this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. confusion for students and teachers in england, as the exam regulator withdraws its guidance on appealing against grades — just hours after publishing it. this is just unacceptable this isjust unacceptable in my view. students and teachers are anxious, particularly the students who are worried about their futures. this has to be sorted out. thousands of protesters are expected to gather again today in belarus — to call for president alexander lukashenko to step down. a two week quarantine rule has kicked in for british travellers

returning from france, the netherlands and foul other countries after thousands rushed home to beat the deadline. —— four other countries. president trump's younger brother, robert, has died in hospital in new york. he was 71. a missed opportunity once again. manchester city are knocked out of the champions league, as a series of blunders sees them beaten by lyon. 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. there's further confusion for school leavers in england as the exams regulator, quual, withdraws its guidance on appealing against a—level grades — just hours after publishing it.

the government is facing mounting criticism over its handling of a—level results, with thousands of students left devastated. grades were decided using an algorithm that looked at not only how individual students were ranked in ability but also how well their school or college performed in exams in recent years. it means almost 40% of a—level grades were marked down from teachers' predictions. the government has now said it will cover the cost of schools in england appealing against exam grades. but the appeals process has been left confused following quual's decision to withdraw its guidance. students who feel they have been failed by the system. anger at the government's handling of a—level results in england. we want a u—turn like has been done in scotland where they admitted they were wrong and were sorry

and that is what we need as well. we organised the protest today because it is simply not fair. students across the country have been let down by the system. there is no idea what is going on about the appeal process and that is my future hanging in the balance. students hoping to appeal against their allocated grades had given some guidance yesterday on how their mock exam results could be used. but hours after the exams regulator published details on how an appeal based on mock results would work, it was pulled, and late last night a statement from quual said: earlier published information about mock exam results and appeals. the policy is being reviewed and further information will be published in due course. no reason was given for the decision and the department for education, which had welcomed the guidance, appeared to be unaware of what had happened and why. students getting results without taking exams this year have faced

added uncertainty. now those who feel they have been unfairly marked down will face further confusion about how to appeal and there will be added pressure on the government over its handling of the whole exams process. our political correspondent peter saull is with me now. how has this confusion arisen? it is a very messy indeed. it was a last—minute decision to allow stu d e nts to last—minute decision to allow students to use their mock exam results as part of the appeals process , results as part of the appeals process, the day before a level results day on thursday. quual has been scrabbling to get the criteria together. you could argue they did it quickly, getting it done by yesterday afternoon, but then taken down hours later late last night taking the department for education by surprise also. it seems the department put out a statement they we re department put out a statement they were pleased with the criteria. pretty chaotic at the moment and

this was the reaction on bbc brea kfast this was the reaction on bbc breakfast from the commons, chair of the commons education committee. that is a huge mess, goodness knows what is going on at quual. it is confusing for pupils, head teachers, school teachers and the last thing we need at this time. we need a strong appeal system that is simple, people understand it, that is fair and helps young people climb the education ladder of opportunity. he also said he had no idea why the criteria had been taken down but one element that has been picked up on by labour is the criteria said if you get a better result in your mock exams, the teacher predictions would apply. that appears to contradict the triple lock in which you could get the best result, the mock result

should you choose to take it later in the art. the fog of confusion is a frustration, but presumably it adds to the practical difficulties for all kinds of people, employers, potential employers based on these results and universities and other places of learning who are in the process of giving out places but will be doing so on the basis of results that will be ultimately changed. this appeals process has to happen very quickly indeed. the schools minister will head up a task force to make sure it is fair and quick and will be ready in time that the admissions deadline which is the 7th of september but we have gcse results coming this week also so it isa results coming this week also so it is a difficult situation for stuff this was always going to be difficult and contribution, making grade without exams taking place but

the pressure is mounting on the government over this, the labour leader has tweeted this morning saying we have to end the fiasco, no young person should have their future rubbed due to incompetence. the shadow education secretary describing gavin williamson as the most hopeless education secretary in history. the lib dems are calling for him to consider his position. a difficult moment for him and at the centre of this thousands of students who ordinarily would know by now what their next step would be but they are in limbo at the moment. thank you very much. thousands of people have gathered in the belarus capital for a seventh day to voice their opposition to president alexander lukashenko he is accused of rigging the vote and a violent crackdown on those demonstrating in protest. there were noisy scenes outside state television building is in minsk on

saturday meanwhile, president lukashenko says he's worried about nato military exercises being carried out in poland and lithuania, many in belarus interpreted this as a threat to shut down the protests by force with the kremlin‘s help. the bbc‘s abdujalil abdurasulov is in minsk with more on the mood among protesters. it seems that anger has defeated feae and people are now willing to come out onto the streets in big masses. there's thousands and thousands of people who come out to the streets every day and now most protests are taking place during the daytime and that's why people are bringing balloons and they're bringing their children, the family to show the world and to show the authorities that their movement is peaceful, they do not want violence and they want a rerun of the elections because they think that this is the only way for belarus to move forward.

