this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. more confusion for a—level students and teachers in england, as the exam regulator withdraws its guidance on appealing against grades — hours after publishing it. this isjust unacceptable, in my view. people are, students and teachers are incredibly anxious, particularly the students who are worried about their futures. this has got to be sorted out. the president of belarus faces another day of protests, as unrest grows over disputed election results. donald trump's younger brother, robert, has died in hospital in new york. he was 71. a two—week quarantine rule has kicked in this weekend for british travellers returning from france, the netherlands and four other countries,

after thousands rushed home to beat the deadline in the early hours. and in australia — a man has apparently punched a great white shark to save his wife during an attack. she was conscious and breathing. she seemed to be doing fairly well, considering the lacerations to her leg. she obviously needed some pain relief. the ambulance were keen to get her straight to hospital. 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. neither a—level nor gcse students were able to sit public exams this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. 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 says 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. jonathan blake reports. 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 this 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 been given some guidance yesterday on how their mock exam results could be used. but hours after the exams regulator published details on how an appeals based on mock results would work, it was pulled, and late last night a statement from quual said: 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 has been explaining how quual's decision to review its guidance on appealing a—level results will potentially confuse students further. it was always going to be controversial, complicated, trying to give them grades without them taking any exams in the first place but this saga continues. we finally got the criteria for the appeals process and actually, you could argue it came quite quickly because it was only the day before the results were announced that the government said students could use their mock results to appeal, should they so wish. it came yesterday, detailed what constitutes a valid mock exam but some hours later, it

was taken down. a lot of people saying this is more chaos, it shows the government perhaps hasn't got a handling on things. this was the reaction earlier on from the chair of the commons education committee. it isa of the commons education committee. it is a huge mess, goodness knows what's going on at quual. it so is confusion among pupils, teachers, teachers and it's the last things we need at this time. we need an appeals system that is simple, people understand it, that it is fairand it people understand it, that it is fair and it helps young people climb the education ladder of opportunity. as far as he is concerned, the most important thing now is the appeals process is up and running as quickly as possible, it is fair and as painless as possible, as well, i suppose. the government still very much sticking by the system, the algorithm that you mentioned before that has been so controversial but

he also mentioned in that interview that if the appeals process can't be sorted out, perhaps there may be no other option than to fall back on the predicted grades, especially if there are more problems seen when there are more problems seen when the gcse results come out on thursday. we can speak now to curtis parfitt—ford who received his a—level results this week — and despite being happy with his own grades, he is now launching a judicial review challenge to the government's system for deciding this year's a—level results. thank you very much for being with us on thank you very much for being with us on bbc news today. what is the basis of your challenge? thank you for having me. we are looking at another different of basis for the challenge, primarily at whether or not quual was acting on its statutory abilities in creating a system which effectively grade school rather than the student. it's starting at looking at the school's history and then only at a later stage adding any evaluation of the individual student. quual's statutory response validity is to

create or cure rate a system that maintains student because my containment and we don't believe this barely does that. so we are addressing that issue. also addressing that issue. also addressing issues relating to data protection and if quual has gone through the required processes to protect peoples rights and the gd pr and data protection rights. and you are involved with a charity that works in this area of the law and as a law on ensuring that people's digital rights, if we can put it like that, or data protection rights aren't eroded. what would you hope thejudicial review aren't eroded. what would you hope the judicial review would achieve? because the process is simply getting government, if it's bound to have breached the law, it has to ta ke have breached the law, it has to take the decision again and arguably that wouldn't help students? what we are looking for at the very many members for the government to ensure there is a free appeal system open to anyone on academic grounds. we saw yesterday coming from the government this appeal is guidance

on how these mock appeals, this triple lock system as they like to call it, would work. they have now withdrawn that guidance but that guidance actually said effectively within it, we accept that centre assessed grades, teachers's grades area assessed grades, teachers's grades are a better predictor than previous mock exams would be but we will only use them if they would be lower than what they mock would tell them. so under the previous policy, set out yesterday, they would accept a grade which was lower than the mock grade, but not accept a higher grade than the mock braid which seems particularly ridiculous. it seems silly to have a system which trusts teachers but only when it is less than the previous grade they have got. so we're looking at a number of different issues around there as well. we want to make sure there is a system in place which works for the students to be able to appeal their grades based on the fact they and their teacher agree the grade

they have given is not based on the work they would have done. this is hopefully a one—off issue in terms of the pandemic and people not being able to sit exams. it is a worry from what you have been through, and i know you did extremely well with your a—levels, congratulations with that. you have an achievement and now you are thinking about other people and how they have missed out. is there a longer but kind of a bigger issue here you think that should cause us to reflect on the way we evaluate people through exam systems ? way we evaluate people through exam systems? because the use of algorithm is something which is becoming more and more widespread. it isa becoming more and more widespread. it is a fair question, i think it's a difficult one to answer. there are obviously plenty of far, far cleverer people than i am who have been looking at this very much longer time. i do think it is important we look at how our examinations system and assessment systems work but at the moment, the most important thing we can do is make things right for the young people who have already been affected by this. whatever happens,

