seen over these not what i have seen over these last few month. we are coming together and holding onto each other. are finding mercy and grace in the moments we might have once taken for granted. we are seeing that our differences are seeing that our differences are precious and our similarities infinite. we have shown that the heart of this nation still beats with kindness and courage. that is the soul of america joe biden is fighting for now. after our son bo died of cancer, i wondered after our son bo died of cancer, iwondered if after our son bo died of cancer, i wondered if i would ever smile orfeeljoy cancer, i wondered if i would ever smile or feeljoy again. it was summer and there was no warmth left for me. four days after bo‘s funeral, i watched joe shave and put on his suit,

i saw joe shave and put on his suit, isaw him joe shave and put on his suit, i saw him steal himself in the mirror, take a breath, put his shoulders back and walk out into a world empty of our son. he went back to work. that is just who he is. there are times when i couldn't even imagine how he did it, how he put one footin how he did it, how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going. but i've always understood why he did it, for the daughter who convinces her mom to finally get a breast cancer screening mom to finally get a breast cancer screening and misses work to drive her to the clinic. for the community couege clinic. for the community college student who has faced homelessness and survived abuse but finds the grit to finish her degree and make a good life for her kids. for the little boy whose mum is serving as a marine in iraq, who puts on a

brave face in his video call and doesn't complain when the only thing he wants for his birthdate is to be with her. for all of those people, joe gives his personal phone number two. at rope lines and events, the ones he talks to four hours after dinner, helping them smile through their loss, letting them know that they aren't alone. he does it for you. go's purpose has always driven him forward stop his strength of will is unstoppable ——joe's, and strength of will is unstoppable —— joe's, and his faith strength of will is unstoppable ——joe's, and his faith is unsha keable because it ——joe's, and his faith is unshakeable because it is not in politicians or clinical parties or even in himself, it is in the providence of god. his faith is in you, in us, yes, so many classrooms his faith is in you, in us, yes, so many classrooms are quiet right now. the playgrounds are still but if

you listen closely, you can hear the sparks of change in the air across this country, educators, parents, first responders, americans of all walks of life are pulling their shoulders back and fighting for each other, we haven't given up. wejust each other, we haven't given up. we just need each other, we haven't given up. wejust need leadership worthy of our nation, worthy of you, honest leadership to bring us you, honest leadership to bring us back together to recover from this pandemic and prepare for whatever else is next. leadership to reimagine what oui’ leadership to reimagine what our nation will be. that is joe, he and kamala harris will work as hard as you do every day to make this nation better. and if i have the honour of serving as your first lady, i will too. and withjoe as

president, these classrooms will ring out with laughter and possibility once again stop the burdens we carry are heavy and we need someone with strong shoulders. i note that if we entrust this nation to joe, shoulders. i note that if we entrust this nation tojoe, he will do for yourfamily entrust this nation tojoe, he will do for your family what he did for hours, bring us together and make us whole. carry us forward in our time of need, keep the promise of america for all of us. great job, dolly. hello everyone, i amjill job, dolly. hello everyone, i am jill biden's husband. job, dolly. hello everyone, i amjill biden's husband. you can see why she is the love of my life and the rock of our family. she never gives herself much credit but the truth is,

she is the strongest person i know. she has a back bone like a ram ride, she loves fierce and cares deeply and nothing stops when she sets her mind to getting something right. for all of you out there across the country, just think of your favourite educator who gave you the confidence to believe in yourself. that is the kind of first lady, lady, lady, this deal biden will be. so go to joe biden .com tojoin the campaign. thank you all for watching, i will see you soon. thank you. to form a second lady of united states there, jill biden. let's go to the hometown ofjill biden there, wilmington delaware. what did you make of that? it was interesting, she used the silence of the

classroom which he put down to the pandemic, to the failed leadership of donald trump to say thatjoe biden would ring america back and she also use the tragic story of the death ofjoe biden's wife and daughter in a car crash and biden coming onto the scene aged 26 and the way that she said biden made a broken family hole to draw a parallel with what he would do with america. she said, how to make a broken family hole? the same way you make a nation hole with love and understanding. so there we have the person closest to joe biden saying that the way she has witnessed him first—hand ring a broken family together, that this is what he could do for america. nothing there about policy specifics, all entirely an emotional appeal to americans who are fraught with anxiety around coronavirus and this is the pits from jill biden thatjoe biden will be a reassuring man who can unite

