this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. there's been a steep rise in gcse grades in england, wales and northern ireland — pupils have been receiving them after a uk government u—turn means marks are now based on teacher assessments. meanwhile, chaos for hundreds of thousands of pupils as btec students are told they won't get their marks, just hours before they were due to be published. we are working very closely with ucas, with the independent regulator and the exam boards to make sure no young person is disadvantaged as a consequence of this delay. the russian opposition figure alexei navalny is unconscious in hospital with suspected poisoning. the anti—corruption campaigner fell ill during a flight. kamala harris is formally nominated as joe biden‘s running

mate in the us election. if the democrats win she would be the first woman vice president in american history. hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world 7 and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. in the most disruptive academic year in uk history, gcse pass rates for pupils in england have risen dramatically. the coronavirus pandemic caused the cancellation of this year's exams, and, after a government u—turn, grades were not adjusted by the exams regulator, and have instead been awarded by schools. figures released in the past half hour show nearly 79% of papers have

been awarded the gcse pass rate of grade 4 or above — that's an increase of around 9% on last year. there has been a rise of a quarter in the top grades — a 7 or above, which is equivalent to an a in the old system. the exams season has been dogged by chaos, with policy changes leading to grades being altered at the 11th hour. btec grades were pulled last night, just hours before pupils were to receive them, after the exam board pearson said it was worried about unfairness following the government's decision to abandon an algorithm set by the exams regulator. our education correspondent dan johnson is with teachers and pupils at a school in south—east london for us this morning. the last few students are just getting their grades here this morning to stop gcse grades and btec

results, the reality is the same stu d e nts results, the reality is the same students are getting grades for both and it would have been really difficult to withhold btec raid so those grades given out and there is a lot to celebrate for students this morning because the overall pass rate is up on last year significantly. standardisation, moderation, the calculation of these grades was supposed to limit that sort of increase but the unfairness as that became apparent in the system, that led to the u—turn, which is why they reverted to grades agreed by teachers, which is why there has been such an increase on last year. we can speak to some stu d e nts last year. we can speak to some students who have got results this morning was w have gcse and btec results, even though there are still a question over the btec. the btec, they say will come in next week, and they say will come in next week, and the results were actually really good. i didn't expect them to be that good so i'm pretty happy with what i got. you got the gcse is you needed to? yeah, that's all i needed

and i'm happy with that. what were you feeling ahead of this because of all the uncertainty and disruption to your learning this year?|j all the uncertainty and disruption to your learning this year? i was really stressed and nervous because when i found out they were downgrading everybody it hit me, this is bad. but when the news came out they would give everyone equal results i was quite happy about it and i'm happy with what i got now. you got what you needed to make your next move? yes, i do, and i'm happy and excited to see whether future and excited to see whether future and sixth form and everything goes. what do you think of the roller—coaster ride you have been on with so much disruption and changes to the system before grades have been agreed? it's been crazy! very crazy. but at the end of the day i think it was worth it. with the pandemic, we couldn't control what happened during that, but i think everything happens for a reason that it was perfect, the way things were handled in school was really good. and congratulations and thank you for speaking to us. jess got gcse results and btecs. i'm absolutely

over the moon. it couldn't have been better for me, very happy. wow, and are you content they are reliable and fairgrades are you content they are reliable and fair grades after the controversy that has been?” and fair grades after the controversy that has been? i think so. controversy that has been? i think so. i was expecting that because i worked really hard for them. but i'm really happy. did you have a stressful time? i was very stressed. it was all over the place. yesterday it really hit me and my stomach was in knots. yeah, i was very worried but i'm really happy now. and bringing your mum, heather, what you think of the system this year and the wait has been done and the anxiety that has been created again and again? i think there has been so much anxiety for these kids. they have been through so much and had so much to deal with. jess was in hospital at the start of the year so she has almost been in lockdown longer than anyone else and she has done amazing, but she has worked so ha rd done amazing, but she has worked so hard for it. these kits have been

through hell, really, and they didn't deserve it, it deserved to be an easier road to get the results that they deserve. so many late changes to the system. do you think shows there was a lack of preparation here? of course. last night they said about the btecs. i don't think i'm getting them until next week. you have been given a grade this morning but it might not be the final one, so are you concerned about that? a little bit, but at the end of the day i'm not really bothered, with the grades i've got, it's absolutely fine, good enough. what will you do questionably go to bexley grammar and study three studies at lower, three at higher, and also some standard. there are lots of student celebrating here because there is so much achievement on show. a lot of

happy much achievement on show. a lot of ha p py fa ces much achievement on show. a lot of happy faces when they open those envelopes, stark contrast to what we saw a week ago when a level students we re saw a week ago when a level students were getting their results. still questions over the btec results that may have been given out today, may have been withheld today, and the ones given out last week, they will be reviewed again to check students have done the vocational and technical courses and they are not ata technical courses and they are not at a compared to the students who have done —— make knot at a disadvantage compared to the stu d e nts disadvantage compared to the students who have got their a—level and gcse results. the end result is that gcses are up 9% on last year. was it really worth the heartache is one question that will be asked. john skurr is the headteacher at the university academy keighley in yorkshire. taking up the btec question first of all. how disruptive has that been to you and your students? very

disruptive. we have been planning since monday. there was a u—turn earlier in the week and then we got everything in place ready for stu d e nts to everything in place ready for students to arrive today to get the results and then at quarter to five last night we got an e—mail to withhold results. it's been a real challenging situations throughout and it's something schools have co nsta ntly and it's something schools have constantly had to work with throughout this whole process and ultimately our young people to the grades they are getting and it's a co nsta nt grades they are getting and it's a constant moving goalposts that has made it a really hard process for us. made it a really hard process for us. onto the grades they are getting, obviously they have worked ha rd getting, obviously they have worked hard in very difficult circumstances but you will appreciate that there will be others who perhaps graduated, did gcses last year, you may do them next year, who will say, this will be a strange year, we have seen a this will be a strange year, we have seen a surge this will be a strange year, we have seen a surge in this will be a strange year, we have seen a surge in passes this will be a strange year, we have seen a surge in passes and top grades. how is that consistent with grades. how is that consistent with grades across the year? yes, it is a lwa ys grades across the year? yes, it is always going to be a challenge. the

situation we have found ourselves in due to the pandemic will always pose these questions. what we have to do is take this year in isolation and realise there would always be an increase, ultimately as teachers we re increase, ultimately as teachers were predicting grades, depending on examination the grade could change, questions could change, so a 9% increase to me seems fairly reasonable to suggest teacher predictions were fairly accurate to where we find ourselves at at the moment. ultimately you will always believe in your students and if they are 85, 90% of the way to getting the grade then you will give them that additional bit extra because you know they have the potential to improve over the period of time of loss learning they have had. the increase is something that we would expect, 9% is reasonable in relation to the context of the situation and it's something that will constantly pose questions but it's something we have to move forward with now and allow young people to move forwards. your young people today, are they confident? i hear what you say about

the btec delays and the government say they want to get them out next week, but in general getting gcses out today and hoping for btecs next week, do you think they can get on with their lives effectively now and put all this behind them?” with their lives effectively now and put all this behind them? i have a lot of happy young people outside looking forward to the next stages. we have our looking forward to the next stages. we have oui’ careers looking forward to the next stages. we have our careers team and pastoral tea m we have our careers team and pastoral team working with them to make sure they are clear on the next steps of their pathway and if they are not clear we will support them in the next few weeks to get them through those next steps. it is important as a school that you support the whole child and help them on theirjourney. for many of oui’ them on theirjourney. for many of our young people, they will be aware of how to make the right steps and we have to support them through that and that's what we are doing to stop currently i have a team outside dealing with students and helping them make sense of what the next steps a re them make sense of what the next steps are for their future education oi’ steps are for their future education or work pathways. that's great for those who got that team out there, but give advice to viewers with us who might be 16 and undecided,

confused, may have underperformed. what's your advice to them? ultimately there are always at chances. you can re—sitcom you can go to different courses, you can do foundation courses to lead to other courses. examinations should not be the only benchmark of success and there are many examples of people in society who do very well who don't a lwa ys society who do very well who don't always achieve in examination results. it's about getting support from colleges, connections, careers advisers, for those next steps so you can take the pathway you want and you have every chance to be successful. thank you forjoining us and congratulations to all your students. thank you. the kremlin critic and leading opposition figure alexei navalny is in a serious condition in a siberian hospital, where he was taken after becoming ill on a plane. his spokesperson says he has been poisoned, but doctors at the hospital say that is not certain. mr navalny fell ill on a flight returning to moscow from the city

of tomsk in siberia. the plane made an emergency landing in omsk when he became unwell. sarah rainsford is in moscow. she has the latest on mr navalny‘s condition. the doctor in the hospital in omsk in siberia where he has been treated has confirmed he has been hospitalised there, that he is in intensive care and unconscious and ona intensive care and unconscious and on a ventilator. he has not confirmed that mr navalny has been poisoned. he said there are a number of theories being investigated, many tests are being done. doctors are excluding, ruling out a diagnosis as they move along, but he said poisoning was one possibility being looked into by the team of doctors at that hospital. it is certainly the theory mr navalny‘s team have gone for. they believe he has been poisoned. in fact we spoke to kira

yarmysh and she said he drank a cup of black tea this morning at the airport before getting on the plane and that's all he had had, she said, before he began to feel sick on board the plane. she says he came to her, he was sweating and feeling ill. he went to the back of the plane where he then collapsed. we have seen a video on social media filmed by a fellow passenger with medics heading down the aisle of the plane and you can hear groaning from the back of the plane which we believe this mr navalny, who was then taken off the plane. it made an emergency landing and is now in hospital. why would anyone want to poison mr navalny, and the second pa rt poison mr navalny, and the second part of this question, is poisoning a political tool in russia? part of this question, is poisoning a politicaltool in russia? mr navalny is the most prominent face and voice of opposition, really, now, in russia today. he is extremely critical of the kremlin

and his best—known work, if you like, is in anti he makes videos going afterfigures very like, is in anti he makes videos going after figures very close to the kremlin and exposing what he says are their corrupt activities, properties they own, businesses they have been involved in. he is also very active in supporting opposition candidates for elections. he is currently, we understand, his team are currently trying to back opposition candidates to take on pro—kremlin candidates at local elections around the country, so he is extremely active, although he is never allowed on to state television. the kremlin almost never even mentions his name but he is extreme the active on social media and has a big following across the country, so he is very much often described as a thorn in the side of the kremlin. and as such he is a prominent figure. therefore there is serious concern about what may or may not have happened to him. he has complained in the past and claimed he has been poisoned. in fact when

he has been poisoned. in fact when he was in police detention last summer he was in police detention last summerfor he was in police detention last summer for organising mass protests, he came out in a very heavy rash, his face was very swollen, and he believes that was an attempt to harm him. although doctors at the time said it was a severe allergic reaction, he himself says he never has any allergies and doesn't have allergic reactions. sarah rainsford. the headlines on bbc news... there's been a steep rise in gcse grades in england, wales and northern ireland — pupils have been receiving them after a uk government u—turn means marks are now based on teacher assessments. chaos for hundreds of thousands of pupils as btec students are told they won't get their marks, just hours before they were due to be published. the russian opposition figure alexei navalny is unconscious in hospital with suspected poisoning. the anti—corruption campaigner fell ill during a flight.

