nuclear bombs over the cities of hiroshima and nagasaki. naruhito is the grandson of emperor hirohito, in whose name imperial troops fought the war. translation: since the end of the war, 75 years have passed. the relentless effort of the japanese people has built our country's peace and prosperity today. when thinking of the past, the hardship of our people, we reflect deeply. we are now facing a pandemic of covid—19 and we are facing new challenges, but we shall cooperate with each other to overcome this crisis.

thousands of holiday—makers have arrived back in the uk after a last—minute dash to avoid a mandatory two—week quarantine, which came into effect at 4am this morning. the new rules, which apply to france, the netherlands and four other countries, follow concerns about the rising numbers of coronavirus cases in each. andy moore has the details. there were long queues at calais early this morning as people scrambled to get back to the uk ahead of the 4am deadline. it is 2.45 in the morning, trains are running 90 minutes late, the signs say. at passport control to get this far, they told us we should be fine to get back to the uk for the 4am deadline. on one of the last ferries out of france, from dieppe, some exhausted travellers. i've been told that the ferry people know that we need to get to the uk before four o'clock. so we'll see you later.

the ship docked in newhavenjust before the deadline. 3:58am in the uk. we are on land. fantastic. the airports are also busy with flights to the uk. and the queue just keeps going and going and going. this was nice last night. we've just boarded the plane, at about ten o'clock. been a really long, hard day. so many people at the airport. flying out on flights. at gatwick airport this morning, some of the first passengers arriving back from france who will have to go into quarantine. we were five hours too late for the quarantine, so now we all have to quarantine. my husband is losing money for two weeks. it's ridiculous. we've been in a part of france that's got hardly any covid—19, it feels really safe there as well.

it feels like a very kind of broad brush stroke kind of measure. the passengers arriving here from france are going into a very strict form of self isolation for two weeks. they won't be able to go out for exercise, they won't be able to walk the dog, any shopping will have to be brought to them. and the penalty for breaching those rules starts at £1,000. andy moore, bbc news, gatwick airport. 0ur correspondent gavin lee is at the channel port of dieppe in france and sent us this update. the rush to return from france seems to be over. 0n the ferries, the airports, whether it is the trains in the eurotunnel, it is a lot calmer today but it's interesting. the majorferry operators, here in dieppe and dunkirk and calais saying that they are dealing with increased custom, so they are putting on extra demand and that suggests there are still many people coming back, even if they have to quarantine, because they feel... i've met and spoke to one family, 12 people who have tried to get here. they said they have tried to book online all throughout the day yesterday.

claiming that the prices were going up for flights and frustrated because they will have to quarantine. two haulage workers who have just arrived saying that they were confused. somebody told them that the borders might close and they have been panicking coming from malaga. so stories increasing here of those who have missed the boat now having to quarantine. the government has said it will cover the cost of appeals against a—level results in england, after nearly 40% were downgraded. grades were awarded using a controversial modelling system, with the key factors being the ranking order of pupils and the previous exam results of schools and colleges. this meant the proportion of students who had their a levels downgraded was largest among those from the most deprived backgrounds. nina bunting—mitcham, a student from peterborough, confronted the schools minister nick gibb on radio 4's any questions after her predicted abb was downgraded to three ds. let's hear that exchange.

i have notjust been downgraded two grades, but three grades lower than what i was predicted. and that is rare. 60% of the grades awarded are the what the teacher... the system isn't working, nick gibb. hang on, ijust want to come back, i do want to come back to that. 35%... you have ruined my life. it will not ruin your life, it will be sorted, i can assure you. well, the student in question joins me now, nina bunting—mitcham is in peterborough for us. thank you for speaking to us today. how are you feeling after that exchange? hopeful. hopefully. i'm thinking that to myself there must be some resolution to this. it must be some resolution to this. it must bea be some resolution to this. it must be a mistake. something has gone horrifically wrong. and it doesn't seem like i am the only student it

has happened to. so i'm hopefulfor not only myself, but every other student that has been affected out there. i really hope they have the outcome that they deserve. just remind our viewers what you were predicted, what you needed now grade and what you actually came outwith. was predicted abb in my subjects biology, chemistry and psychology at a—level. i then got a place at the royal veterinary college to study veterinary medicine medicine so i had a place. the minimum i needed was abb. i only actually needed three cs but on thursday i discovered i had been awarded three ds. what went your mind when you saw those grades in front of you? the first thought was my life is com pletely first thought was my life is completely over.

are you all right? yes, i am fine. an appeal system has been put in place. i view began that?|j an appeal system has been put in place. i view began that? i have started the appeal, but i have been informed that there is not yet any clarification on how the government is going to give the students the grades that they deserve. there has been no confirmation if they will use mock or predicted so at the moment, the appeals process seems to be up in the air. can you contacted the college? the royal veterinary couege? the college? the royal veterinary college? i have indeed. u nfortu nately college? i have indeed. unfortunately they cannot keep my place this year unless the appeal comes through by the 31st of august. what have your teacher said about this? they cannot believe it. they are completely and utterly shocked. do you have a plan b in place

because from the sound of it, going to brittany college was and is all that you have —— going to veterinary couege that you have —— going to veterinary college was all you had your sights on? yes, if it has to come to that i am prepared to redo my a—levels all over again so that i get into veterinary medicine. next year. what did you think about what nick gibb said last night? were you encouraged? did you believe him?|j encouraged? did you believe him?” was encouraged and i think i wanted to believe him. but i also feel like the fact he admitted my situation in particular has been an error was contradictory of what he said before when he kept regurgitating that the system they had used was robust. when in fact i am probably living evidence that's not the case. so when we look the system they are using, this modelling system, the ranking system and also very clearly