there will be people who have already receive their a—level results and been rejected by university and have had to through clearing or whatever path they were looking to go through. some people have already been potentially affected for the rest of their lives like this. we want to minimise this. we can look at how things work in the future at a later stage, we have time to do that, now we need to focus on people who have already been hurt by this. thank you very much, curtis. the president of belarus is facing another day of protests over last weekend's disputed election. which reportedly saw him take 80% of the vote. mr lukashenko is accused of rigging the vote and unleashing a violent crackdown against demonstrators. there were noisy scenes outside state television buildings in minsk on saturday, with crowds angry that the protests and anti—government viewpoints have been censored. pro—government protesters are gathering for a rally in support of president lukashenko. opposition demonstrators in belarus are preparing for their own protest

to push for his resignation. the president says he is worried about nato military exercise is being carried out in poland and lithuania and has reached a security agreement with president putin. many in belarus see this as a threat to shut down the protests by force with help from president putin. the bbc‘s abdujalil abdurasulov is in minsk with more on the mood among anti—government protesters. it seems that anger has defeated fear 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, it 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 with 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 can also stay in power. 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. the former ambassador to moscow there. donald trump's younger brother robert has died in hospital in new york at the age of 71. the president said he mourned roberts 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, president trump visited him on friday. twitter has published a number of tributes. and this from the former mayor of new york.

president trump 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 of why. 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 for 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's 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 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. who would have that the underfunded, politically unloved mail service could become so controversial in the year 2020? the headlines on bbc news: more confusion for a—level students and teachers in england, as the exam regulator withdraws its guidance on appealing against grades hours after publishing it. thousands of protesters are expected to gather again today in belarus to call for president alexander lukashenko to step down. president trump pays tribute

to his younger brother, robert, who's died in hospital in new york at the age of 71. ajapanese—owned tanker that ran aground on a coral reef off mauritius has split apart. the mv wakashio was carrying nearly 4000 tonnes of fuel when it ran aground on the 25th ofjuly, causing a huge oil spill. as the ship breaks up, the remaining fuel is now spreading into the clear waters. gail maclellan reports. already the oil has poisoned fish, birds and coral reef in the pristine water. since the end ofjuly, thousands of tonnes of thick, black, toxic liquid have spilt from the japanese—owned tanker, mv wakashio, into the sea and onto the beaches of mauritius. now a new leak threatens more damage to the environment and to the livelihoods that depend on it, as the ship breaks in half. there is much anger.

the government has been criticised for doing too little in the week after the ship ran aground. environment agencies have demanded to know from the ship's owners why the vessel was allowed to come so close to the shore. the condition of the tanker is expected to deteriorate as the weather worsens, with waves of up to 11.5 metres expected. in recent months, the coronavirus has devastated the tourism on which mauritius relies. the oil spill is a further bitter blow which it's believed will affect the island's economy for decades. gail maclellan, bbc news. 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. the taliban denied they were involved in the incident. jamsheda young has the latest.

fawzia koofi has now survived two assasination attempts. the trailblazer rose to prominence as a politician after the us led invasion of afghanistan in 2001. the year the taliban was ousted from power. she served as deputy speaker of afg hanistan‘s parliament. she campaigns for women's rights in a nation considered to be one of the hardest places in the world to be female. she is part of the negotiation team for afg hanistan‘s peace talks with the taliban, aimed at ending 19 years of conflict. her attackers shot at her outside kabul. her official facebook account said her right arm was injured but it is not life—threatening. her friends spoke 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 taliban. the shooting comes as afghanistan's government has been releasing taliban prisoners. some have been accused in connection with horrific attacks. their release was a precondition to peace talks with the taliban. as the negotiation approaches, many have concerns about the protection of women's rights. during taliban rule from 1996—2001, women were banned from education and leaving the house without a male relative. koofi does not want peace with the taliban to hurt women's standing in society. if they want to be part of the political structures of afghanistan, 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. jamsheda young, bbc news.