let's get more now on the distruption for btec students in england, wales and northern ireland. btecs are vocational qualifications. a decision was taken by exam board pearson on wednesday evening here in the uk to delay the publication of students' results. earlier we heard from our political correspondent, helen catt who explained the implications of that last—minute delay. after that u—turn on a—levels and the u—turn on gcses before the results came out today, the government might have thought it would be in for a slightly calmer day today but the last minute decision by exam board pearson to pull the btec results last night means that isn't the case. it was the exam board's decision to do that but it is a direct consequence of the earlier u—turns on a—levels and gcses and now that grades have been uplifted there, pearson felt it needed to bring btecs in line with that. labour have called this repeated chaos, that it is unacceptable. lib dems have called it a shambles. questions continue to be asked to ministers of what they knew and when.

in particular the schools minister, nick gibb, was asked about claims that a former director general of the department for education, john coles, had raised concerns with the education secretary last month. were you warned six weeks ago there would be problems? john coles rang me, we had a conversation and i was concerned about the issues he was raising. what did you do? so i called a meeting with quual, the regulators, senior officials of the department, this was in mid july, and we went through the concernsjohn had. he felt the model as devised would disadvantage young people from poorer families. we discussed that in great detail and i was reassured it would not. in fact it turned out that it did not. for all the problems we encountered, it has not... the downgrade of the grade did not disproportionally affect young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. are you saying it did not disproportionally affect...

yes. but the grades inflation, according to the algorithm, was higherfor students who were in smaller classes, isn't that true? yes, that's true. because statistically, if you have a small cohort, and those small cohorts can be in the independent sector or the state sector, you... under the model you rely more on the teacher—assessed grades. isn't that the opposite of what you just said? no, because it had a very small impact overall. what i was concerned about always, right from the beginning, at the forefront of my mind, was that the model should not disadvantage people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and that proved to be the case. that's likely to be the focus of a lot of the scrutiny and nick gibb did expect to see enquiries into this and he expects to be called before the education

select committee which is holding an enquiry into the impact of coronavirus on education. he said the statistics authority is looking at the maths of the algorithm. it's interesting he is standing by the algorithm itself saying it's not the model that was wrong but the way it was applied that threw up problems. there will clearly be a lot of scrutiny and a postmortem on this but i think in the immediate term that the pressure will be on the department for education to make sure those exam results do go out next week for btecs and any other problems raised by this are dealt with, and there will be immediate pressure on the department for education to show they are in control of the situation. kamala harris has accepted her nomination as the us democratic party's vice—presidential candidate — becoming the first black woman to do so. speaking at the party convention, she accused president trump of turning tragedies into political weapons. our correspondent, david willis has more. hey, everybody, it's me, kamala.

so before i go on stage later tonight, i want to talk about the importance of voting. prior to bringing down the curtain on an historic night, kamala harris appeared briefly to appeal to democrats to vote. i think we need to ask ourselves, why don't they want us to vote? why is there so much effort to silence our voices? and the answer is because when we vote, things change. unusual though it is for former presidents to attack an incumbent, this week they've almost been lining up. the penultimate night of this decidedly unconventional convention wrote on some familiar democratic themes, among them gun control, climate change and a century since women here won the right to vote, women's rights. four years ago, hillary clinton became the first woman to win the popular vote in an american presidential election, only to lose in the electoral college to donald trump. the same could happen

tojoe biden, donald trump. the same could happen to joe biden, she donald trump. the same could happen tojoe biden, she warned, if democrats didn't turn out to vote. don't forget, joe biden and kamal harris could win by 3 million votes and still lose, take it from me. so we need number is overwhelming so trump can't sneak or steal his way to victory. unusual though it is for former presidents to attack an incumbent, this week they've almost been lining up. first bill clinton. now barack obama. a withering attack delivered in the birthplace of us democracy — philadelphia — in which the 44th occupant of the oval office warned the future of american democracy was on the line. donald trump hasn't grown into thejob — because he can't. and the consequences of that failure are severe. 170,000 americans dead. millions of jobs gone. while those at the top

are taking more than ever. our worst impulses unleashed. a proud reputation around the world badly diminished. and our democratic institutions threatened like never before. kamala harris is my auntie. my stepmom. my big sister. kamala harris' sister, niece and stepdaughter jointly introduced the first black woman to appear on a major party ticket. and introducing herself to the nation, the daughter of jamaican and introducing herself to the nation, the daughter ofjamaican and indian immigrants delivered a deeply personal story. i keep thinking about that 25—year—old indian woman, all of five feet tall, who gave birth to me at kaiser hospital in oakland, california. on that day, she probably could never have imagined that i would be standing before you now and speaking these words. i accept your nomination for vice president of

the united states of america. accepting her party's nomination as vice president, kamala harris warned that america stood at a criticaljuncture, with the presidential election just 75 days away. in this election, we have a chance to change the course of history. we're all in this fight — you, me and joe — together. what an awesome responsibility. democrats hope kamala harris will add energy to the presidential ticket, and inspire particularly african—americans and younger voters to get out to the polls. their convention culminates withjoe biden's acceptance speech tomorrow night. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. well, let's discuss all this with drjulie norman — a political analyst at university college london.

thank you forjoining us. a hugely important moment for kamala harris. how did she manage it? she managed it very well. this was the virtual convention, she was speaking essentially to an empty room, but she really took advantage of that, she really took advantage of that, she reintroduced herself to the american people after her own presidential bid backed in the fall, and tried to weave her personal narrative, being the daughter of immigrants, obviously being the first woman of colour on the ticket, with some of the policies we might see during a joe with some of the policies we might see during ajoe biden administration. more emphasis on thoseissues administration. more emphasis on those issues of immigration, racial justice. weaving her biography through with that vision. and she tried to demarcate what the past has been like through trump and what a future might look like with a harris, biden ticket, and we have seen harris, biden ticket, and we have seen that theme throughout the convention. as we saw in our report, some big hitters coming to stand

alongside her. we had the obamas, hillary clinton, and the message to vote because american democracy is in danger so is that cutting through with voters? that's certainly what democrats hope. having former president barack obama speak at the convention in quite pointed terms that are really unusual for former presidents, especially for obama to use that pointed and critical language of donald trump. but obama and the democrats see it as very necessary to underscore to voters that this election does matter, even though that this election does matter, even thouthoe that this election does matter, even though joe biden is that this election does matter, even thouthoe biden is currently up in the polling, it is still essential to vote and emphasising the fact that the democratic institutions that the democratic institutions that might be under threat under donald trump. joe biden will deliver his big acceptance speech tonight in the campaign. he has been very low

profile up to now. what does he have to do? he has certainly been low—profile, and that has essentially worked pretty well for him over the summer, especially as the crisis had been playing out across the united states. but tonight it's really about his moment tonight it's really about his moment to reorient the conversation about what a biden administration might look like. we have heard a lot about, obviously, the problems of trump, the callousness and chaos, the incompetence, from numerous speakers through the convention but this is really joe speakers through the convention but this is reallyjoe biden's moment to make his sale of who he is and what he wants to do with a potential time in office, so it's a big night and one that immigrants will be paying attention to. —— make one that democrats will be paying attention to, for sure. hashem abedi, the brother of manchester arena bomber, will be sentenced today

for the murder of 22 people in the 2017 terror attack. abedi has refused to attend his two—day sentencing hearing and face the families of the victims, who gave emotional statements in court about the impact of their loss. the united states has told the british government that it won't seek the death penalty for two members of the islamic state group if they're convicted of killing western hostages in iraq and syria. the assurance means uk officials could share evidence with prosecutors in the us for any potential case against the men. alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh have already been stripped of their british citizenship. our security correspondent frank gardner explained the impact this new promise will have. well, in a way, it doesn't necessarily change anything, because it comes with a condition, and the condition is that the uk must share all the evidence, the crucial evidence that it has gathered on these two men so that they can be effectively prosecuted in the us. the problem here is that the supreme

court in britain has upheld a legal challenge by the mother of one of the two men, which is that it is against international practice, because they would be, at the time, they would be subject to a potential death penalty. now, unless the uk can overcome that legal hurdle, the us has said that by the middle of october, if nothing has been resolved, they will hand the two men over to the iraqi government, where they would likely face a very swift trial and historically recently, a lot of those trials have ended in execution. so ironically, her challenge could even end up potentially in a worse fate for the men. this is not what the next of kin want, so the next of kin of the murdered hostages that the men are accused of being involved in, they want to see them on trial, they don't want to see the death penalty, they want to see them face

trial in the united states with all the evidence. hello, this is bbc news with carrie gracie. the headlines — there's been a steep rise in gcse grades in england. pupils have been receiving them after a uk government u—turn means marks are now based on teacher assessments. students in wales and northern ireland are also getting grades today. iam very i am very proud of myself. i feel like the grades i got, i did deserve because i worked hard. meanwhile, chaos for hundreds of thousands of pupils as btec students are told they won't get their marks, just hours before they were due to be published. we are working very closely with ucas, with the independent regulator, and with the exam boards to make sure that no young person is disadvantaged as a consequence of this delay. the russian opposition figure alexei navalny

is unconscious in hospital with suspected poisoning. the anti—corruption campaigner fell ill during a flight. kamala harris is formally nominated as joe biden's running mate in the us presidential election. if the democrats win, she would be the first woman vice president in american history. back to our top story, and teenagers in england, wales, and northern ireland will get their gcse grades given by their schools this morning. btec students will have to wait for their results, which have been delayed because of concerns about fairness. this morning, we've been speaking to our correspondents across the different nations of the uk that are receiving their gcse results today. in a moment, we'll hear from tomos morgan at the mary immaculate high school in cardiff, but first to county antrim, and our correspondent chris page at the carrickfergus academy. a lot of nervousness on this huge morning for pupils and temperatures, but also a lot of excitement and

satisfaction. let's have a quick word with the principal. more positive morning today than what it is fairto positive morning today than what it is fair to say has been a more stressful tha n is fair to say has been a more stressful than usual week. yes, chris, it is absolutely great to get to it today. we are looking at really positive outcomes for all our pupils this morning, compared to last thursday, we are much happier with where we are this week than the last thursday. i am sure you are. as the btec results delay affecting you? you the btec results delay affecting you ? you have the btec results delay affecting you? you have a number of pupils here doing btecs. about a third of oui’ here doing btecs. about a third of our students are waiting for btec results this morning, so a bit of frustration that that was last minute yesterday evening, but we are ina minute yesterday evening, but we are in a position whereby we have got information for our students that allows them to move forward with whatever route they want to take today, whether it is coming back here, further education, or employment, so much better position than this time last week. congratulations to you and your colleagues, you have got more pupils coming in to pick up their gcse results right now, so let's have a

