this is bbc news with the latest headlines... as students protest against the downgrading of a—level results in england, more confusion as the exam regulator withdraws its guidance on appealing against grades — just hours after publishing it. the common thing is anger. a lot of people are really sad and the stress, it is a really stressful time. your future is uncertain. i think the general attitude is, people want change. people want the government to be held accountable. the search for two teenage brothers who went missing in the sea near lytham st annes in lancashire is called off by the coastguard. a huge crowd of opposition supporters gathers in the centre of the belarussian capital minsk — to protest last weekend's disputed election.

president trump pays tribute to his younger brother, robert, who has died in new york aged 71. chloe mccardel — an australian endurance swimmer — finishes a record—breaking crossing of the english channel. and coming up in half an hour — talking movies reports on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on cinema. there's more uncertainty and confusion for hundreds of thousands of a—level and gcse students today. the exams regulator quual

withdrew its advice for those wanting to appeal within hours of making it public. the government has been under fire since thursday's a—level grades were awarded — with nearly 40% downgraded by quual. gcse results are due this week — having been assessed using the same algorithm as a—levels. here's our political correspondent peter saull. in ordinary times, they'd know what the next step would be by now. and the class of 2020 is facing more uncertainty. three days after the results came out, here, or so we thought, was the criteria for appealing. on this page of quual's website, students and teachers could find out what a valid mock exam looks like, but just hours later, the document disappeared. in a statement, the regulator said... "earlier today we published information about mock exam results in appeals. this policy is being reviewed by the quual board and further information will be published in due course." that is a huge mess,

goodness knows what is going on. quual is sowing confusion amongst pupils, head teachers, school teachers and it's the last thing we need at this time. we need a ronseal appeals system that's simple, people understand it. there's no official reason why the criteria was taken down. but some pointed to a section that suggested if a student's mock exam result was better than their predicted grade, the predicted grade would stand. i think this shows the government are making it up as they go along and theyjust simply haven't got a clue. i mean, five months ago they were presented with this problem, and, yes, no situation would be ideal, whenever you're predicting grades, there are going to be some concerns but they failed to learn the lessons from scotland,

they've failed to get a grip on what's going to happen with the a—levels. as the confusion over grades continues, the scramble for university places is well under way. some institutions are offering places regardless of the outcome of appeals. but head teachers want leniency across the board. it's really not good enough for us to be finding out information last night, which our members are going to have to implement. i mean, one head teacher said they're going to have 900 appeals across the school at a time when they are trying to do the logistics of this pandemic. there has to be a sense of government, the regulator, working with the very people who are responsible for young people and to have to implement these ideas. what a time to be education secretary. he says the system must be fairto all yeargroups, notjust this one. but this storm is far from over. hundreds of thousands of gcse students will get their results on thursday. peter saull, bbc news. more than 250 a—level students have gathered in westminster for a protest against the downgrading of thousands of results.

many chanted "trust teachers, not tories" and carried signs calling for the education secretary gavin williamson to resign over the grading system. the common theme is anger. a lot of people are really sad and the stress, it's very stressful time. your future is uncertain. i think the general attitude is, people want change. people want the government to be held accountable for the complete lack of fairness that in five months, they knew this would happen, and that gavin williamson has just completely ignored the needs of young people. i was predicted a, a, a, and i got given b, c, c, and ijust think it's unfair that we got given these grades even though we didn't actually sit the exams in the first place. my centre assessed grades were a star a star a and the grades i received was a star a start be from the algorithm, and because of that, i missed out on my three a offer for history and politics. i got a be in politics and now i can't go to university as a result. i don't really know what to do. the only thing i have left to do is wait for the government to reveal a fair appeals process because even what they publish yesterday

and what they were withdrawn wouldn't have helped me. jolyon maugham is the director of the good law project, a not—for—profit membership organisation which uses the law to protect the interests of the public. they are helping six pupils to bring a claim against quual over failings in the process for awarding a—level results. you listen to some of those students there, julian, and your heart goes out to them, really. i mean, their future, certainly in terms of the university choices has been dashed by this. but do you have any sympathy for quual itself. i mean, they are very, and they to retain public confidence in the exam system andindeedin public confidence in the exam system and indeed in preventing grade inflation. yeah, i mean quual have a number of objections. they have statutory objectives as you say to prevent a grade inflation but they also have objectives to protect public confidence in the system and also to ensure greater access accurate. basically what they have