michael mcfaul is a former us ambassador to russia. this is his assessment of what president lukashenko's position would be if russia's president putin intervened. he would be just a puppet figure, reminds me of what the soviets used to do in eastern europe, that would be his fate. he is in a very weak position right now. i actually think his best option is to seek mediation from the west, from the europeans, perhaps with the trump administration involved, and even, by the way, with the russian representation. that might be the least bloody way for him to solve the situation and maybe it doesn't mean that he stays in power but maybe it means he avoids jail and maybe the rest of his government after all, there are historical experiences where members of the old regime, the old autocratic regime sat at the table with the opposition

and crafted a peaceful pact to allow for free and fair elections and eventually democracy and i really hope people in the west will lean into that option because the other option, ithink, is martial law, violence and maybe even civil war and maybe even russian military intervention. donald trump's younger brother robert has died in hospital in new york at the age of 71. the president said he mourned robert's death with a heavy heart, calling him his best friend. robert trump, who once said he backed his older sibling 1000%, died in hospital in new york, reportedly suffering bleeding on the brain after a fall. president trump visited him on friday. has warned the united states is not ready for a postal ballot in the november elections, even though many americans are calling for postal voting in the midst of the pandemic. speaking at a press briefing in newjersey, mr trump said that universal mail—in voting would be catastrophic — without offering an explanation.

his critics say he's trying to suppress voters. alanna petroff has the story. the us postal service has a motto. "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." but apparently they may not be so swift that the us election. president trump reiterated this weekend his claims that universal mail—in voting just won't work after saying on thursday he was blocking additional funding for the service to help with the election. you are going to have a catastrophic situation with universal mail—in votes. he is predicting catastrophe, yet he just appointed a new postmaster general, who is a big trump donor. he is a fantastic man. he wants to make the post office great again. did you ever hear the expression?

he wants to make the post office great again. critics have blamed trump's new postmaster general louis dejoy for a slowdown in deliveries. and as the election approaches, protesters took to the street outside dejoy‘s home. there is no safer way for people to vote than to vote by mail. and this administration is actively trying to dismantle that system so that people cannot vote. and that flies in the face of democracy. in addition to these protesters out on the street, people inside of the postal service say they are concerned. he wants to suppress the vote so that people he doesn't think are going to vote for him, he doesn't want them to have the ability to vote. former president barack obama echoed this sentiment in a tweet this week, saying the trump administration is more concerned with suppressing the vote than suppressing the virus.

he would have that the underfunded, politically unloved mail service could become so controversial in the year 2020? travellers who are unable to book onto scheduled commercial flights, are turning to private jets to get them home — following the changes to the uk's quarantine list. many charter companies are reported to have had a huge increase in demand — after the government imposed new quarantine restrictions on people entering the uk from france — with one operator, privatefly, saying bookings had trebled. we can speak now to adam twidell — the chief eexcutive of the private jet charter company, privatefly. welcome to bbc news. good to speak to you. friday was a busy day? yes, it was, but this is not that uncommon that private aviation we tend to always have a surge in enquiries and bookings when there is disruption to the industry. what was

it like on friday? these are people that had not expected to use your services so they were people approaching you for the first time and quite big sums of money for people if they wanted to get home. that has been the general trend since the start of the crisis. private aviation has been there before to step up when airlines have a pilot strikes or the annual air traffic control strikes, private aviation steps up and thereafter new customers, passengers using our services for the first time. since covid—19 has struck, this has really increased, so normally in the industry, we would see 25% of new customers. that has turned on its head and now 75% or more using private aviation are doing so for the first time. you must be worried

about the long—term prospects for the industry. and look at british airways shedding staff, jets to reporting to get rid of pilots and the constant uncertainties caused by the constant uncertainties caused by the pandemic. putting bettel together, it is shrinking industry. it has been a terrible time across travel. private aviation, well, we are also there adding security to those that needed at this time in regards to protecting themselves against the virus where airlines have got many touch points as you go through a busy airport, private aviation there are far fewer. looking towards the future, one thing is the number of pilots losing theirjobs in airlines that up we went from a pilot shortage in the aviation industry to a surplus

overnight but some of the pilots are now turning tojobs overnight but some of the pilots are now turning to jobs within private aviation. it is quite a significant sector, we employ over one third of a million people in europe, so in some regards private aviation has a good news story, filling the gaps where airlines count at the moment. thank you very much for being with us. more confusion for a—level students and teachers in england as the exam regulator withdraws guidance on appealing against grades on saturday. just hours after publishing it. thousands of protesters expected to gather again in belarus to cough up the president to step down. to make weak quarantine rule kicks in for british travellers returning from france, the netherlands and foul other countries after thousands rushed home to beat saturday mornings