word with a couple of them. enya, have your results, today?” word with a couple of them. enya, have your results, today? i am absolutely pleased with my results i have achieved today. last week was really stressful, because obviously all the drama really stressful, because obviously allthe drama in really stressful, because obviously all the drama in scotland with their results, it was amazing getting them today, and that is it over and done with now. what subjects are you particularly pleased about? you have your envelope in your hand. i received as and bs this year, so i am very pleased with myself, and i would like to pursue a career may be asa would like to pursue a career may be as a lawyer, so i am definitely looking into history and politics a—levels, so i am excited i can get back into school. so you will be staying on here at 46a to begin your a—level studies? staying on here at 46a to begin your a-level studies? yes, i would like finish off my school year to give myself more opportunities later on in life. -- you will be staying here for 60. congratulations to you. the

cold, what results have come your way this morning? lots of as and bs as well. so you are happy with that? definitely, it was a relief to get them with the build—up of the tension surrounding them. last thursday, when the a—level results came out, there was so much controversy came out, there was so much c0 ntrove i’sy over came out, there was so much controversy over the way they had been awarded, so many people disappointed. knowing you have results coming today, a week later, how did that make you feel? definitely did scare me, and raised awareness, because my sister was receiving her a—levels as well, so she was a wee bit wary of hers. so what is the planet now for you that this big day is over and done with? will you be coming back here to begin your a—level studies?” will you be coming back here to begin your a-level studies? i will definitely be filling in the form to return. it seems to be a great place, everybody happy with what they got here, so thank you very much to enya and the cold,

congratulations to you and all your classmates in this cohort here in carrickfergus. 30,000 gcse pupils getting their results. we now go over to wales and my colleague tomos morgan. —— all your classmates in the school hall. as you can see, the pupils here are all receiving their gcse results after what has been a difficult week for them. the u—turn from all the devolved governments on monday meaning the gcse, and a—level pupils across the uk will be receiving grades predicted to them by their temperatures. one happy customer this morning is louie. how did you get on, louie?” customer this morning is louie. how did you get on, louie? i achieved as and bs and a, so i am really happy.

—— set. i am happy with the results i got, and i think my temperatures have treated me fairly. georgia, what are your plans for the future? lam what are your plans for the future? i am looking at a career in medicine. how have you found the last couple of months? they have been weird, and it felt very strange. i feel like we are slowly coping. and i suppose it is the same for you, beatrice, you got what you wa nted for you, beatrice, you got what you wanted and what you feel you have worked for. but not is just not taking the exams, how has it been working from home and doing the coursework you needed to do from home? i have tried my best not to... to make sure i keep my rain active, and waking up early, doing my couege and waking up early, doing my college work, going out for walks, and making sure i could good mental health and stuff because it has been

a long time inside. —— keep my brain active. more than six months now. but with my results, i feel like active. more than six months now. but with my results, ifeel like i put my work in, so i'm happy with the results i got. let's speak to the results i got. let's speak to the head teacher now. always a difficult day, gcse results day, an anxious day for everyone involved, but actually, a lot of these stu d e nts but actually, a lot of these students and students across the country have had to do some work at home, which has been difficult for you and for them. it has, it has been adapting to new technologies, new ways of working, but the teaching profession is a resilient one, and our teaching profession is a resilient one, and our young teaching profession is a resilient one, and our young people are resilient, too, and are able to meet that challenge, i think. resilient, too, and are able to meet that challenge, ithink. one resilient, too, and are able to meet that challenge, i think. one thing that challenge, i think. one thing that i think needs to be looked at now is if there is a second wave and things were to deteriorate again at next year, what lessons could be learned? what things could be done, in your opinion, to ease the burden on teachers and students next year if it were to have similar issues regarding the coronavirus?” if it were to have similar issues regarding the coronavirus? i think the movement by the welsh exam boards to reduce some of the content

and coursework in different courses has meant the ability for teachers to complete the courses is better, going forward, i feel. but of course, all the lessons we have learned over the last few weeks are really positive, about social distance and trim about hygiene, but also about the whole learning structures which we can bring back pretty quickly, really, should they be needed. thank you so much. so people getting what they feel they wa nted people getting what they feel they wanted and what they need to progress further in their careers now, and it has been, well, an anxious week, an anxious few months for all the pupils here in cardiff, as it has been across the uk. now there has been a resolution after those u—turns on monday. tomos, thank you. we can speak to megan sutton and her father shawn. megan has done a btec in childcare with the view to becoming we can speak to megan sutton and her father shawn. megan has done a btec in childcare with the view to becoming a primary school teacher,

and is meant to be off to university halls in three weeks' time, but has not received her grades. iam i am worried because there is no timescale as to when we will get these grades, and hoping to progress is now very worrying. and in terms of your future, can you get any certainty about that before getting these grades, or do you just have to wait patiently? my university have said my place will be there until i get my grades, so just a waiting game now for when i will get them for when i will be able to progress. that is a lot of plane flying around for the various u—turns that have gone on over recent days. —— a lot of blame. do you have a target for your anger? i think it is based towards pearson and my college, because pearson were meant to have been trading us, but obviously my couege been trading us, but obviously my college haven't done very well in contacting us about the situation either. —— meant to have been grading us. we have been contacting them instead of the other way round.

from pearson ‘s point of view, they would feel, i guess, that after the u—turn was made on a—levels and gcses, they have no choice, so they we re gcses, they have no choice, so they were just following on a previous u—turn. were just following on a previous u-turn. yes, yes. shawn, what is your view on all this? because whoever is responsible for it, it is a mess, causing a lot of stress. whoever is responsible for it, it is a mess, causing a lot of stressm isa a mess, causing a lot of stressm is a complete mess. yes, i think the main point we are trying to come across as they were meant to receive the results last thursday, they actually received nothing, and if someone actually received nothing, and if someone would give you a timescale, it would really help. pearson, as i understand, are now doing a u—turn because they want to make the grade level with a levels etc, but again, it isjust the not knowing and the lack of communication. obviously it has been a very difficult year for stu d e nts has been a very difficult year for students like megan anyway out of school, lots of uncertainty about how to approach the end of this

period is, the end of their school life, just how much burden of stress do you think is placed by the way all of this has been handled? there isa all of this has been handled? there is a lot of stress. like you say, they have not had it easy with the covid—19, etc. one minute, they were doing an exam, then they were not doing an exam, then they were not doing an exam, itsjust seems never—ending, andl doing an exam, itsjust seems never—ending, and i hope... that the what is very strong, but i hope they get the results sometime next week, because this can carry on much longer. megan, the government has decided to get you results by next week. are you confident now that if that happens, everything will be a smooth run to university after that? yes, we hope so, yes, everything would then go according to plan. let's hope so. good luck to you, and good luck to all of those around you, your parental support team as well. yes. thank you. thanks, shawn,

thanks, megan. bye. more protests are expected on thursday in belarus, despite the president of the country, alexander lukashenko, ordering security forces to end what he called the unrest in the country. on wednesday, european union leaders agreed to impose sanctions on anyone involved in repression and election fraud after the disputed presidential vote earlier this month. well, jonah fisher is in minsk for us. he gave us the latest. over the last couple of days, there's been a bit of a sense here that the demonstrations and the strikes have slightly lost momentum. yesterday we saw riot police returning to the streets. you may remember that over the weekend and the early part of this week, the riot police really took a step back, people took to the streets in very, very large numbers, and quite a large number of strikers were coming out against president lukashenko. yesterday, a very different mood. president lukashenko coming out with some strong words, instructing the interior ministry here to restore order on the streets of minsk, and certainly the numbers yesterday were considerably reduced,

possibly out of fear that there might be reprisals and attacks on people coming out. back to russia, and an update from the hospital treating the opposition figure alexei navalny. a doctor and hospital treating alexei navalny saying that medics are fighting to save his life. we understand he is on a ventilator, and as an a,. that line now from reuters seeing doctors at the hospital fighting to save his life.

we will have more on mr navalny‘s commission over the course of the coming hours. thousands of people have been forced out of their homes near the us city of san francisco, as a number of fast moving wildfires swept into the region. police and firefighters have been going from door to door, urging people to leave while us authorities say the pilot of a water—dropping helicopter died after his aircraft crashed. the governor of california has declared a state of emergency. tanya dendrinos reports. this is the unmistakable roar of a firestorm. flames licking at the roadway. an ominous orange glow across the blackened sky and residents scrambling to make it out. it took me a while to get out, so my husband was driving the car and he got burnt and he had to leave the car and it blew up so i was walking down by myself.

i got all these flames on me and i lost my shoe, but i made it, god saved me. this couple among thousands forced to flee their homes between san francisco and sacramento as the infernos took hold. precious lives saved as structures were engulfed. from the air, the blanket of smoke reveals the sheer scale of the disaster. a wall of raging fire showcasing the intensity of this blaze and the battle at the hands of fire crews desperately trying to gain control. this is very difficult terrain to operate in, very steep. there's lots of dry fuels, and of course we have very high temperatures and low relative humidities. all the forces aligned to make this a very challenging fight. with hundreds of fires burning across the state and many structures already destroyed, the governor of california has declared a state of emergency. we are experiencing fires the likes of which we haven't seen in many, many years.

the totality when you consider 367 active fires that we are aware of all across the state of california. and for residents still on standby, the anxious wait continues. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. the leaders of the military coup in mali have faced a wave of international pressure after they forced the civilian president, ibrahim boubacar keita, to resign in the wake of mass protests. the un, the us and the eu have condemned what it called the "mutiny" in mali. sylvia lennan—spence reports. this kernel is the self—proclaimed chairman of the national committee for the salvation of the people. after getting rid of president keita, he has been a meeting top government civil servants to work out a way forward. translation: we

can't afford any more mistakes, so we, by making this intervention yesterday, have put the country first, mali first. that is why we no longer have the right to make mistakes. it looked like any other wednesday in the capital. there was little military presence, —— military presence, and no indication a coup had taken place the day before. translation:” a coup had taken place the day before. translation: i support and congratulate the military. i very much appreciated their actions yesterday, by acknowledging the front of the malians. if the population that demands the president's departure, he should have resigned for himself. translation: it is not a coup, because he resigned, so we cannot call it a coup. the army took over at the right time. the army had the cry of the heart, and the despair of the people, and saw that the ideal solution was to intervene on behalf

of the people. translation: we say that mali belongs only to malians. while waiting for a transition, the people are relishing their victory over the regime. the african union has condemned the coup and suspended mali. along with the united states, the eu, and the un, they have called for the release of the president and prime minister. but the kernel is not listening, preferring to talk about putting a transitional civilian government in charge before more elections. —— the colonel. donald trump has called for a boycott of american tyre company goodyear, stoking a controversy over political expression in the workplace. the company allegedly banned its employees from wearing political clothing which supported the president. paul hawkins reports.