us. reassuring man who can unite us. the question of course is, will this work? are people open to this approach? but she certainly was very powerful there for her husband. also hearing from john legend there, on the other side of the screen. an important political pitch therefore the democrats, with them saying we have empathy and president trump does not. exactly and it is a message that came from michelle obama last night, wasn't it. she said that president trump was incapable of feeling empathy. that was the accusation from michelle obama and you have that really underscored again today byjill biden. she was saying thatjoe biden. she was saying thatjoe biden is the man on the rope line who will give you his personal phone number. if you elect him, he will get up every day and go to work for you because he has felt your pain, he has felt that pain in his own broken family and the death of his son. there she was,

trying to make the personal political and yes, this is essential to the democrats argument this week that donald trump is unfit to lead their claim as he has an fit empathy for this precise moment america and semi— people are suffering from coronavirus, for unemployment and racial injustice. this is the pitch from the democrats, the question is whether it works. let us here a bit of what she was speaking about just let us here a bit of what she was speaking aboutjust a few minutes ago. how do you make a broken family hole? the same way you make a nation hole. with love and understanding and with small a cts understanding and with small acts of kindness. with bravery and unwavering faith — whole. you show up for each other in big ways and small ones again and again. it is what so many of you are doing right now for

your loved ones, for complete strangers, for your communities. there are those who want to tell us that our country is hopelessly divided, that our differences are irreconcilable but that is not what i have seen over these last few months. doctorjill biden, former second lady of united states. here is the moment when her husband was officially announced as the pa rty‘s officially announced as the party's nominee. thank you to all of our delegations and i am pleased announce that vice presidentjoe biden has officially been nominated by the democratic party as our candidate for president of the united states. vice president biden is hereby invited to deliver an acceptance speech. well, thank you very, very much. from the bottom of my heart, thank you all. it means the world to me and my family andi the world to me and my family and i will see you on thursday.

thank you, thank you, thank you. applause let's get more reaction on all of this. joining me now from las vegas is professor rebecca gill, she's a political scientist at the university of nevada. your headlines from all of this s0 your headlines from all of this so far? well, it's been an interesting evening and not entirely unexpected either. i think what the democrats were attempting to do today was really to get away from just defining and redefining donald trump but really start to definejoe biden trump but really start to define joe biden himself. yes, because all of the political indications have been that actually just saying we're indications have been that actuallyjust saying we're not donald trump and people what the democrats feel is wrong with donald trump is not going to be enough. that's right. you saw a lot of focus on two main

points about joe saw a lot of focus on two main points aboutjoe biden. and one of them is about his level of competence, his long career as a public servant and his foreign—policy chops, and he is ability to engage in bipartisan policy making. and then the other thing was his empathy. so these two things are perhaps in these two things are perhaps in the greatest contrast with president trump. republican strategists of course will be poring over all of this for attack lines. what do you think they will take away from it? attack lines. what do you think they will take away from mm is hard to tell. to me, i have been a little bit surprised at what a difficult time the republicans seem to have actually coming up with a good strategy. they seem to be all over the place. we saw this with the announcement of kamal harris on the ticket and this was not a surprise peak but

there still wasn't a coherent, consistent message from the republicans. so i am not exactly sure what they will pull from this. operably, you know, trying to take things like the introduction and perhaps alexandria ocasio—cortez in her short space to say that maybe he would be controlled by the left—wing of the party but i don't know if that would really stick very well given the overall content of what we saw today. thank you very much joining us. let's bring you up—to—date on the other story that has been on the move in the past few hours. president ibrahim boubakar keita has appeared on state tv in mali to announce his resignation and the dissolution of the government and parliament. he and the prime minister were arrested by the military in an apparent coup attempt. the move has been condemned

by the united nations secretary general and france, the former colonial power. paul hawkins has more. other west african countries are threatening an economic embargo on the country as well. mali's rebel soldiers taking mali's leaders under arrest away from the presidential palace in the capital bamako. inside the car, president ibrahim boubakar keita and prime minister boubou cisse. no—one knew where they were going, and in the early hours of the morning came this broadcast on state tv. the president resigning and dissolving the country's national assembly. "i want no blood to be spilled to keep me in power," he added. in recent months, huge crowds led by this populist imam mahmoud dicko have been calling on the president to step down. a country of 19 million people beset by corruption, a flagging economy, and insecurity caused by jihadists in the north.

which is why the rebel soldiers had their supporters. translation: the whole of mali has been liberated by a republican force. the malian people support them from above and from below. we are really very, very happy. there is no education, there is no health, there is no security. he does not want to listen to these people. translation: we are very happy, because this is the liberation of the people of mali. all of mali's people were waiting for this day. all of mali's people were waiting for the big chief and his men to allow us to breathe. today, honestly, we don't have any words to express what is in our hearts. thank god. the president's arrest had been condemned by the economic community of west african states, the african union, the un and france — the former colonial power which has troops based there. many feel this is a rerun of 2012 when the government's mishandling of a rebellion led to another coup. violent jihadists took

advantage of that chaos to seize northern mali and they are still there today. the seeds of this current coup sown during the previous one eight years ago. many will be hoping now for a smooth transition of power. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: scientists uncover the unseen scale of plastic pollution clogging the atlantic ocean. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed i did have a relationship with ms lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last ten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia

must be free! czechoslovakia must be free! chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people in his home town of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome? " welcome back. very glad to have you with us on bbc news. on the second day of their virtual convention, the democratic party in the united states formally choosesjoe biden to be its presidential candidate.

