this is bbc news. the headlines at 4pm... 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. like, yourfuture is uncertain. i think the general attitude is, people want change. people want the government to be held accountable. it's about time that boris johnson takes for this and stops making it up as he goes along, because it's far too serious for that, and i think in the next 2a hours he's got to come and explain to students, parents and teachers, how he will address this historic injustice.

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. and world champion lewis hamilton sweeps to victory in the spanish grand prix — and extends his lead in the drivers‘ championship. chloe mccardel — an australian endurance swimmer — finishes a record—breaking crossing of the english channel. and coming up at 4:30 — dateline london discusses the deal between israel and the united arab emirates.

hello, and welcome to bbc news. 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 their 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... 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 is 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 their 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 who 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. like, yourfuture 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 for five months, they knew this would happen, and that gavin williamson has just completely ignored the needs of young people. i was predicted aaa and i got given bcc, 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‘a‘a and the grades i received was a‘a‘b from the algorithm, and because of that, i missed out on my aaa offer for history and politics. i got a b 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 published yesterday and what they have withdrawn wouldn't have helped me. well, labour's deputy leader angela rayner has called for the prime minister to hold a press conference on the a—level situation in the next 2a hours. it is completely and utterly shameful that the government have done what they've done. they've had months to sort out the exam situation. they've devastated the lives of young people with what's happened, where some have had their life chances literally pulled from under their feet through no fault of their own, and it's about time that boris johnson takes personal responsibility for this and stops making it up as he goes along, cos it's far too serious for that, and i think in the next 2a hours he's got to come and explain to students, parents and teachers how he will address this historic injustice and fix the mess, quite frankly, that his government's created. 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. i started by asking him whether he had any sympathy with qual. so, quual have a number of objectives. they have statutory objectives, as you rightly point out, 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 are hearing time and time again are 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 at the good law project that a good system would have allowed a little bit of grade inflation in this exceptional coronavirus year — it needn't have been repeated next year — so that universities could assess properly the talents of students up and down the country to have done everything asked for them and are now being denied fruits of their own labour 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 there for highers it was 89% this year compared to 79% last year. that is acceptable, 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 has 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 or not the downgrades were right or wrong. i mean, it isjust... in practical terms, it can be done. i think there is an enormous political outcry and for what it is worth we also 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 ijust don't think it matters. and if there is a little bit

of grade inflation in an exceptional pandemic year, so what, frankly? ijust 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 force through the scottish system, or are you looking for some sort of financial damages as well? we're certainly not looking forfinancial damages. what we are saying is three things. firstly, we say that it is procedurally unfair not to give outlier students, exceptional students who have performed well, a proper right of appeal. the second thing we say is that looked at as a whole, the outputs that the algorithm produces are profoundly unfair, systemically unfair, so unfair as to be unlawful, and the third thing we 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 our e—mails in our inbox, a student from an a to a u , you know, the grade you get if you don't bother to show up, you cannot possibly defend that system as accurate. we believe that the secretary of state and 0fqual are on very, very difficult legal territory here. 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 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.

just 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 0fqual anyway, so who is making the decisions here? that is an interesting question, and 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 put 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. 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 yesterday 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 too and of course don't forget you will have all the patrols on the ground as well, 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 taken to suspend the search. our thoughts are with the family and friends of those involved. fiona trott with that report. 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 the nation 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.

mr lukashenko says he's worried about nato military exercises being carried out in poland and lithuania, and has reached a security agreement with russia. 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 at a pro—government rally. i'm at the main square in the capital minsk. this is a rally in support of president lukashenko. people are coming here bringing flags, the nationalflags of belarus, and gathering in front of the main stage over there where you can hear the music is playing, and we have been hearing reports that a number of state employees were forced to come and attend this meeting. we try to speak to some of the protesters here but most of them refused to talk to us and turned away. and this is the opposition rally which is taking place just a couple of kilometres away from the pro—government demonstration. people are chanting here leave, leave to mr lukashenko, they're saying that after the violence that authorities used to disperse the crowds on the streets, he can no longer be their president.

they demand a rerun of the vote because the elections, they're saying were rigged, and and their votes were stolen. these people are ready to come out onto the streets every day until their demands are met. just bringing you some news that has just been sent now regarding some channel crossings. 65 migrants in five boats have reached the uk yesterday. it brings the total numberfor august yesterday. it brings the total number for august to 1120 people, yesterday. it brings the total numberfor august to 1120 people, a record figure for a single month. that's news just the number of migrants who have been crossing the channel, a very busy time of year in normal years, but even busier this year, normal years, but even busier this yea r, total of normal years, but even busier this year, total of 1120 people have crossed the channel in channel in boats in august so far. you are watching bbc news. let's catch up

with our main headlines at 17 minutes past four. anger and confusion for thousands of a—level and gcse students in england, as the exam regulator withdraws its guidance on appealing against grades — hours after publishing it. the search for two teenage brothers who went missing in the sea near lytham st annes in lancashire is called off by the coastguard. and a huge crowd of opposition supporters gathers in the centre of the belarussian capital minsk — to protest last weekend's disputed election. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. lewis hamilton has extended his lead in the formula one drivers' championship after dominating the spanish grand prix. the world champion started from pole and lead every lap at the circuit de catalunya to claim his fourth win