done is prioritising protecting against grade inflation even at the cost of inaccurate grades which as we have heard and a hearing time and time againi we have heard and a hearing time and time again i hitting hardest exceptional students in weaker schools and indeed giving a boost to poorer students in very successful private schools, and that is exactly the opposite of what we should want to see happening. it seems to us that the good low projects that the —— good law project that a good system would have allowed a little bit of grade inflation in this exceptional coronavirus year which may not have needed to be repeated next year so that universes or universities could assess properly the talents of students up and down the talents of students up and down the country to have done everything asked for them and are now being neither fruits of their own labour by an algorithm. are you saying just

by an algorithm. are you saying just by that answer that we should be following the scottish model because if you look at the pass rate therefore high as it was 89% this year compared to 79% last year. that is it? i think it is acceptable, yes. i do think we will end up following the scottish system and the reason for that is about the mechanics of how this is to operate. we know that about 280,008 have been downgraded, and there is no way on earth that any appeal system can look at all of those individual grades and form a view about whether oi’ grades and form a view about whether or not the dang way to a vital wrong. i mean, it isjust... in practical terms, it can be done. —— whether or not the down grade was right or wrong. i think there is an enormous political outcry and for what it is worth we believe that the government is also legally enormously vulnerable to challenge which is why we have what the challenge, all you have some

solution that removes the need for people to go through hundreds of thousands of exam results working out which ones are right and which ones are wrong, and that system, to us, looks like the scottish system, and if there is a little bit of grade inflation in an exceptional pandemic year, so what, thankfully? ijust don't think pandemic year, so what, thankfully? i just don't think it pandemic year, so what, thankfully? ijust don't think it matters. pandemic year, so what, thankfully? i just don't think it matters. what is the precise nature of the appeal that you are taking to the courts representing the six pupils initially? is that to get it reviewed, to foresee the scottish system, or are you looking for some sort of financial damages as well? we are certainly looking for financial damages. what we're saying is three things. firstly, we say that it is three things. firstly, we say thatitis is three things. firstly, we say that it is procedurally unfair not to give outlier students, exceptional students who have performed well in a proper right of appeal. the second thing we say is that looked at as a whole, the

outputs of the algorithm produces are profoundly unfair, systemically unfair, so one favours to be unlawful, and the third thing to say is, look, 0fqual, you have a statutory obligation to ensure grades are accurate, and if you are dropping, as in the case of one of oui’ dropping, as in the case of one of our e—mails dropping, as in the case of one of oure—mails in our dropping, as in the case of one of our e—mails in our inbox, a student from men aged to weigh you, you know, the grades you get if you don't bother to show up, you cannot possibly defend that system is accurate —— a to a u. we want them to do the right thing, actually, and don't want this to go on for weeks and weeks and months and months while we scramble about what we want. we want the secretary of state to look at the inequalities that this system is producing, hitting ha rd est this system is producing, hitting hardest children who are already at the bottom of the socio economic

pile, and to do the right thing. that's what we want, but if we do not get it we will fight in the courts without hesitation. white mightjust on the point of gavin williamson, where does this leave him? because that whole triple lock thing that was announced a few days ago seems to have been shot by off well a nyway ago seems to have been shot by off well anyway so who is making the decisions here? —— 0fqual anyway. i think it is probably emblematic of what is happening across government. you have government agencies that are delivering to what they understand to be their statutory objectives. in 0fqual‘s case i think not very well, but leave that aside for a second, and you have those agencies put under huge pressure by government. these agencies are very often headed nowadays by political appointees and it creates an appalling conflict of interest. so my guess as to what happened last

night was that 0fqual was under intense pressure to support the government's policy call for a better appeal system, so it was up that blog, and then somebody at 0fqual worked out that actually it was unlawful for them to do what they had done, and so it was taken down again, pending a review of the legal position. the legal position is complicated, undoubtedly, but ultimately 0fqual is now under intense political pressure, which is not really what you want for a qualification authority. thank you very much indeed forjoining us here. i think we can bring you, actually, the response from the deputy leader of the labour party and vena who has just been talking about this now. in an interview she has just about this now. in an interview she hasjust done. i about this now. in an interview she has just done. i think we can about this now. in an interview she hasjust done. i think we can bring that to you now.