the largest tyre company in north america, and now in president trump's bad books. what they are doing is playing politics and the funny thing is that the people who work for goodyear, i can guarantee you, i poll very well with all of those great workers in goodyear, and when they say that you can't have "blue lives matter", you can't show a blue line, you can't wear a maga hat, but you can have other things that are marxist in nature, there's something wrong at the top of goodyear. the company found itself in the president's crosshairs after a report based on a slide from a presentation which had been shared by a goodyear employee. it said clothes bearing the trump campaign slogan "make america great again"

plus "all lives matter" and "blue lives matter" were deemed unacceptable. they want to wear a maga hat or if they want to wear blue lives matter, you know that, right, it's policemen and women. that's a terrible thing, that's a terrible thing. and they are using their power over these people and these people want to wear whatever it is we are talking about, you know that. you have goodyear tyres on the presidential limousine. if there were an alternative, would you want those tires swapped out? yes, i would swap them out based on what i heard. you are going to have a lot of people not wanting to buy their product any more, and they will buy from a competitor. made in the usa, too. goodyear said the slide in question had not been prepared at its headquarters and that its rules forbid activism that falls outside the scope of racialjustice and equity issues, plus, contrary to reports, it wholeheartedly supported both equality and law enforcement. it isn't the first and it won't be the last company to get caught up in battles of politics and race before november's election.

lawyers for britney spears have been in court trying to prevent her father from getting control over many aspects of her life and career once again. the court refused to reinstate the rules, as aruna iyengar reports. dedicated fans making their voices had gathered outside a los angeles courthouse on a mission to free britney. i am here to support britney's freedom. i believe she deserves her basic civil rights, and to be able to spend her money on her terms. she has been working since i wa nt to terms. she has been working since i want to say 11 years old, very hard, yet it is all about greed and power and she does not have the access and the rights to make our own decisions. it is really sad. —— her own decisions. pop star britney spears asked the court not to return

her father to a role that gives him control over her life. he has been his daughter's guardian for 12 years over concerns about her mental health. she wanted her affairs to be permanently controlled by her manager, he was made a temporary conservator in the 2019 after her father suffered his own health problems. but failed to remove him on wednesday after the court made no immediate changes to the conservatorship, much to the dismay of fans, who argue she is being kept prisoner. london's brick lane is famous for its curry restaurants and is the heart of britain s bangladeshi community. but proposals to redevelop parts of the area have been met with opposition by some who live and work there, and raised questions over how to keep a community's identity intact when regenerating a neighbourhood. an iconic part of london's east end. it is home to me. i went to primary school in brick lane, went to arabic classes in brick lane. everybody

knows brick lane. today, brick lane is the heart of the bengali community. the fear is that plans to redevelop the nearby brewery could put that local heritage at risk. what do you proposed div elements, you will have people coming in. it ta kes you will have people coming in. it takes the value from the area and don't take anything out. rents will go up, small businesses will be forced out, residential rents will go up, and it will become a soulless place. this is currently a dilapidated car park... but developers say plans for a new square, shops, and offices that do have the community in mind. we have consulted everyone on the committee, we have met with community groups, including the brick lane mosque, the bangladeshi welfare association, and several honours of smaller local bangladeshi businesses and restau ra nts. bangladeshi businesses and restaurants. they have all been pretty constructive and positive meetings. not everyone is convinced by that. brick lane is arguably best

known for its curry houses. a report from a race equality think tank says the number of bangladeshi run restau ra nts the number of bangladeshi run restaurants here has decreased by more than 60% in 15 years. competition from new developments in higher rent prices suggested as factors. before covid-19, we are fighting for five years, business rate and rent is going to high. business is not even a quarter, my staff is less than half now. this is one of the most deprived parts of the capital, in contrast to the epicentre of rich business a short walk away. so, for some, change is good. it needs a bit of tlc there as well in terms of the pavements. good. it needs a bit of tlc there as well in terms of the pavementsm will bring morejob opportunities for the committee, and i hope... the council says it will take on all

points of view as usual when it decides on the plants that could shoot brick lane's legacy. —— the plans that could shape brick lane's legacy. the big screen is back in the uk, with the reopening of cinemas this month. industry body cinema first says our appetite for cinema—going remains strong after one survey suggested that cinema was the third—most—missed activity during lockdown. our reporter adam mcclean has more. corn popping, dramatic music. it's the unmistakable sound of the cinema — popping corn and a blockbuster soundtrack. this cinema is one of many now reopening after months of being closed. here are your tickets. we have come to see unhinged — it's a new release so it's nice to see, you know, a new film coming out. so we're going to have a drink and chill out and watch a film. i'm very impressed with the seating arrangements — they look comfortable, i feel safe. i think the sooner, the quicker, the better. definitely. get back to a bit of normality. although cinemas are now reopening, there's the challenge of this year's delayed blockbusters,

with many releases put back or delayed indefinitely. but cinemagoers here appreciated the films on offer. we've missed going out so much. this is the first cinema viewing that we've done in about six months, actually, and we used to go once a month, so we've really missed it. we're not taking anything for granted any more. it feels like an event, like it used to be when we were younger — this would be what you would do as your night out, and this feels a bit more special, almost. as doors reopen, the industry needs to bring customers back. this video by the uk cinema association has been made to celebrate the reopening of cinemas. it's now compulsory to wear masks in cinemas, but they can be removed when eating and drinking,

with allocated seating to keep groups apart in the hope that more people return safely to the big screen. you are watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. continuing to see some unseasonably strong winds, high gas overnight, and first thing this morning, and it will continue like this to the course of the day with gusty winds in the west. further east, it will be breezy, and further east as well, more likely to see sunny spells. we have the rain continuing to push north across scotland, eventually clearing the northern isles. a lot of dry weather, a few showers coming in from the west, but the heaviest will be across northern ireland

going through the afternoon. and some of those could also be thundery. in terms of wind gust, we are still looking at gusts in excess of 50 mph, particularly so in western areas. that will have an adverse effect on the temperature, of course, but as we push further east in the sunshine, just a breeze, looking at highs of 26, which will feel quite warm. overnight tonight, still a lot of dry weather, but the rain already in the west will be drifting further east. this is an area of low pressure with storm ellen embedded in it, and if you look at the isobars spreading right the way across the uk, that the stronger winds will notjust be in the west, they will be travelling further east. and as well as that, we have got this rain. the environment agency are warning for the potential for some coastal flooding across parts of south wales, parts of the south—west of england, and the south coast. so not a nice combination, with temperatures tonight falling as low as 15 to 17 celsius,s o fairly mild. as 15 to 17 celsius, so fairly mild. tomorrow sees the band of rain

pushing northwards and turning more northwards as it does so. it will be a gusty day whatever you are. these gusts are strong enough to cause a bit of damage, such as travel disruption, damage small trees, there could be some debris on the roads. and temperatures 16 to 25 celsius. in between the showers, there will be some sunshine. from friday to saturday, low pressure bringing all of this, will continue to drift northwards. the wind tomorrow veers north westerly, and you can see the isobars starting to space out. on saturday, still quite windy, the gusts are still quite strong, but they will not be as strong as in the next couple of days. and temperature wise, we are looking at 1a in the north to 22 celsius in the south, the winds easing on sunday.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. there's been a steep rise in gcse grades in england. pupils have been receiving them after a uk government u—turn means marks are now based on teacher assessments. students in wales and northern ireland are also getting grades today. i'm very proud of myself. i feel like the grades i did deserve because i did work hard. i had one a star, five as and five bs. meanwhile, chaos for hundreds of thousands of pupils as btec students are told they won't get their marks, just hours before they were due to be published. we are working very closely with ucas, with the independent regulator and the exam boards

to make sure no young person is disadvantaged as a consequence of this delay. doctors in russia say that the leading opposition figure alexei navalny is "fighting for his life" and unconscious in hospital with suspected poisoning. kamala harris is formally nominated as joe biden's running mate in the us election. if the democrats win, she would be the first woman vice president in american history. 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. in the most disruptive

academic year in uk history, gcse pass rates for pupils in england have risen dramatically. the coronavirus pandemic caused the cancellation of this year's exams and after a government u—turn, grades were not adjusted by the exams regulator, and have instead been awarded by schools. figures released in the past half hour show nearly 79 percent of papers have been awarded the gcse pass rate of ‘grade 4‘ or above, that's an increase of around 9% on last year. there has been a rise of a quarter in the top grades — a 7 or above, which is equivalent to an ‘a' in the old system. the british prime minister, borisjohnson, has taken to twitter to congratulate those receiving their results... he said "i know the last few months have been tough and this isn't how you imagined you would be finishing year 11, but you can be proud of how you helped to keep the virus under

controlyou have literally saved lives through staying at home and keeping distance from others" the exams season has been dogged by chaos, with policy changes leading to grades being altered at the 11th hour. btec grades were pulled last night, just hours before pupils were to receive them , after the exam board ‘pearson' said, it was worried about unfairness following the government's decision to abandon an algorithm set by the exams regulator for a—levels and gcses. our education correspondent danjohnson has been speaking to pupils at bexleyheath academy in south east london the last few students are just getting their grades here this morning, gcse grades and btec results, because although the awarding body said yesterday that btec results should not be given out, they needed more time to review those, to ensure fairness, the reality is the same students are getting grades for both

and it would have been really difficult to withhold btec grades so those grades given out and there is a lot to celebrate for students this morning because the overall pass rate is up on last year significantly. standardisation, moderation, the calculation of these grades was supposed to limit that sort of increase, but the unfairnesses that became apparent in the system, that led to the u—turn, which is why they reverted to grades agreed by teachers, which is why there has been such an increase on last year. we can speak to some students who have got results this morning. simran, you have gcse and btec results, even though there is still a question over the btecs. the btecs, they say will come in next week, and the results were actually really good. i didn't expect them to be that good, so i'm pretty happy with what i got. you got the gcses you needed to? yeah, that's all i needed and i'm happy with that. what were you feeling ahead of this because of all the uncertainty and disruption to your learning this year? i was really stressed and nervous because when i found out

they were downgrading everybody, it hit me, no, this is bad. but when the news came out they would give everyone equal results, i was quite happy about it and i'm happy with what i've got now. you got what you needed to make your next move? yes, i do, and i'm happy and excited to see where the future and sixth form and everything goes. what do you think of the roller—coaster ride you've been on with so much disruption and changes to the system before grades have been agreed? it's been crazy! very crazy. but at the end of the day, i think it was worth it. with the pandemic, we couldn't control what happened during that, but i think everything happens for a reason and it was perfect, the way things were handled in school was really good. congratulations and thank you for speaking to us. let's bring in jess, who also got gcse results and btecs. how are yours? i'm absolutely over the moon. it couldn't have been better for me, very happy. wow! and are you content

they are reliable and fair grades after the controversy that has been? i think so. i was expecting that because i worked really hard for them. but i'm really happy. did you have a stressful time? i was very stressed. it was all over the place. yesterday, it really hit me and my stomach was in knots. yeah, i was very worried, but i'm really happy now. and let's bring in your mum, heather. what do you think of the system this year and the way it has been done and the anxiety that has been created again and again? i think there has been so much anxiety for these kids. they have been through so much and had so much to deal with. jess was in hospital at the start of the year so she has almost been in lockdown longer than anyone else and she has done amazing, but she has worked so hard for it. these kids have been through hell, really, and they didn't deserve it, it deserved to be an easier road to get the results that they deserve. so many late changes to the system.