it is pertaining to that... the postmaster general of the united states has said he's suspending changes to the postal service, which had led to claims that he was trying to interfere in november's presidential election. louis dejoy — a financial donor to president trump — said no changes would be made until after the poll and he expected postal ballots to be delivered on time. the democratic speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi, dismissed allegations. there is no evidence of such widespread fraud and when they asked his chief of staff, "you don't have any evidence of fraud in the vote by mail," he said, "well, you don't have any evidence that there isn't fraud." oh, really?! this is how they insult the intelligence of the american people. and that is why they know they can't win the election on the level

so they have to lie, cheat and steal, and that is what this is. house speaker nancy pelosi there. here in the uk, the retailer marks & spencer is planning to cut 7,000 staff by the end of the year after a slump in sales during the coronavirus pandemic. the cuts amount to about a tenth of the overall workforce. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. you do not see this very often — a new store just opened after lockdown. it is near nottingham and pulling shoppers in. it helps being out of town. it's a different story in many city centres. this is london's oxford street and it's much quieter than it should be. not good if you rely on footfall for sales. this was the first floor at marble arch this lunchtime, one of m&s's key london stores. today, the company said there had been a material shift in trade and it had to act. these new figures

show the challenge. in the two months since reopening, clothing and home sales at its stores were down 48% compared to last year, but online sales were up 39%. this pandemic has driven a rapid change in shopping habits. with more people buying online, fewer workers are needed in stores. m&s was already making big changes before the pandemic. they have been speeded up now. today, 7,000 jobs to go today, the biggest cuts this retailer has ever made. awful news for the people involved, but rather inevitable, i'm afraid. shops like this are expensive to run, the cost does not go down if fewer people turn up to shop and that is what is happening. sooner or later, you have to align your costs with revenue, and that is what m&s is doing today. they're not the only ones? they're not and we will see, i'm afraid, a lot more. just look at the last seven days — 2,500 morejob losses at debenhams, a business on the brink. 350 to go at river island

and new look trying to cut rents to survive. jigsaw could be cutting stores too. now, m&s is taking drastic action to cut costs. most of the job losses will be in its stores. it hopes many will be through voluntary redundancy or early retirement. there will also be newjobs as it invests in online, a retailer that wants to recoverfrom this pandemic with a leaner and more sustainable business. emma simpson, bbc news. she's one of america's most popular stars. ellen degeneres made tv history 20 years ago when she came out as gay on her comedy show. she went on to present the oscars. now, serious allegations of a toxic culture on her long—running chat show have led to three of her top team being fired, and put the whole ellen brand under scrutiny. from los angeles, sophie long. did that not work out? screaming

it is moments and guests like this that have made the ellen show a daytime staple in the lives of millions around the world, turning it into a huge money makerfor warner bros and giving its 62—year—old host, who signs of every episode by saying, "be kind," a massive platform. but after years of rumours, a twitter thread asking people to share stories showing that the star did not practice what she preached, led to damaging media reports and an internal investigation. that has resulted in three top producers being ousted from the show following allegations of bullying, intimidation and sexual misconduct. they have previously categorically denied any wrongdoing. the hope is that there will be real change behind the scenes at the ellen show and across television shows in hollywood. i think the real impact, you know, is to be seen. this is all happening very quickly, this is all unfolding very quickly and it is hard to speculate how a 17—year—old show

will change in 2a hours of a news cycle. ellen degeneres became an icon for lgbt communities around the world when she made history by becoming the first lead character to come out on her own sitcom, ellen, in the 19905. after an initial backlash, her chat show went on to win tens of emmys and she hosted the oscars, confirming both her star power and her place in television history. during the pandemic, ellen has been hosting her show from her home, but many of the senior producers have returned to work here where it is normally filmed this week. an emotional ellen is said to have told staff she found that the reports are heartbreaking and she said the coming season, due to premiere next week, will be their best ever. only ratings will reveal how damaging this has been, both to her reputation and future and to that of the show. sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. goodbye, everybody! thank you, new york! the problem of plastic pollution in the seas is well known.