deadline. —— four other countries. to afghanistan now — a high—profile member of the afghan team that's due to hold peace talks with the taliban, has been wounded in a gun—attack near kabul. fawzia koofi is a leading women's rights campaigner and a former member of parliament. jamshayda young has the latest. she has now survived two association attempts. the trailblazer rose to prominence as a politician after the us led invasion of afghanistan in 2001. the year the caliban was ousted from power. she served as deputy speaker of afghanistan's parliament. she campaigns for women's rights in a nation considered to be the hardest places in the world to be female. she is pa rt in the world to be female. she is part of the negotiation team for afg hanistan's peace talks

part of the negotiation team for afghanistan's peace talks with the caliban, aimed at ending 19 years of conflict. her attacker shot at her outside the capital. her official facebook says her right arm was injured but it is not life—threatening. herfriends spoke out on her behalf, the chief of afg hanistan's independent out on her behalf, the chief of afghanistan's independent human rights commission called for an investigation. she noted a worrying pattern of targeted attacks that can negatively impact confidence in the peace process with the caliban. the shooting comes as afghanistan's government has been releasing caliban prisoners. some have been in connection with horrific attacks. it was a precondition for their release. as the negotiation approaches, many have concerns about the protection of women's rights. during talinban royal, women were banned from education and leaving the house without a male relative.

fawzia koofi does not want peace with the taliban to hurt women's standing. if they want to be part of the political structures, they have to adapt to the current situation. the upcoming talks have been a long time in the making, women are understandably wary and this latest attack shows how high the stakes are. joining us now is the political analyst dr 0rzala nemat, part of the ‘research and evaluation unit‘ a think thank you forjoining us. the talks have been in the making for a very long time now. the prospect of direct talks between the taliban and the government, how likely is it the... as we have all followed the

news and information, the freeing of the prisoners, very high profile, killed thousands of afghans and internationals, it seemed like in the past this was one of the breakthroughs and reasons it has been a hurdle. the bad news at the moment is prisoners are released, two dates were given that the talks to begin by the afghan government, it did not happen, it was supposed to start today and we have no news 01’ to start today and we have no news or indication of the delegation from afghanistan travelling to qatar. there are hurdles, more excuses which worries us that there is no genuine honesty and truly having an immediate dialogue for a ceasefire.

and there is external pressure from some countries saying we don't want these prisoners released because they were responsible for killing some of our people. absolutely. in the afghan war since 2001, over 157,000 afghans have been killed. at the same time, a number estimated at 3000 internationals being killed. as we know the world does not care about the over 100,000 afghan lives, but these cars like we had from france raising this issue yesterday and a few days ago we had australia are so concerned about those involved killing their nationals do not be released. there is a blanket amnesty, complete bypass of the whole of formal legal systems in afghanistan which is going to have

its own consequences. the afghan government and the afghan people are somehow fast to agree on the release because the choices given during the consultative general was this. you wa nt to consultative general was this. you want to agree with the freedom of these 400 prisoners or the continuation of war? and i suppose the difficulty, the gulf between foreigners dying in afghanistan and soldiers or the number of afghans in the long while, and that is the argument that the president in afghanistan says if we want to bring the bloodshed to an end, however unpleasant it may be, we have to talk to these people. absolutely. there is a readiness from the afghan side first at the latest evidence from the taliban side as yesterday theyissued from the taliban side as yesterday they issued a statement saying they don't recognise the administration.

fine, don't recognise it, but speak to afg ha ns. fine, don't recognise it, but speak to afghans. you have been speaking to afghans. you have been speaking to americans and killing afghans on the ground. my message to the taliban if they are serious to tasks and we have taken it relatively seriously to prepare for this and begin the tug, why are you scared of speaking to afghans that you are killing? there is violence on the taliban side and from the security forces. my carfor taliban side and from the security forces. my car for both is to take a step ahead and beat masqueraders work for peace. —— my call. 0ne step ahead and beat masqueraders work for peace. —— my call. one of the np members was attacked, the violence is there and the courage that peace requires should be more taken serious by all sides of the

conflict. thank you very much. in australia, a man has taken on a great white shark, apparently punching it to save his wife during an attack. chantelle doyle was attacked by a shark up to three metres long while surfing at shelly beach in port mcquarrie in new south wales. phoebe hopson reports. it's a surfer‘s worst nightmare and it's an encounter you're lucky to survive. chantelle doyle was enjoying a day on the waves with her husband when she was attacked by a shark on shelly beach at port macquarie, new south wales. she made a lucky escape after her husband jumped off his surfboard and punched the shark repeatedly until its released its grip on her leg. he then helped her to safety. yes, she was conscious and breathing. she seemed to be doing fairly well considering the lacerations to her leg. she obviously needed some pain relief. but, yeah, the ambulance were keen to get her straight to hospital for treatment as soon as possible. chantelle was quickly airlifted