do you think it shows there was a lack of preparation here? of course. last night they said about the btecs. i don't think i'm getting them until next week. you have been given a grade this morning but it might not be the final one, so are you concerned about that? a little bit, but at the end of the day, i'm not really bothered, with the grades i've got, it's absolutely fine, good enough. what will you do next? i'll go to bexley grammar and study the baccalaureate, three studies at lower, three at higher, and also some standard. there are lots of students celebrating here because there is so much achievement on show. a lot of happy faces when they open those envelopes, a stark contrast to what we saw a week ago when a—level students were getting their results. still questions over the btec results that may have

been given out today, may have been withheld today, and the ones given out last week, they will be reviewed again to check students who have done these vocational and technical courses aren't at a compared to the students who have got their a—level and gcse results. you ever needed to sort it out in the end, this was all intended to stop grade inflation, the end result was that gcses are up 9% on last year, and was it worth the height of heartache that is a question that should be asked? our political correspondent helen catt is at westminster. questions now but as the text. what is being said? after those u—turns aren't gcses and a—levels, before the results were announced, the government might have expected that today would go more smoothly, but of course that is not the case after the exam board psn at the last

minute said it would not be handing out grades today, that was the exam board's decision but it is a direct consequence of the new take on gcses and a—levels. with so many more higher grades, with 79% we now know have passed gcse this year, that actually pearson felt it needed to look at the btec grades as well to see if they were in line. that is why that has happened and that has been expected to get the results next week. labour has said that this is unacceptable, the liberal democrats have said this is another government shambles, so questions are continuing to be asked as to what ministers knew and when about this whole thing, btec, a—levels and gcses. in particular, the schools minister was asked about claims that a former director—general of the department for education, john coles, had raised concerns about this with the education secretary last month. you want, ——

you warned six weeks ago that they would be problems. yes, john coles rang me, we had a conversation, and i was concerned about the issues that he was raising about them. and so, i called a meeting with quual, with regulated senior officials, this was in mid—july, and we went through the concerns thatjohn had — he felt that the model as devised would disadvantage young people from poorer families and so, we discuss that in great detail and i was reassured that it would not. in fact, it turned out that it did not. for the problem is that we encountered, it has not... the downgrades of the grades did not disproportionately affect young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. are you saying it did not disproportionately affect? the grades inflation, according to the algorithm, was higherfor students who were in smaller classes.

isn't that true? yes, that is true, because statistically, if you have a small cohort and those small cohorts can be in the independent sector or the state sector, under the model, you rely more on the teacher assessed grades that... isn't that the opposite of what you just said? no, because it had a very small impact overall. what i was concerned about, always, right from the beginning, at the forefront of my mind, was that the model should not disadvantage people from disadvantaged backgrounds and that proved to be the case. i think there will be a lots of questions, a lot of scrutiny, particularly on that. and again once parliament returns. he set himself earlier that the education select committee will launch an enquiry into this. the education secretary, gavin williamson, is due before that committee on the 16th of september, but there is a fair bet to expect there will be efforts, the first effort that partner will be back to try and get some of the major players in france have acted to get

some answers. i think there will be a lot of scrutiny, but the immediate pressure is on the department for education to make sure those results do go out in good time to sort out any other issues that might be generated by this and to try and show that they have got control of this issue. ok, hello, thank you for that. lucie lakin is headteacher of carr manor community school in leeds. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. before we get the btec, how have your gcse pupils done? we are really pleased with how our young people have done. obviously, it is very unusual circumstances and the run to collecting the result has been very unusual, but the staff are here today to celebrate with our students, lots of smiling faces, but other children going on to exciting pathways, apprenticeships, college courses and we are really proud of our people. how have your pupils and school as well dealt with that

u—turn? what you make of it all?” think everybody is empathetic to one mistake being made, but i think there is no doubting that this is a catalogue of errors. the results they should not have come as a surprise, since march when the pandemic started, we always knew it was going to be very challenging to avoid young people a—levels, gcses and btec, so really, for it to be so shambolic and thought notices to be given as late as half past four fully it give out results today, it is really acceptable. so, with the btec, what do you understand as to when the results will be released to yourself and your pupils? at the minute, we have been told next week, but you will appreciate that right now there is lots of communication with 61 colleges, children are vying to find the right course for them, the right place, so although we sound like a red is of a short space of time, it is a second significant inconvenience for young people and again, more anxiety and concern and

in my view, unnecessary anxiety and concern. busy, when you talk about anxiety and concern, is a knock—on effect, isn't there? not only long time, but also going on to the new academic year. certainly, we have a whole cohort of children at primary and secondary phase who has missed significant amounts of time of their learning, but also in terms of socialising with their peers and their routines, but additionally, there is now a kind of stigma attached to the grades and if we are not careful and starts to question the validity of the centre assessed grades, we are going to do a disservice to an entire generation. the grades were moderated and standardised by professionals who knew the children and neither ability, it said any computer—generated algorithm and the children deserve those grades that represent 11 or 13 years of study and asa represent 11 or 13 years of study and as a nation, we should be proud of what the students are collecting today. we have had a lot about the algorithm and also people saying

that they are trying to avoid bias from the teachers, trying to make those results as fair as possible. how did you understand that algorithm? how was it working against your pupils? the algorithm basically, is rooted in a lab session to make sure that we have an exa m syste m session to make sure that we have an exam system that shows no improvement, that we hold fast, it is hidden under the masquerade of employer confidence or confidence in the validity of the grades, but actually the algorithm is going to an award and student based not on nobility of what their teacher had thought of them too, but how a student dead on a previous year and ido student dead on a previous year and i do not think that inspires confidence in the examination system. we need to be and universities were once an examination system where there is parity and confidence. instead, this year, we have had chaos and confusion. finally, what is your advice, then, to students from today, moving forward? my advice would always be to talk to the adults who know them well, to go to

their schools, to speak to the professionals who worked with them, who care about them, who will have their interest in their future at their interest in their future at the heart of their decision—making, so the heart of their decision—making, so go and speak to your students —— make teachers, and get the advice and guidance and access the opportunities that your accreditation will to you. thank you, lucy from leeds. we have some news is coming into it here, we understand that nigel wright, a sheep farmerfrom understand that nigel wright, a sheep farmer from lincolnshire, understand that nigel wright, a sheep farmerfrom lincolnshire, has been convicted at the old bailey of two counts of contaminating food after placing three jars of baby food laced with shards of metal in twomack tesco stores. this goes back to may 2018 and february also, he was trying to extort, blackmail, tesco for £1.11 million of bitcoin.

this was part of his plots. he initially denied the two counts of contaminating the goods and also three counts of blackmail. they discovered the jars and it prompted tesco to issue a product recall. just remind you that nigel wright, 45 yard sheep farmer from lincolnshire has been convicted at the old bailey of two counts of contaminating food after placing jars of baby food laced with shards of metal in two tesco stores. the headlines on bbc news... there's been a steep rise in gcse grades in england. pupils have been receiving them after a uk government u—turn means marks are now based on teacher assessments. students in wales and northern ireland are also getting grades today

meanwhile, chaos for hundreds of thousands of pupils as btec students are told they won't get their marks, just hours before they were due to be published. the russian opposition figure alexei navalny is unconscious in hospital with suspected poisoning. the anti—corruption campaigner fell ill during a flight. a prominent opposition leader in russia, alexei navalny, is in hospital with what his supporters say, is suspected poisoning. a doctor at the hospital in omsk said they were fighting to save his life after he was taken there when he fell ill on a flight. passengers on board the plane said he was "screaming with pain". in a series of tweets this morning, his spokeswoman,

kira yarmysh, said that navalny was in intensive care, on a ventilator and in a coma. the spokeswoman added that the "evasive reaction of doctors" — who she said were not sharing information about navalny‘s condition — confirmed her belief that he had been poisoned. and in another tweet she said that the intensive care unit was full of police officers and shared this photo of the hospital corridor close to where mr navalny is being treated. a few hours ago a spokesperson for the hospital where mr navalny is being treated gave this update... 0f of course, poisoning is being considered as one of the possible causes, but there are other possible conditions that could come on suddenly and show the same symptoms. we are taking them all into account, confirming or excluding as we go. i am afraid! confirming or excluding as we go. i am afraid i cannot go into more detail. for more on mr nalavny‘s record

as an opposition leader in russian, let's for to sergie goryasko from the bbc‘s russian service. lets just off first, psycho, significance, if this is indeed a poisoning, it is not the purse time, is it? not the first and the allegations have been made? well, as allegations have been made? well, as a very significant event and in russia today, alexei navalny is the most prominent opposition leader in russia, and against 2p then, it causes big news, the poisoning, in the country. it happens one year ago since the summer when alexei navalny was supported —— transported from the jail with some severe allergic reactions, but that legend poisoning, as he also thought that time, that legend poisoning was not so severe as time, that legend poisoning was not so severe as this one. so max one is unconscious, on a ventilator in

siberia in the city and doctors do not share any information about what has happened to him. as his spoke on a mac spokesman said, there was lots of investigative release, the ministry of interior affairs and from the fsb even in the hospital as well and it is unknown what they are doing there and the doctors remain silent about alexei navalny‘s condition. after police officers came into the building, into hospital, so navalny‘s team is considering this as a fascination attempt and they are already going to file a court order about that so they are going to warn an investigative committee that they are going to take this case into the court. just remind us about to put this into context, because he was travelling as part of election campaign, wasn't he? actually,

navalny‘s team shared some information about his trip to another city, in siberia, disability of chance, navalny had a flight from omsk to not what he has been doing in thompson is actually unknown, but we have some information that navalny has been doing another investigation of some at united russia surpassing leaders, that is the leading party in russia, so he has been doing some anti corruption investigation on at them in omsk —— backed omsk and that is why some of his supporters think that he could be poisoned on the order of those people that he has been investigating. they were not happy of the result of the investigation and did not want him to know anything about them or to share information about their wrongdoings. but nothing of that has apparent —— may happens with navalny before and thatis may happens with navalny before and that is actually quite puzzling because personally, i do not know any united party bash at leaders who are based in the city where he is. he has got quite a profile, hasn't

he could make there has been reaction around the world. the former us ambassador to moscow said that he is praying that navalny is 0k. he that he is praying that navalny is ok. he is a real thorn in the fifa president putin. of course, he has been like that for almost ten years, and navalny is the most prominent opposition leader here in the country. he was the first one, to gather mass protest rallies back in 2011 and that is when thousands of —— hundreds of thousands of people went out to the streets of moscow and saint petersburg were protesting against the united russia party and against the united russia party and against putin himself. navalny tried to go for election, but he was barred from the race in 2011 as he has a criminal record which he does and eyes. he denies any wrongdoing, but he still was convicted and he did not serve anyjail time for that, but he was convicted which is why he could not run for president.