it is completely and utterly shameful that the government have done what they have done. they have had months to sort out the exam situation. they have devastated the lives of young people for what has happened while some of had life chances pulled from under theirfeet through no fault of their own and it's about time that borisjohnson ta kes it's about time that borisjohnson takes responsibility and stops making it up as he goes along because it is far too serious about that and he has got to express in the next 2a hours to students, pa rents the next 2a hours to students, parents and teachers how he will fix this historic injustice and fix the mess he has created. angela rayner there. a search for two teenagers missing off the lancashire coast since saturday night has been called off. the coastguard, rnli and police were called after reports of three youths in difficultyjust before seven o'clock last night. a 15 —year—old boy managed to swim to safety. 0ur correspondent fiona trott is in lytham st annes — i asked her why the search was called off.

well, the coast guard is coordinating this operation. they took that decision one hour ago. what we have heard over the past hour is that the police have confirmed the names of the boys that everybody was searching for overnight. 18—year—old mohammed shabir and his brother, 16—year—old ali shabir. they are from dewsbury in west yorkshire and we understand that they were here with their family at lytham saint annes enjoying the good weather. we understand that they got into difficulty in the sea. a 15—year—old boy who was with them managed to swim to shore. he's in hospital at the moment being treated for hypothermia, but there has been a massive search. 0vernight, there were five volunteer lifeboats, the coast guard had the helicopter out, then this morning three more lifeboats were out, a fixed wing aircraft by the coast guard, police, helicopter two and of course don't

forget you will have all the patrols on the ground too, police patrols, coast guard patrols too but the very latest statement we have from the coast guard says this, following a comprehensive search effort made by all, sadly the brothers have not been found and a decision has been made to suspend the search. our thoughts are with the family and friends of those involved. in the republic of ireland, the department of health reported 200 additional cases of coronavirus, which is the largest number of cases in a single day since the beginning of may. i'm joined now by gerald barry, assistant professor of virology at university college dublin. assistant professor of virology how assistant professor of virology land are you by the and how land are you by these figures and why do you think they are beginning to like this? would not

say i am alarmed. it is to an extent... inaudible... it is the thing that we are expecting. since we are opening up into phase three at the beginning ofjuly people have alike, people are socialising well, people are interacting and travelling around the country a bit more so travelling around the country a bit more so inevitably with a virus like this we are going to get an increase in cases. the big concern really is what direction it is going to go from here. when we look back at the beginning of march when we went into lockdown about the middle of march we we re lockdown about the middle of march we were at approximately 50 to 100 cases a day, so we have bypassed that now and back in march it obviously went a lot higher. in ireland, we got up to around 1000 cases a day, so it is concerning to think about whether it might go in the next few weeks, particularly when we are looking towards the beginning of september, when schools are going to be opening in ireland, but the other thing to remember

about ireland is that while we do have some community transfer and transmission of virus between people, another thing that is contributing massively towards a big increase in cases is the fact that we have had some outbreaks in meat processing plants and chilling talents around the country, so some plants have been closed down recently, we are looking at 150 to 200 cases in plants so that alone is contributing to the number of cases that we are having. so how successful has the testing process been where you are?|j successful has the testing process been where you are? i think it is kind of a controversial subject to an extent. it is successful in the sense that we have set up centres across the country to test and to trace people, but i think it could bea trace people, but i think it could be a lot better. we are aiming, really, to be able to test someone and notify them of the result within 24 hours, and we got close to that, when cases were very low, so back in

june for example, but the concern really is that that time is now extending out and it's at three to four days now before somebody is getting a result, and of course combining a little bit of relaxation in people's mines, because this has been going on so long, i think people are... relaxing to an extent in terms of their social distancing and their behaviour, you are getting and their behaviour, you are getting a combination of factors combining, so a combination of factors combining, so people i may be delayed and the results, they are potentially not taking it as seriously as they should be, and so, you know, of course on should be, and so, you know, of course on top of that they are having cases, lots of asymptomatic cases, people going around the country who don't even know they are infected, so that combination of factors is playing into the hands of encouraging this virus to really move around the country more rapidly. he talks about the meat processing plants, but have you got any other spikes in other areas as well which are subjected now to