to hospitalfor surgery and is described to be in a stable condition. the coast guard and local ambulance service have praised her husband for his bravery. it's believed the shark was a juvenile great white of up to three metres in length. local media reports say it's the third serious attack on the stretch of coast in recent months. although special shark patrols keep a watchful eye over popular beaches, great whites are a common sight in new south wales, however attacks are rare. after the attack, the beach was closed to the public. phoebe hopson, bbc news. in brazil, some of rio dejainero's most popular sites have reopened to the public. people gathered at the feet of the iconic christ the redeemer statue which has been closed for months during the pandemic. sugarloaf mountain also welcomed visitors once again with social distancing measures in place. despite the gradual reopening, experts warn brazil has yet to hit the peak of its health emergency. almost 42,000 cases

were recorded on saturday alone. popstar taylor swift has been on five sell—out world tours. but it seems of all the places she's visited, she was particularly taken by one of britain's tourist hotspots — the lake district. her new album folklore features a song dedicated to the area. ian haslam has been to find out why. # take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die # i don't belong #. it's an unexpected tribute to an area taylor swift has apparently visited. among those to get a mention one of the la kes' famous 19th—century poets. # tell me what are my words worth #. and this is william wordsworth's former home. i think we can really make a connection between wordsworth and taylor. taylor's only 30. you can imagine wordsworth at the same age as taylor. she's trying out new things, she's finding a new style

in her new album, and she's being inspired by the lake poets as well. # these cynical clones # these hunters with cellphones #. a lot of people will see this as quite a nice place and she was writing about it as a place where poets come to die, as a place to come and cry. which isjust a different interpretation of it, i guess. well, it's not true, is it? no, i don't think so. it's a tourist area. # i knew you were trouble when you walked in # so, shame on me now #. we know all about wordsworth. here's some of taylor swift's lyrical work. "heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break. and the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake. baby, i'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. i shake it off, i shake it off." # i shake it off, i shake it off #. what did you think? it's got some good rhymes on it. one of wordsworth's big things was he wanted to speak in the language used by the everyday people so he might admire taylor swift and her ability to write in the language used by everyday people nowadays.

you can't expect to wander lonely as a cloud through the lakes on days like this, though you might get asked about taylor swift's musical tributes. quite opposite things, aren't they? i wouldn't expect it. perhaps she's tapping into the whole staycation thing that's going on at the moment. we're from london and this is the first time we've been here, purely because it's difficult to travel abroad at the moment. i thought you were going to say purely because of taylor swift's song. well, that too. big fan. # i'm setting off, but not without my muse # no, not without you #. she's inspired. we're all inspired when we visit the lakes district in cumbria. and it's great that she's an american artist and she's selling the lake district in cumbria to the american audience. i could be wrong but it's my guess taylor swift probably watches this very programme. if she is watching, what's your message to her? taylor, you would be really welcome to come back, you could help us create some fantastic content that we can get out there to the us audience and invite lots of your fellow country people to come and enjoy the lake district too. chuck in a couple of ‘i heart the lake district‘ t—shirts,

she‘ll be down here in a flash. let‘s hope so. ian haslam, bbc news, grasmere, in the lake district. iam i am ready for the paper review. we will have our reviewers with us soon. that is coming up injust a few minutes‘ time after the latest headlines and a full update from our sports team. but let‘s take a look at the weather. we may have lost the intense heat of last week that we have kept plenty of humidity. it has made a great and murky morning. come the afternoon it looks like things will get lively in some areas, band of showers pushing from the south, a chance of some sunshine through the cloud in the south through the afternoon and that will inject energy into the showers, potentially turning them heavy and

thundery. locally, some are flash flooding possibly. the risk tra nsfers for flooding possibly. the risk transfers for the mouth across wales and the midlands and east anglia. by the end of the night, heaviest showers across northern england, and some in wales. a muggy night ahead, but not as hard as recent nights, but not as hard as recent nights, but there of 15 in birmingham and 16 in london. monday, xiao was head for the gnarled, wet weather after a dry weekend. further south, the gnarled, wet weather after a dry weekend. furthersouth, had to the gnarled, wet weather after a dry weekend. further south, had to pick out, the risk of some thunderstorms for england and wales. you are watching bbc news. the headlines... more confusion far after the withdrawing of guidance by 0fqual. thousands of protesters expected together again in belarus today to call for president lukashenko to step down. a two—week

quarantine