he has been at this thorn for quite an amount of time, he has been jailed a couple of times for participating in the rallies and the kremlin tries everything to bar him from participating in a big politics like running for any deputy of the state or somewhere else, but navalny has a good team of supporters, a good team of people who are working with him and they can run and dissipate in the elections, and also navalny describes the changes of the constitution which have happened recently in russia, changes which allow admin putin to say to stay present for another two times. he described as a coup, and he was quite aghast, which is why he probably —— why the kremlin could be angry with him. thank you.

south korea's spy agency is claiming that the north korean leader kim jong un has delegated some of his responsibilities to his sister kim yojong. south korea's national intelligence service claimed stress was one of the reasons the north korean leader had decided to shift some of his powers to her and to his aides. let's get more from our correspondent in seoul, laura bicker. what is the latest, what is going on? this is on everything going on from the national briefing ages it isa human from the national briefing ages it is a human cell. what they appear to be saying is that kim jong—un and has handed down some response abilities. this is not complete power, kim jong—un remains abilities. this is not complete power, kimjong—un remains in all control, he is the supreme authority, but what seems to be happening is he is delegating some powers to his sister and other aids. we understand that the majority of

the power has been handed over to his sister, why this is interesting is because we are looking at the power of succession. who will take over korea next sheds and they happen to kim jong—un. you over korea next sheds and they happen to kimjong—un. you may remember early this year where he was gone from the public eye for several weeks at a time, there were a number of remains the mac rumours about his health. some still believe that he has had had some heart procedure. what has been happening in the briefing today is that kim jong—un... in the briefing today is that kim jong—un. .. the majority in the briefing today is that kim jong—un... the majority of powers to his sister kim jong hydroxychloroquine that does not mean that she is his sister —— make a success, when it comes to north korea, but it is definitely his beginning of delegating powers. we are not entirely sure why but it is worth noting that north korean spy agents —— make south creates its bi

agency has got it wrong on north korea in the past. they are only able to guard their information by analysing state media. so when it comes to this kind of information it is difficult to assess, but it is worth noting safely at this time. thank you. ministers will meet in london later today to discuss any changes to the uk's list of safe travel corridors, the bbc has learned. it follows decisions by the government in recent weeks over spain, france and portugal, leading to a rush of tourists trying to return home. let's talk now to nick eardley our political correspondent. what do you know? how come every thursday now, it is that thursday that ministers get data from the experts, which shows them what the virus is doing in different parts of europe and it seems that one of the areas of europe and it seems that one of the areas of concern europe and it seems that one of the areas of concern just now is croatia. if you look at the numbers

of new cases there over the last week or so, it has gone up considerably, it is well over the figure now of 20 cases per 100,000 people where ministers here have a look and whether that should be removed from the travel corridor. that was a scheme set up a few weeks ago, so it does seem that croatia is now on the brink of being removed from that list which would mean that anybody coming back has to quarantine for 14 days and likely that croatia would be removed from the list of places where the travel advice is exempt from saying don't travel, left definitely essential. it is not confirmed yet, it is important to say that until it is confirmed, there is no reason to head back to the uk, but there does seem head back to the uk, but there does seem to be some head back to the uk, but there does seem to be some concern head back to the uk, but there does seem to be some concern about that. there are a number number of other countries as well which have gone over that 20 per hundred thousand figure, but the moment, we do not

know for sure whether they are going to be added to the list this afternoon as well. we should find out later today, though, and some clarity on that can be expected, but the viewing government is that travel is now a lot less certain thanit travel is now a lot less certain than it was a few weeks ago. a few months ago, rather, before the pandemic hits, and certainly we are now seeing quite considerable changes on a weekly basis to the places where people from the uk can travel. ok, thank you nick, speaking to us from westminster. when well leave it there. an update, again, regarding exams and what students will be doing next. we understand that the government has decided to lift the cap on medicine, dentistry and veterinary as well as teaching courses in the next academic year for all domestic students. that is not here in the uk, for students who achieve their offer grades. what

that means then is that if students have met their offers to study at a medical school, they should now be able to take at this place where there is capacity. if there is capacity at the college or university. of the sea, lots of questions at each institution, and if institutions are able to extend these, but the other alternative is that they can be offered a deferred place at their chosen university or higher education provider and course. that is the latest regarding that cap on medical study. there we re that cap on medical study. there were some questions earlier this week. take hello, this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. the headlines: there's been a steep rise in gcse grades in england. pupils have been receiving them after a uk government u—turn means marks are now based on teacher assessments. students in wales and

northern ireland are also getting grades today. i'm very proud of myself. ifeel like the grades i got i did deserve because i did work hard. i had one a star, five as and five bs. meanwhile, chaos for hundreds of thousands of pupils as btec students are told they won't get their marks, just hours before they were due to be published. we are working very closely with ucas, with the independent regulator and the exam boards to make sure no young person is disadvantaged as a consequence of this delay. doctors in russia say that the leading opposition figure alexei navalny is "fighting for his life" and unconscious in hospital with suspected poisoning. kamala harris is formally nominated as joe biden's running mate in the us election. if the democrats win she would be the first woman vice president in american history.

kamala harris has accepted her nomination as the us democratic party's vice—presidential candidate — becoming the first woman of colour to do so. speaking at the party convention — she accused president trump of turning tragedies into political weapons. our correspondent, david willis has more. hey, everybody, it's me, kamala. so before i go on stage later tonight, i want to talk about the importance of voting. prior to bringing down the curtain on an historic night, kamala harris appeared briefly to appeal to democrats to vote. i think we need to ask ourselves, why don't they want us to vote? why is there so much effort to silence our voices? and the answer is because when we vote, things change. a unusual though it is for former presidents to attack an incumbent, this week they've almost been lining up. first bill clinton. now barack obama.

a withering attack delivered in the birthplace of us democracy — philadelphia — in which the 44th occupant of the oval office warned the future of american democracy was on the line. donald trump hasn't grown into thejob — because he can't. and the consequences of that failure are severe. kamala harris is my auntie. my stepmom. my big sister. kamala harris' sister, niece and stepdaughter jointly introduced the first black woman to appear on a major party ticket. i accept your nomination for vice president of the united states of america. accepting her party's nomination as vice president, kamala harris warned that america stood at a criticaljuncture, with the presidential election just 75 days away. in this election, we have a chance to change the course of history. we're all in this fight —

you, me and joe — together. what an awesome responsibility. democrats hope kamala harris will add energy to the presidential ticket, and inspire particularly african—americans and younger voters to get out to the polls. their convention culminates withjoe biden's acceptance speech tomorrow night. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. a farmer has been found guilty of a blackmail plot against tesco which involved lacing baby food with fragments of metal. nigel wright tried to extort £1.4 million in bitcoin from the supermarket by deliberately contaminating goods between may 2018 and february 2020. let's speak now to our correspondent sangita myska.

what happened ? what happened? it took the jury just a day and a half to find nigel wright guilty of three counts of blackmail against the supermarket giant tesco and a further two counts of contaminating baby food with broken razors. during the trial, his defence presented him as a single farmerfrom lincolnshire has been forced into a criminal plot by travellers who turned up to his mobile home and began threatening the lives of his children, but to date the jury instead believed the prosecution case that in fact nigel wright was a minute to that of man, skilled at navigating the dark web and that a man who had demanded £1.4 million in crypto currency, and the crucial thing about that is the crypto currency is very hard to trace. i was told by police officers earlier today that it had been a massive police operation to try and catch nigel wright. there were

around a 100 officers are split into two teams, though searching for traditional evidence and those investigating his dark web activities, the breakthrough point came at the end of last year when they found a cctv in which nigel wright had placed one of the contaminated jars of baby food onto a shelf in tesco in lockerbie, following that undercover officers we re following that undercover officers were able to engage him on the dark web and able to transfer money into what is called his crypto wallet. those two things combined are the things that have led to this case here and the case built against him that the jury to date believed. what happens next? next we have sentencing, that is going to happen at the end of september and prior to that thejudge at the end of september and prior to that the judge today in the case has ordered psychiatric reports to help him decide that sentence. we will leave it there. thank you. let's

return to events taking place in england. gcse pass rates for pupils in england have risen dramatically. figures released this morning show nearly 79 % of papers have been awarded the gcse pass rate of grade 4 or above — that's an increase of around 9 % on last year our education correspondent dan johnson has been talking to teachers and pupils at a school in south—east london for us this morning. yeah, busy morning here. loads of students getting their results because they have been so keen to find out what this system, after so many changes, would actually deliver for them. well, the envelopes are being opened this morning with the gcse results. lots of happy faces, lots of content, satisfied students. that is nice to see after the scenes we saw last week. so many a—level students who were disappointed with their results. that is what prompted a reversal in policy, a u—turn. that is why these grades are not the standardised, calculated, moderated grades that would have

been delivered by algorithm. these are grades that were agreed by teachers, that means more students are content and it means the overall pass rate in gcses this year is up 9% on last year, up to 79%. that standardisation process was supposed to be about limiting that grade inflation, but the unfairness in the system showed just how many people were upset by the results they got last week. now, there is that little snag with btec results. they are going to be withheld from most students across the country while the awarding body checks they are fair, because they are concerned about the disparity now between students who got gcse and a—level results and those who have done vocational and technical courses. now, at this school, in some cases, they are the same students getting both gcses and btecs. and btec results have been given out here today. it is just a case now that they will be reviewed and possibly upgraded in the future. nobody will be downgraded through that further review of btec results. let's have a chat with graham napier, the principal here. busy morning, graham. how is it going? nice to see happy students.

absolutely, and after a year, a very unusual year, we have seen two really unusual results days. but great to see lots of happy students here today who, after two years of hard work, that hard work has paid off and they are walking away with the grades that they deserve, but as always, on results day, some students are disappointed. it perhaps reflects on two years where they could have worked harder than they did. that is always the case on results days. that system that was in place, the standardisation and moderation would have counted against your students, an academy like this, right? absolutely, and certainly in this school, there have been two or three years of results which quite frankly have not been good enough, but over the last 12 months, this is a school that has changed quite quickly and so that would have counted against our students. it certainly did last week with a—level results. we have not seen that this week with gcse results. how big a difference has that change made then? certainly with our a—level students, it was about 27% of our grades being adjusted last week,

and given the change in direction for gcse results this week, we have not seen that same shift here today. so, that was the right thing to do even though it has caused further anxiety, disruption, confusion? i absolutely believe that is the case. because i think it has meant students in schools like this one have walked away with the grades they deserve after a year of incredibly hard work. has every student got the grades they deserve? can we actually have faith in the system after so much turmoil? i think we can have faith in the system and i think we have been reassured here from one of the awarding bodies yesterday that they are further going to look at btec grades over the next few days and also going to review the level three btec grades that a—level students received last week, so that we can be reassured that students walk away with the grades that they deserve. and ultimately, those assessments have come from the teachers that have worked with the students for the last two years. perhaps they know these students the best.