of the season, ahead of red bull's max verstappen. valtteri bottas was was third in the other mercedes. hamilton's lead is now 37 points over verstappen after six races. ronnie 0'sullivan is now just one frame away from winning a 6th world title at the world snooker championship. despite losing the opening frame earlier 0'sullivan has totally dominated kyren wilson. he's won 7 in a row today to open up a 9 frame lead. the rocket is aiming for a record 37th ranking title — play resumes at 7.30 live on bbc two. play resumes at 7:30 live on bbc two. the weather has got the better of day four in the second test between england and pakistan in southampton, with play called off within the last hour, after rain stopped play earlier on... pakistan added just 13 quick runs this morning before losing their final wicket — all out for 236. but england lost an early wicket from their turn with the bat — rory burns out for a duck after just 4 balls. england were on 7—1 before the covers came on — and stayed on. just one day left in this test, extremely unlikley either

side will 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. kevin de bruyne has 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. the criterium du dauphine usually

provides clues to who's going to win the tour de france, but two of the favourites didn't make it to the finish line. race leader primoz roglic pulled out this morning due to injury, and last year's tour winner egan bernal retired yesterday. so the younger riders took their chances today — roglic‘s team—mate sepp kuss broke away to win the stage and the 24—year—old colombian, dani martinez finished second behind him. to win the race overall, 29 seconds ahead of french rider thibaut pinot. 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.. 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. all riders were okay, with no major injuries. the race was won by italy's andrea dovizioso. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. some sad newsjust some sad news just getting into from wiltshire in the last few moments. police are saying that for young men have died in a car crash on the a4 in wiltshire. it happened in davie hill at the am. a vehicle crashing into the side of a house and

subsequently catching on fire. —— derry hill. documents of the house we re derry hill. documents of the house were evacuated and uninjured. fire service extinguish the place. —— occu pa nts of service extinguish the place. —— occupants of the house. for young males from the local area died at the scene. the department of health and social care has neither confirmed nor denied reports that there's to be a shake—up of public health england. the sunday telegraph reports today that the organisation's pandemic response work was to be merged with nhs test and trace, into a new body called the institute for health protection. the department of health says it's important to "learn the right lessons" from coronavirus for the future. earlier i spoke to professorjohn ashton, who is a former regional director of public health in the north west of england. i asked him if he thinks public health england has been a failure. i think the fact that public health

england is in the line of fire is no surprise to those of us who are familiar with this territory. i mean, we were very excited when it was created in 2013 but it has not lived up to its promise. it has made a whole series of bad mistakes over the last seven years, and it really has had a very poor pandemic, but it is not alone in that. and, you know, we're seeing now the scapegoating of all sorts of organisations. you know, you don't deal with the problem of than overcentralised, dysfunctional organisation by creating another overcentralised, dysfunctional organisation, which is what's being proposed. so the real problem over the last few months has been the weakness of local public health and the way in which public health england has centralise that. the private sector through deloitte and serco hasn't done well either, and what seeing

is a government —— which is trying to do more centralisation again with folks that don't have a health background from what one hears. you don't change horses in midstream and this pandemic and still got a long way to run. what we need is reform and strengthening of public health in england. we need a national public health agency, but it needs to have people there who've really done the job before in a practical hands—on way at a local level. the number of new coronavirus cases in the uk has risen by 1,040 from the previous day. there has been an increase in the number of confirmed new cases recently. as this graph shows the uk has averaged just over 1,000 new cases per day over the past week, although this comes in the context of increased testing. meanwhile — the trend in the number of daily deaths

in the uk has slowed down. in the same 2a hour period a further 5 people with the virus died — taking the total number of deaths to 41,366. these figures were counted using the governments new methodology to record coronavirus deaths. 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. 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. an australian endurance swimmer has completed four channel swims in sixteen days.

chloe mccardel is now the second on the list of the most channel swims and broke the men's record in the process. john mcmanus reports. this was a midnight swim with a difference. chloe mccardel stepped into the water near folkestone in kent at 8pm last night to start her fourth crossing of the channel in 16 days. it took her ten hours and a0 minutes, swimming through the dark and the busiest shipping lane in the world. her safe arrival at calais just before seven this morning means miss mccardel moves to second on the list of those who have achieved the most channel swims but she's surpassed the male record holder, leaving her one place behind briton alison streeter. the australian's already been renowned for endurance swimming but this triumph was also a different kind of challenge for her. as a survivor of domestic abuse, mccardel wanted to raise awareness of those who may have suffered under lockdown. now, back on british soil, she says she's been reassured that,

unlike other arrivals from across the channel, she won't have to quarantine for two weeks. john mcmanus, bbc news. and she's planning to celebrate, she says! now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz schafernaker. downpours for some others again today and that is bound to be some thunder and lightning again too but for other parts of the country it is sort of a cloudy, murky, drizzly day and a bit like in the last couple of days. you can see how much cloud there is across the uk and also a lot cloudier in the north—west of the country compared to what we had yesterday. western scotland not doing so bad, some sunshine there in the western isles. these are the early evening temperatures, around 23 in london so pleasant enough but fairly cool there on the north sea coast. here are the storms moving across the south and north through

the course of the night, it is going to be another muggy night. 16 degrees and we have had some very warm night and the last week or so 01’ more warm night and the last week or so or more and that is not going to change. here's tomorrow's weather forecast and i think that i was going to become more widespread across northern parts of the uk so again it is very hit and miss so some of us will miss the strums tomorrow. goodbye. —— missed a beat storms altogether tomorrow, bye.

hello, this is bbc news with tim wilcox. the 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 search for two teenage brothers who went missing in the sea near lytham st annes in lancashire is called off by the coastguard.