a little earlier i spoke to someone pa rt a little earlier i spoke to someone part of the search and evaluation unit based in kabul and she said there are fears these talks would be further delayed. well, as we have all followed the news and information, freeing these prisoners, particularly the 400 very high profile, involved in suicide attacks and killing scores of afg ha ns attacks and killing scores of afghans and internationals, it seems like this was... it seemed in the past this was one of the main reasons but the bad news we have at the moment is this: prisoners are released, two dates were given for the talks to begin, the 13th of august by the afghan government, it didn't happen. it was supposed to happen today and we have no news or

indication of this delegation from afghanistan travelling. there are hurdles and more and more excuses, that worries us that there is probably no genuine or honest intent to have dialogue to result in ceasefire. and external pressure from some country saying we don't wa nt from some country saying we don't want these prisoners release because they were responsible for killing some of our people? absolutely. as a matter of fact, in the afghan wars since 2001, over 150,000 afghans have been killed. and over 3000 internationals being killed. so as we know, the world doesn't care about over 100,000 afghan lives but these calls, like we had france raising this issue yesterday and a few days ago we had australia also concerned about those who have been involved in killing their nationals

not to be released. so there is a blanket amnesty, a blanket sort of com plete blanket amnesty, a blanket sort of complete bypassing the whole formal legal systems in afghanistan, which is going to have its own consequences. the afghan government and also the afghan people are somehow forced to agree on this release because the choices given to them during the latest consultative round was this, do you want to agree with the freedom of these 400 prisoners or do you want a continuation of war? a search is continuing for two teenagers last seen in the sea near lytham st annes in lancashire. the coastguard, rnli and police were called after reports of three youths in difficulty just before 7pm last night. a 15—year—old boy managed to swim to safety, but a 16—year—old and 18—year—old, both believed to be from dewsbury in west yorkshire, are still missing.

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. firefighters are tackling a fire in la ke firefighters are tackling a fire in lake hughes, california. hundreds of people have been forced from their homes. a surge in household electricity consumption as people try to keep cool has also led to localised power cuts. 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. travellers unable to book into scheduled commercial flights are turning to private jets to get them home following the changes to the uk plasma quarantine list. many charter companies are reported to have a huge increase in demand after the government imposed new quarantine restrictions on people entering the uk from france. one operator saying are troubled. earlier i spoke to the chief executive of private flight and asked him on tuesday was a big c day. yes, it was but this is not that uncommon for private aviation. we tend to always have a surge in enquiries and bookings when there is disruption to the travel industry. what was it like on friday? presumably these were people who had

not expected to need your services, so not expected to need your services, soa not expected to need your services, so a lot of them were people approaching you for the first time presumably? we are talking about quite big sums of money for people, if they wanted to be able to get home? yes, that has been the general trend since the start of the crisis. private aviation, as ijust mentioned, has been there before to step up when airlines have pilot strikes or the annual air traffic control strikes that we see in france, or when snow and ice closes airports, private aviation steps up and there is of the new customers, new passengers using our and there is of the new customers, new passengers using oui’ services for the very first time. but since covid—19 had struck, this has really increased. normally in the industry, we would see 25% new customers. that has turned on its head and now 75% oi’ has turned on its head and now 75% 01’ more has turned on its head and now 75% or more of people using private aviation are doing so for the very first time. you are watching bbc news.

more than 100,000 people considered most at risk from coronavirus can stop shielding from today in wales. vulnerable patients had been advised to stay indoors when the pandemic took hold in march. ashling mcveigh reports. just over two weeks after the rest of the uk, people who are shielding in wales will no longer have stay indoors. around 130,000 people with underlying health conditions had been advised not to leave their homes after lockdown measures were announced. the welsh government now believes that risk is much lower. at the moment we see very few new cases here and that means we now have scope to say to those people who have been in the most vulnerable group and have been shielding, that they can now come out of shielding and start to re—engage with society, start to get back to their normal lives. as with the rest of the uk, support has been available to those who have been unable to venture out

but some of it, like the direct food delivery service, will come to an end. despite that, some charities are advising patients to continue to shield. people who continue to be clinically vulnerable and they deserve all the protection they can get from the government and people have been lucky enough to have a transplant for the first three months afterwards, they need to continue to shield, they need to self—isolate and look after that precious kidney and the chance that they have been given. the welsh government acknowledges that the relaxation will be an anxious time for some people but it has reiterated that this is just a pause and there may be some form of shielding in the future if the virus increases. now for a look at the weather with susan. hello, we may have lost the intense heat of last week but we have kept plenty of humidity. that has made for quite a graeme murty morning across much of the uk. this afternoon, looks like things will

get very lively in some areas. we have a band of showers pushing in from the south. a chance we will see some sunshine coming through the cloud south of the uk through the afternoon that will inject some energy into their shells, potentially turning them heavy and thundery. locally, we could see some flash flooding like we did in essex yesterday. that risk is in the north, wales, and east anglia. by the end of the night, the heaviest showers across north england and a few for wales. a pretty humid night ahead but not as hot as recent nights, 15 in birmingham, 16 in london. monday, the showers head for the north, so some wetter weather after a dry weekend for scotland and northern ireland. further south, they are hard to pick out but they are there. the risk of thunderstorms again for england and wales. the headlines on bbc news. more confusion for a—level students and teachers in england as the exam regulator withdraws its guidance on appealing against grades hours