local lockdowns, rather than what you went through a few months ago? so, obviously a few months ago the whole country was in lockdown, as we re many whole country was in lockdown, as were many countries across the world. we opened up, and we have become quite relaxed in the last six weeks or so, but as a result primarily of the spikes in the meat processing plants in three counties they have reversed back into what one might refer to as phase two so it has gone back a little bit, so places like cinemas, theatres, leisure centres, gyms, they have all closed again. restaurants are only doing takeaway food and outdoor seating, they can't allow people into eat food, so there has been a kind of a visible goal reversal in three counties in the kind of middle and east of the country. associated with the outbreaks in the plants that also probably as a result of that to an extent that has been quite a bit of community transfer but it isn'tjust in those counties. they are the highest and thatis counties. they are the highest and that is where the restrictions are

greater, i suppose, that is where the restrictions are greater, isuppose, but that is where the restrictions are greater, i suppose, but we are getting cases across the country now, and primarily since the country has now, and primarily since the country ha 5 a llowe d now, and primarily since the country has allowed people to move around, people are going on holidays, obviously, they are being encouraged to stay in the country to go on holidays, anti—virus is kind of moving with people, and so counties that didn't have any cases at all, some counties with weeks without cases are now starting to see cases as well primarily because people from other counties may be where it isa from other counties may be where it is a little bit more per and moving, may be bringing the virus with them, going on holidays, going to restaurants and interacting with people, and this is such a contagious virus it is very hard to completely control without seeing an increase in cases every now and then. so i think it's something we need to keep an eye on. people need to be aware and keep concentrating on the fact that this virus is still out there, and hopefully with those things in mind, cases won't go too

high, but it is a concern particularly with schools going back ina few particularly with schools going back in a few weeks. professor, thank you very much indeed. thank you. huge crowds are on the streets of belarus in the biggest protest yet against president alexander lukashenko. but he has again defied calls to quit, claiming his country is under threat from foreign forces. tens of thousands of opposition supporters have joined a "march for freedom", moving through central minsk and chanting that the president should go. meanwhile, in an address to a smaller crowd of several thousand, mr lukashenko called on supporters to defend their country and independence. 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 a thousand %, died in hospital in new york. president trump visited him on friday. on twitter, tributes have been paid— president trump's daughter ivanka said "we will always love you and you are in our hearts and prayers". the former mayor of new york rudi giulani says "robert trump did a lot to help new yorkers in need and we have lost a really good man" and sends his condolences to the trump family. sport and for a full round up, here's gavin ramjaun. .. ronnie 0'sullivan has extended his lead over kyren wilson at the world championship final at the crucible. 0'sullivan had a 10—7 advantage overnight and despite losing the opening frame today to wilson, won the last three in a row before the mid session break to open up a 5frame lead. he nowjust needs 5 frames

to win the world title. and here's live pictures from the crucible. 0'sullivan is aiming for sixth world crown and a record 37th ranking title — wilson is playing in his first world final. catch it on bbc two this afternoon. there's been some play... and more rain... on day four of the second test between england and pakistan in southampton. pakistan added just 13 quick runs this morning before losing their final wicket — all out for 236. but england have lost an early wicket of their own — rory burns out for a duck after just 4 balls. england were on 7—1 before the covers came on — as rain stopped play. time very much running out for both sides to try and get a result. after disappointment for manchester city in the champions league — tonight manchester united will hope to fare better, as they play five time winners sevilla for a place in the europa league final. united have lost both their semi—finals this season — in the fa cup here and league cup — but 0le gunnar solskjaer says his team are ready for tonight's match in cologne and called for his

players to deliver. when you come to a semifinal, you're playing against big teams, good teams with quality. it's time to step up for big players, big game moments. you have to have 100% focus because any little moment can change a game, can win you the game, can lose you the game and we've learned that it's very painful to lose a semifinal. perhaps some news to soften the news of going out of the champions league for kevin de bruyne — he's been named premier league player of the season. the midfielder scored 13 goals for manchester city as they finished runners up to liverpool. he also equalled thierry henry's record of 20 assists. primoz roglic is the latest top cyclist to pull out of the criterium