how much of a spanner in the works is that late change to try and pull the btec results? you were not able to do that, right? you have had to give them out this morning. that is right. we are a very big school and we have had more than 300 students collecting results today, and by the time we got the announcement early yesterday evening, all of the preparation for today had been done. so, we have issued the original btec results to students to date with reassurance that the awarding body pearson are going to review those. which i think is the right decision. but should those grades be adjusted for students, those grades will only increase. briefly, how do you think students have coped with all these ups and downs? i think that's certainly what has helped is the gcse students, year 11 students, have felt far less anxious about today, given the announcement earlier this week. i think that it has been weeks and weeks of uncertainty, not only for students but for teachers across the country as well, and as we said, it's great to see lots of happy students today. indeed. thank you very much, we appreciate your time and for letting us be here to share that moment with them this morning.

there is a success, there are celebrations here. things to achieve, still some small question marks over some grades and some bigger questions about the turmoil of this whole system this year. gcses day would be stressful at the best of times, but with so much disruption to learning this year, the added anxiety of the ups and downs of working out these grades, the students really have endured so much and it is really nice to see at least most of them smiling this morning. hashem abedi, the brother of the manchester arena bomber, will be sentenced today for the murder of 22 people in the 2017 terror attack. abedi has refused to attend his 2—day sentencing hearing and face the families of the victims — who gave emotional statements in court about the impact of their loss. the united states has told the british government that it won't seek the death penalty for 2 members of the islamic state group — if they're convicted of killing western hostages in iraq and syria.

the assurance means uk officials could share evidence with prosecutors in the us for any potential case against the men. alexander kotey and el shafee el—sheikh have already been stripped of their british citizenship. it comes with a condition that the uk must share other crucial evidence it is gathered on these two men so they can be effectively prosecuted in the us. the problem here is that the supreme court in britain has a legal challenge by the mother of one of the two men which is that it is against international practice because they would be, at the time, they would be subject to a potential death penalty. unless the uk can

ove rco m e death penalty. unless the uk can overcome that legal hurdle, the us has said that by the middle of october, if nothing has been resolved, there are going to hand the two men over to iraqi justice, to the iraqi government where they would likely face a very swift trial and historically, recently a lot of those trials have ended in executions. ironically, her challenge could even end up potentially in a worse fate for the men. this is not what the next of kin want so the next of kin of the murdered hostages that they men are accused of being involved in, they wa nt to accused of being involved in, they want to see them on trial. they don't want to see the death penalty, they want to see them face trial in they want to see them face trial in the united states with all the evidence. more protests are expected on thursday in belarus, despite the president of the country, alexander lukashenko, ordering security forces to end what he called, the unrest in the country. on wednesday, european union leaders agreed to impose sanctions on anyone involved in repression and election fraud after the disputed presidential vote earlier this month. jonah fisher gave us

the latest from minsk. over the last couple of days there's been a bit of a sense here that the demonstrations and the strikes have slightly lost momentum. yesterday we saw riot police returning to the streets. you may remember that over the weekend and the early part of this week, the riot police really took a step back, people took to the streets in very, very large numbers, and quite a large number of strikers were coming out against president lukashenko. yesterday, a very different mood. president lukashenko coming out with some strong words, instructing the interior ministry here to restore order on the streets of minsk, and certainly the numbers yesterday were considerably reduced, possibly out of fear that there might be reprisals and attacks on people coming out. the headlines on bbc news... there's been a steep rise in gcse grades in england. pupils have been receiving them

after a uk government u—turn means marks are now based on teacher assessments. students in wales and northern ireland are also getting grades today meanwhile, chaos for hundreds of thousands of pupils as btec students are told they won't get their marks, just hours before they were due to be published. the russian opposition figure alexei navalny is unconscious in hospital with suspected poisoning. the anti—corruption campaigner fell ill during a flight. thousands of people have been forced out of their homes near the us city of san francisco, as a number of fast moving wildfires swept into the region. police and firefighters have been going from door to door, urging people to leave, while us authorities say the pilot of a water—dropping helicopter died after his aircraft crashed. the governor of california has declared a state of emergency. tanya dendrinos reports.

this is the unmistakable roar of a firestorm. flames licking at the roadway. an ominous orange glow across the blackened sky and residents scrambling to make it out. it took me a while to get out, so my husband was driving the car and he got burnt and he had to leave the car and it blew up so i was walking down by myself. i got all these flames on me and i lost my shoe, but i made it, god saved me. this couple among thousands forced to flee their homes between san francisco and sacramento as the infernos took hold. precious lives saved as structures were engulfed. from the air, the blanket of smoke reveals the sheer scale of the disaster. a wall of raging fire showcasing

the intensity of this blaze and the battle at the hands of fire crews desperately trying to gain control. this is very difficult terrain to operate in, very steep. there's lots of dry fuels, and of course we have very high temperatures and low relative humidities. all the forces aligned to make this a very challenging fight. with hundreds of fires burning across the state and many structures already destroyed, the governor of california has declared a state of emergency. we are experiencing fires the likes of which we haven't seen in many, many years. the totality when you consider 367 active fires that we are aware of all across the state of california. and for residents still on standby, the anxious wait continues. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. donald trump has called for a boycott of american tyre company goodyear,

stoking a controversy over political expression in the workplace. the company allegedly banned its employees from wearing political clothing which supported the president. paul hawkins reports. the largest tyre company in north america, and now in president trump's bad books. what they are doing is playing politics and the funny thing is the people who work for goodyear, i can guarantee you, i pull very well with all of those workers in goodyear. when they say that you cannot have blue lives matter, you cannot show a blue line or wear a maga hat, but you can have other things that are marxist in nature, there is something wrong with the top of goodyear. the company found itself in the president's cross hairs after a report from a kansas news outlet based on a slide from a presentation which had been shared by a good year employee. it says close bearing the

trump campaign slogan make america great again, ora trump campaign slogan make america great again, or a maga, plus all lives matter or bleak lives matter we re lives matter or bleak lives matter were deemed unacceptable. they want to wear a maga hat or they want to wear a blue lives matter, that is policemen and women, that is a terrible thing. that is a terrible thing. they are using their power over these people and these people wa nt to over these people and these people want to wear whatever it is that we are talking about. if there were an alternative, would you want those tires swapped out on the presidential was in?” tires swapped out on the presidential was in? i would swap them out, based on what happens. you would have a lot of people not wanting to buy that product any more. and they will buy from a competitor made in the usa as well. goodyear says the slide in question had not been prepared at its headquarters and its role for activism that falls outside the slope of racial justice activism that falls outside the slope of racialjustice and equity

issues. plus, contrary to reports, it wholeheartedly supported both equality and law enforcement. it isn't the first, and it won't be the last company to get caught up in the battle between politics and race before november's election. london's brick lane is famous for its curry restaurants and is the heart of britain's bangladeshi community. but proposals to redevelop parts of the area have been met with opposition by some who live and work there —and raised questions over how to keep a community's identity intact when regenerating a neighbourhood. priya rai reports. an iconic part of london's east end. it is home to me. i went to primary school in brick lane, i went to arabic classes in brick lane. everybody knows brick lane. today, brick lane is the heart of the bengali community. the fear is that plans to redevelop a nearby brewery could put that local heritage at risk.

with the proposed developments, you will have people coming in that take the value from the area and don't take anything out. —— they don't put anything in, but ta ke —— they don't put anything in, but take it out. rents will go up, small businesses will be forced out, residential rents will go up, and it will become a soulless place. this is currently a dilapidated car park... but developers say plans for a new square, shops, and offices do have the community in mind. we have consulted everyone on the committee, we have met with community groups, including the brick lane mosque, the bangladeshi welfare association, and several owners of smaller local bangladeshi businesses and restaurants. they have all been pretty constructive and positive meetings. not everyone is convinced by that. brick lane is arguably best known for its curry houses. a report from a race equality thinktank says the number of bangladeshi—run restaurants here has decreased

by more than 60% in 15 years, competition from new developments and higher rent prices suggested as factors. before covid—19, we are fighting for five years, business rates and rent is going too high. business is not even a quarter, my staff is less than half now. this is one of the most deprived parts of the capital, in contrast to the epicentre of rich business a short walk away. so, for some, change is good. it needs a bit of tlc there as well in terms of the pavements. it will bring more job opportunities for the community. it is going to help local businesses gain more business, and generally, brick lane needs a change. the council say they will take on all points of view as usual when they decide on the plans that could shape brick lane's legacy. the big screen is back in the uk — with the reopening of cinemas this month. industry body cinema first

says our appetite for cinema—going remains strong after one survey suggested that cinema was the third—most—missed activity during lockdown. our reporter, adam mcclean has more. corn popping, dramatic music. it's the unmistakable sound of the cinema — popping corn and a blockbuster soundtrack. this cinema is one of many now reopening after months of being closed. here are your tickets. we have come to see unhinged — it's a new release so it's nice to see, you know, a new film coming out. so we're going to have a drink and chill out and watch a film. i'm very impressed with the seating arrangements — they look comfortable, i feel safe. i think the sooner, the quicker, the better. definitely. get back to a bit of normality. although cinemas are now reopening, there's the challenge of this year's delayed blockbusters, with many releases put back or delayed indefinitely. but cinemagoers here appreciated the films on offer.

we've missed going out so much. this is the first cinema viewing that we've done in about six months, actually — and we used to go once a month so we've really missed it. we're not taking anything for granted any more. it feels like an event, like it used to be when we were younger — this would be what you would do as your night out, and this feels a bit more special, almost. as doors reopen, the industry needs to bring customers back. this video by the uk cinema association has been made to celebrate the reopening of cinemas. it's now compulsory to wear masks in cinemas, but they can be removed when eating and drinking, with allocated seating to keep groups apart in the hope that more people return safely

to the big screen. you are watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello, we are continuing to see some unseasonably strong winds, especially in the west. we have had high costs overnight and first thing this morning and we are going to continue in this vein through the course of the day with gusty winds in the west. further east it will be breezy and we are more likely to see sunny spells but we have the rain continuing to push northwards across scotland, are gradually clearing the northern isles. a lot of dry weather. the heaviest showers will be across northern ireland as we go through the afternoon and some of those could also be thundery. in terms of wind gusts, we still are looking at gusts in excess of 50 mph, especially in western areas.