110w ranking system and also very clearly now where you stay or where students are is working against them, would you say that's what happened in your case when you look at the different factors ? case when you look at the different factors? 10096. in fact, i am in 0.296 of stu d e nts factors? 10096. in fact, i am in 0.296 of students of so i am a very small statistic of students it's happened to, but it seems to me that independent and private schools are the ones that have seemed to have a better outcome, whereas further education, colleges and 61 colleges seem education, colleges and 61 colleges seem to be the ones that have a backlog of this and unfortunately it seems to me to be a complete classist situation. what's your message to the government in terms of what has happened with this really important step in your life? 0ne really important step in your life? one thing really important step in your life? 0ne thingi really important step in your life? one thing i really would like to emphasise is that first of all they need to believe in the teachers. the teachers are professionals, they

have been working many years with students, they see the students every day, they talk to them, they know them personally. they have given them tests, they know the way they write exams, they are the best people to predict the grades that we are supposed to be given and if that happens then maybe they can be spot checks and call teachers to account to say can you give is the evidence to say can you give is the evidence to support why you gave the student to support why you gave the student to grade which i'm sure they will be able to. we are going to say good luck with your appeal and do keep us updated with the outcome. but thank you very much for now. thank you. thank you. some breaking news now. the latest coronavirus figures for scotland have just been released. there have been no reported deaths in the last 24 hours of people who tested positive with covid 19. who tested positive with covid—19. there have also been

51 new confirmed cases of the virus since yesterday. no reported deaths within the last 24 hours but 51 new confirmed cases since yesterday in scotland. an easing of the lockdown takes place in england today, after being postponed from the 1st of august. businesses including soft play centres, casinos and bowling alleys can open, and indoor weddings with up to 30 guests are now permitted. but the changes don't apply in the areas under tighter local restrictions. vivienne nunis reports. newly lengthened lashes after a long wait. close contact beauty treatments are available again. and customers here were quick off the mark. so exciting, it's been like christmas eve, we are alljust so excited to get back to work, get back to doing what we love doing and making our clients happy with lashes and brows again. so we're just over the moon. since opening a couple of hours ago, this salon has already had five

clients through the doors, and they're booked out for the rest of the day. like so many other businesses, the team here are hoping to make back some of the money that's been lost over the past few months. bowling alleys are also opening today. this centre in north london will be disinfected between games, and closing off every second lane. the owner, hollywood bowl, furloughed nearly 2000 workers from its 61 sites during lockdown, but there were still bills to pay. and the company says it has burned through £10 million over the past five months. it's a challenge, and we're just really grateful now that we can start seeing some revenue coming in, and we can get our team back to work. also given the green light today, indoor weddings with up to 30 people. but the rule change comes as a blow for this man, whose venue in croydon usually caters for hundreds of guests, sometimes more than 1,000. he's had to adapt to stay afloat.

we've decided to turn all of our smaller suites into a restaurant, we've decided to turn one of our smaller suites into a restaurant, to have some kind of income stream coming in. and so far, we think we've made the right choice. much of the economy is now trading again. but for many businesses, a return to normality is still a long way off. vivienne nunis, bbc news. thousands of people have gathered in the belarus capital, minsk, to pay their respects to a man who died during opposition protests, following a presidential election that most people believe was rigged. protests have gathered momentum in recent days following a brutal police crackdown, during which thousands have been arrested and many beaten and tortured. the prime ministers of the three baltic republics, latvia, lithuania and estonia, have called on belarus to hold new "free and fair" presidential elections. 0ur correspondent, abdujalil abdurasol, has more.

people are gathering at the metro station in minsk. this is the site where one of the protesters died during the violence here. people are laying flowers in his memory, chanting, "we will never forget, we will never forgive." the crowd is getting bigger and bigger every minute. people keep coming. the drivers that are passing by are honking their car horns in support. this is truly unprecedented for belarus. mr lukashenko in his 26 years of being in power has neverfaced such a challenge before and perhaps this is a sign that he has reached the point of no return. princess anne has been awarded two military promotions in honour of her 70th birthday today. three new pictures of the princess royal have also been released to mark the occasion. she is now a general in the british army and an air chief marshal in the raf. the ministry of defence says

the titles recognise her commitment to the military. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz shafernaker. it has hardly changed across parts of the country, grey skies, drizzle, rumble in the clouds in the distance and thatis in the clouds in the distance and that is what we have for the next 24 hours or possibly next few days. very cloudy, rainy, showery thunder weather and the humid air is still coming in from the south. it's swirling around an area of low pressure. here's a closer look. you can see the moisture in the cloud coming from the south. this bank of cloud will be stuck across much of central and southern britain through the rest of saturday and within it there is a lot of drizzle and rain at times but also the possibility of

thunderstorms. the temperatures are still managing to nudge up into the low 20s where the cloud is but is particularly cool on a north sea coast where we have mist rolling off the north sea, a chilly mist with the north sea, a chilly mist with the breeze coming out of the east. this is what it looks like end of the night on sunday. 17 degrees. that humid air has gone up the north teens overnight. here is sunday's weather forecast and the blobs of blue mean rain. potentialfor thunderstorms on sunday and even if you don't get them, the chances are mostly cloudy day with bits and pieces of drizzle. temperatures around 23 and the possibility of a bit more sunshine developing across southern areas. sunday monday the low pressure and that potentially thunderous weather is still very much with us. in fact look at the blue across the northern