du dauphine due to injury. he had been leading the race and was many people's favourite for this year's tour de france due to the form he'd showed. but the slovenian didn't start this morning's final stage, because of injuries sustained in a crash yesterday. it's just under two weeks until the start of the tour. and stand by for not one, but two of the most dramatic motorsport crashes you're likely to see... the first came in the moto gp2 race in austria — keep an eye on the middle of the screen, as a rider comes off his bike here... most managed to avoid it, but not hafizh syahrin. the bike appearing to be cut in half.. here's another look, and remarkably he only suffered bruising to his pelvis. thankfully he's ok. absolutely shocking scenes there. and then shortly after in the moto gp race, this happened. a tangle of wheels resulted in an inital crash — but as the riders hit the ground, the two bikes kept moving and both maverick vinales and valentino rossi

were incredibly fortunate not to be hit by either bike. look, through the middle of them. all riders were 0k, with no major injuries. the race was won by italy's andrea dovizioso. that's all the sport for now. you can get the latest on the spanish grand prix, on the bbc website. lewis hamilton is leading there. still in shock about this bike crashes, goodness! can't believe they managed to get out of that. thank you very much for the spot. a swimmer has broken the men's record for the number of cross—channel crossings. australian chloe mccardel took 10 hours and 40 minutes to complete her 35th channel crossing, after setting off from kent on saturday evening.

the 35—year—old started her 21—mile swim from abbot‘s cliff beach near folkestone at 8 pm on saturday, and arrived in francejust before 7 this morning. that's faster than some cross—channel ferries on some days! ms mccardel is now second on the list of the most channel swims, passing the men's record of 34 held by briton kevin murphy. equalling the women's record will be a greater task, however — alison streeter, the "queen of the english channel", has swum the distance 43 times. let's speak now to kevin murphy, male record holder for english channel swims. kevin, they say the cuts are here to be broken, but how do you feel? well, i think all credit to chloe foran well, i think all credit to chloe for an outstanding achievement. perhaps i am one of the few who know just how difficult and how tough it's been. i would say, though, that she has something of a gender issue to be the men's record holder. i have long since been reconciled to the fact that the women's record is 43 and i've done 34. which is still quite a lot. she did it in ten hours

40. way faster or not? know. that is pa rt of 40. way faster or not? know. that is part of her achievement and part of why she is so good, because she has been endurance and she also has the speed, which makes it maybe a little... i go through the water like a she skips across the top much easier. like a court! full swings in 16 days, just tells. i mean she said her muscles were really aching and shejust didn't her muscles were really aching and she just didn't fancy getting back in the channel for quite a long time. just tell us how tough that is for that 21 mile stretch. it is a really, psychologically and physically, the toughest thing that most people have to do. actually, the toughest thing that they will do in their lifetimes. 50% of the success in their lifetimes. 50% of the success of the thing is not down to physical achievement at all, it is

down to psychological achievement, down to psychological achievement, down to psychological achievement, down to willpower and the determination to carry on. you go way, way beyond what your physical limits are, and into a realm where you are in a zone where maybe you try and forget the hurt, you try and forget the fact that you feel sick, you try and forget everything else and just go for the achievement of actually doing it. are you com pletely actually doing it. are you completely sentience, compos mentis when you are doing it, or are you saying you reach this sort of level where you mentally might not even remember where you are? there is a point where i find, it's different obviously different people, but i find that after about nine hours, time tends to just disappear. find that after about nine hours, time tends tojust disappear. and i will will seem like five minutes. i will will seem like five minutes. i will go into a zone, and i yearn for this, very often, i yearn for that zone where time... what i'm doing

actually ceases to mean anything, andl actually ceases to mean anything, and i canjust carry on actually ceases to mean anything, and i can just carry on without feeling the hurt, the everything that goes with it. how important is the crew in the support boat in keeping you going? it is very important, inasmuch as they have to be on top of the feeding arrangements, so be on top of the feeding arrangements, so they have to be able to encourage, they mustn't tell the swimmer where they are, how far they've got to go, but when it comes down to it, it is the swimmer in the water alone. it's very much a lonely spot inasmuch as nobody can help the swimmer in the water, it is down to them to do it. some? over whether she would have to quarantine, she didn't have to do that in the