but new research suggests there could be many more tiny particles of the waste floating just beneath the surface of the atlantic ocean than scientists had realised. the findings, based on an analysis of samples and on computer modelling, highlight the largely invisible scale of the pollution clogging the world's second—largest ocean. victoria gill reports. a common sight on any beach walk. plastic that we've thrown away littering the shore, and in the decades that our discarded plastic waste has been finding its way into the environment, some of it has broken down into tiny pieces that wildlife can mistake for food. so scientists set out to find all of that microplastic, particles smaller than the diameter of a human hair, floating in the atlantic. on an expedition from the uk to the falklands, researchers sieved the top 200 metres of the ocean at different locations and found that between i2 and 2! million tonnes

of plastic is floating in the upper layers of the atlantic. by measuring the mass of very small microplastic particles in the top 200 metres of the atlantic ocean, we arrived at a new estimate of the load of plastic in the entire atlantic, which is much larger than the previous estimate of 17 million tonnes that we thought we had put in in the past 65 years. the team only searched for the three most commonly used packaging plastics, so they say their estimate is likely to be conservative. but what all these microscopic fragments show is that decades of our plastic pollution has been washed out of rivers or even blown on the wind into the ocean. some of that is plastic waste we buried years ago. this is an old legacy landfill site, so this hump of earth is a landfill site that is not in use any more, but all of the rubbish that was buried here, you can see, a lot

of it was plastic — isjust coming out of the ground as the sea erodes this away. so even when this plastic is disposed of formally and put into landfill, its finding its way out of the ground and into the sea. even through the coronavirus pandemic, volunteers have continued to pick up plastic litter from beaches. some environmental groups say the pandemic itself has reignited our addiction to single—use plastics. the disposable mask is now more pervasive. we find more disposable masks than plastic bags on beaches. what we're really asking is that, as much as possible, for people to reduce their use of single—use plastic and if people can dispose of it carefully. over the years, much of this pollution has become too small to see. but as this research reveals, it isn't going away. victoria gill, bbc news. there is more on all the news

at any there is more on all the news atany time there is more on all the news at any time for you on the bbc website and on our twitter feeds. thank you for watching. hello there. if this was autumn or winter, this weather forecast wouldn't look particularly unusual, but, of course, it is summer. the winds over the next few days are going to be exceptionally strong for the time of year, it could cause some problems. low pressure is in charge, the centre of the low up here, this swirl of cloud. you can see these different lumps of cloud just being scooped up by the low and sent in our direction. this one is going to bring some very windy weather through wednesday night and thursday. this lump of cloud bringing rain into the south—west through the first parts of the day. ahead of that, some areas starting off with some mist and fog, but there will be a lot of dry weather, some spells of sunshine. however, this heavy rain will drift its way northwards across england and wales, getting into northern ireland, and perhaps into

southern scotland by the end of the afternoon. the winds will be strengthening all the while, particularly down to the south—west. temperature—wise, 19—23 degrees, quite a humid feel as well. then as we head through wednesday evening, we see this band of rain continuing to journey northwards. more wet weather pushing in from the south—west, and the winds really will start to strengthen. now, this area of low pressure has been named by the irish weather service storm ellen. see all of the white lines, the isobars on this chart, squeezing together. this shows that we have a very deep low, which for the republic of ireland, could well bring damaging winds, exceptionally strong winds for this time of year. but as you can see, those strong winds are also likely to effect western parts of the uk. not as windy as it will be for the republic of ireland, but as we head through wednesday night and through thursday, we are likely to see wind gusts of 40—50mph, a little more than that

in exposed spots in the west. the winds not as strong further east. we will see some outbreaks of rain clearing northwards across scotland, then some sunshine and some showers, temperatures between 21—26 degrees in parts of eastern england. some warm air being sucked up ahead of this area of low pressure, and the low stays with us into friday. still plenty of white lines on this chart, plenty of isobars, so we will see some pretty strong winds continuing. in fact, for some of us, friday is set to be the windiest day of all. showers or longer spells of rain particularly up towards the north—west. largely dry the further south and east you are with some sunshine. top temperatures of 18—24 degrees. so, some unusually windy weather ahead.

this is bbc news. the headlines: on the second day of the democratic party's virtual national convention, joe biden has been formally picked as the party's election nominee. on an evening where the theme was leadership matters former us president bill clinton and political rising star alexandria ocasio—cortez both endorsed him as the man for america. president ibrahim boubakar keita has appeared on state tv in mali to announce his resignation and the dissolution of the government and parliament. he and the prime minister were arrested by the military in an apparent coup attempt. the move has been condemned by the united nations secretary general and france, the former colonial power. the postmaster general of the united states has said he's suspending changes to the postal service, which led to claims that he was trying to interfere in november's presidential election. louis dejoy, a financial donor to president trump, says he expects postal ballots to be delivered on time.