that will have an adverse effect on the temperature where as we push further east in the sunshine, and we are looking at highs of 26. that will feel quite warm. over 99, still a lot of dry weather but the rain already in the west will be drifting further east. this is an area of low pressure with storm ellen embedded in itand pressure with storm ellen embedded in it and if you look at the isobars that spread right the way across the uk, that tells you that this stronger wind, the gusty winds, are not just stronger wind, the gusty winds, are notjust going to be in the west they are going to be travelling further east. you can see, as well as that, we have this rain. the environment agency are warning of the potential for coastal flooding across parts of south wales, parts of the south—west of england and the south coast. not a nice combination but temperatures tonight are falling as low as 15—17 so feeling mild. taurus is that band of rain push northwards and turning more showery. as it does so, it is going to be a gusty day where ever you are. these gusts are strong enough to cause a

bit of damage, travel disruption, perhaps trees on the roads and temperatures between 16 and 25 degrees. in between the showers there will be sunshine. as we move from friday into saturday, the low pressure will continue to diff northwards. the wind will be a more northerly direction and isobars continue to space out. on saturday, although it will be quite windy, the gusts will be quite strong, they will not be as strong as they are going to be in the next couple of days and temperature —wise, we are looking at 14 in the north and 22 in the south. the wind is easing on sunday.

this is bbc news. the headlines... there's been a steep rise in gcse grades in england. pupils have been receiving them after a government u—turn means marks are now based on teacher assessments. students in wales and northern ireland are also getting grades today. iam very i am very proud of myself, i feel like the great i got, i do deserve them, because i did work hard, i had one a star, and a's and bees. meanwhile, chaos for hundreds of thousands of pupils as btec students are told they won't get their marks, just hours before they were due to be published. we are working very closely with ucas, with the independent regulator and with the exam boards to make sure that no young person is disadvantaged as a cop of this delay. the government has lifted the cap on places for university courses

in subjects including medicine and teaching. students with required grades should now be offered places at their first choice universities. doctors in russia say that the leading opposition figure alexei navalny is "fighting for his life" and unconscious in hospital with suspected poisoning. kamala harris is formally nominated as joe biden's running mate in the us election. if the democrats win, she would be the first woman vice president in american history. hello. in the most disruptive academic year in uk history, gcse pass rates for pupils in england have risen dramatically.

the coronavirus pandemic caused the cancellation of this year's exams, and after a government u—turn, grades were not adjusted by the exams regulator, and have instead been awarded by schools. figures show nearly 79% of papers have been awarded the gcse pass rate of ‘grade 4‘ or above, that's an increase of around 9% on last year. there has been a rise of a quarter in the top grades — a 7 or above, which is equivalent to an ‘a' in the old system. the british prime minister, borisjohnson, has taken to twitter to congratulate those receiving their results... he said, "i know the last few months have been tough and this isn't how you imagined you would be finishing year 11, but you can be proud of how you helped to keep the virus under control. you have literally saved

lives through staying at home and keeping distance from others." the exams season has been dogged by chaos, with policy changes leading to grades being altered at the 11th hour. btec grades were pulled last night, just hours before pupils were to receive them, after the exam board pearson said, it was worried about unfairness following the government's decision to abandon an algorithm set by the exams regulator for a—levels and gcses. our education correspondent danjohnson has been speaking to pupils at bexleyheath academy in south east london. the last few students are just getting their grades here this morning, gcse grades and btec results, because although the awarding body said late yesterday that btec results should not be given out, they needed more time to review those, to ensure fairness, the reality is the same students are getting grades for both and it would have been really difficult to withhold btec grades so those grades have been given out and there is a lot

for students this morning because the overall pass rate is up on last year significantly. standardisation, moderation, the calculation of these grades was supposed to limit that sort of increase, but the unfairnesses that became apparent in the system, that led to the u—turn, which is why they reverted to grades agreed by teachers, which is why there has been such an increase on last year. we can speak to some students who have got results this morning. simran, you have gcse and btec results, even though there is still a question over the btecs. the btecs, they say will come in next week, and the results were actually really good. i didn't expect them to be that good, so i'm pretty happy with what i got. you got the gcses you needed to? yeah, that's all i needed and i'm happy with that. what were you feeling ahead of this because of all the uncertainty and disruption to your learning this year? i was really stressed and nervous because when i found out they were downgrading everybody, it hit me, no, this is bad. but when the news came out they would give everyone equal results, i was quite happy about it and i'm happy with

what i've got now. you got what you needed to make your next move? yes, i do, and i'm happy and excited to see where the future and sixth form and everything goes. what do you think of the roller—coaster ride you've been on with so much disruption and changes to the system before grades have been agreed? it's been crazy! very crazy. but at the end of the day, i think it was worth it. with the pandemic, we couldn't control what happened during that, but i think everything happened for a reason and it was perfect, the way things were handled in school was really good. congratulations and thank you for speaking to us. let's bring in jess, who also got gcse results and btecs. how are yours? i'm absolutely over the moon. it couldn't have been better for me, very happy. wow! and are you content they're reliable and fair grades after the controversy that has been this year? i think so.

i was expecting that because i worked really hard for them. but i'm really happy. our political correspondent helen catt is at westminster. it is that about the btec, isn't it? the looking back to last week's a—level results, obviously, the better a—level results for groovy grading, using a teacher grades, that has led to more students now being able to meet their preferred first choice places, and we have heard from the government today that actually, more students will now be offered their first choice places and to enable that is, they have lifted the cap on some of those subjects which are restricted, so it medicine, dentistry, veterinary science, for example, when there is normally a government cap on numbers, there has been scrapped for this year and there are some additionalfunding put this year and there are some additional funding put in this year and there are some additionalfunding put in to this year and there are some additional funding put in to find high cost courses as well, things like physics and chemistry. does that mean a student is going to get to get theirfirst that mean a student is going to get to get their first choice university, this year? russell group

universities say they are trying to expand capacity as much as they can, but if they cannot, they would offer deferred entries for next year. is that though, that mike analysing, what gavin williams and said, this is the government moving swiftly that it -- is the government moving swiftly that it —— make a decisively to fix theissue that it —— make a decisively to fix the issue that been thrown up by the exa m the issue that been thrown up by the exam results, over the last week, is that going to distract from the criticism that the government is getting today over? again, none of stu d e nts getting today over? again, none of students are getting —— and these moves that have been a difficult process over the last week, i don't think so, i think that scrutiny is only going to intensify when parliament returns in a couple of weeks. ok, thank you for speaking to us from the. a prominent opposition leader

in russia, alexei navalny, is in hospital with what his supporters say, is suspected poisoning. a doctor at the hospital in omsk said they were fighting to save his life after he was taken there when he fell ill on a flight. passengers on board the plane said he was "screaming with pain". in a series of tweets this morning, his spokeswoman said that navalny was in intensive care, on a ventilator and in a coma. she added that the "evasive action of doctors" — who she said were not sharing information about navalny‘s condition — confirmed her belief that he had been poisoned. and in another tweet she said that the intensive care unit was full of police officers and shared this photo of the hospital corridor close to where mr navalny is being treated. a few hours ago a spokesperson for the hospital where mr navalny is being treated gave this update... translation: of course,

poisoning is being considered as one of the possible causes, but there are other possible conditions that could come on suddenly and show the same symptoms. we are taking them all into account, confirming or excluding as we go. i am afraid i cannot go into more detail. bill browder is the ceo and co—founder of hermitage capital management, the investment advisor to the hermitage fund, which at one time was the largest foreign portfolio investor in russia. he's a high—profile critic of vladimir putin. hejoins me now. thank you forjoining us. firstly, your reaction, before we discuss whether this is a poisoning or not, your reaction to the news when you had a? well, in my opinion, there is no question it is a poisoning. this is actually the second time that

alexei navalny has been poisoned, he isa alexei navalny has been poisoned, he is a huge thorn in the side of a bad mayor putin, probably the most likely opposition politician to become head of russia in the future if putin is unseated, and so there is both the motive, the means and the methods for this to be a poisoning, so i think that unless it is proven otherwise, this is a poisoning. like i said, until it is proven, we will say we will go with suspected poisoning, butjust remind us what the trigger could have been? why would you want to kill him? putin does not like people to be opposing him politically and so, if you are a member of the popular opposition politician, he was murdered in front of the kremlin, there was another opposition politician who fled to exile and

navalny has been injail i believe that in times, he has been poisoned once, they try to blind him, he, at this point in time, probably is the most likely person for the russian to rally around if there were ever a free election in russia. the trigger is the fact that right next door to russia and belarus, there is a popular uprising going on against lukashenko where he has been around for 26 years and putin is looking at that and thinking to himself that it could happen there, in russia, and that alexei navalny could be the one i'm sitting on. what sort of support does mr navalny have in russia? open support is hard to say because nobody is feeling all that fearless about supporting him openly, but he ran for the mayor of moscow, without ever being on television and he got 27% of the vote. he produces these anti—corruption videos which get five or 10 million views and i think that in a free and fair competition,

he would probably win. what is it like being in opposition in russia? it must —— make mr navalny does eight lots, he had supporting who are opposing mr putin, he gives a support to a lot of organisations in that way, what is it like operating as opposition within russia?m that way, what is it like operating as opposition within russia? it is terrifying. his offices are rated regularly, the city he was then, he has been arrested and put in jail 13 times, his brother was sent to jail for three years, effectively, as a hostage, he had some kind of cautionary liquid thrown in his eye, it nearly blinded him and he had to seek medical treatment in the west, he was poisoned injail and he is one of the lucky ones. he is still alive. other people in his position are dead. it is a terrible, terrible place in the weight of a brutal medieval regime where putin will do

anything to stay in power and people like navalny are his worst nightmare. he clearly has a lot of support, outside of the country, you can see that on social media. and thatis can see that on social media. and that is in terms of the reactions to the news to the news that broke this morning. what do you expect his supporters to break —— but what is supposed to do now? think we'll have to wait and see how this plays itself out. at the moment, he could recover and we have seen people recover and we have seen people recover from these types of incidents. there was a protege who was poisoned, he nearly died, but he was poisoned, he nearly died, but he was “— was poisoned, he nearly died, but he was —— he recovered. if alexei navalny recovers, is one thing, if it is -- navalny recovers, is one thing, if it is —— make if he does not, it is another thing, and we have to see how this plays itself out before we can predict what comes next. how this plays itself out before we can predict what comes nextm how this plays itself out before we can predict what comes next. if he does not cover, if he dies, what is the significance of that? well, i think, that might be the straw that brea ks think, that might be the straw that breaks the camels back. if that were

to happen, i can imagine mass uprisings across russia. he is a very popular individual, he has a lot of followers, and that is just an unacceptable outcome. and accessible for many of them. thank you for speaking to us. hashem abedi, the brother of the manchester arena bomber, will be sentenced today for the murder of 22 people in the 2017 terror attack. abedi has refused to attend his two—day sentencing hearing and face the families of the victims — who gave emotional statements in court about the impact of their loss. south korea's spy agency is claiming that the north korean leader kim jong un has delegated some of his responsibilities to his sister kim yojong. south korea's national intelligence service claimed stress was one of the reasons the north korean leader had decided to shift some of his powers to her and to his aides.

the united states has told the british government that it won't seek the death penalty for two members of the islamic state group, if they're convicted of killing western hostages in iraq and syria. the assurance means uk officials could share evidence with prosecutors in the us for any potential case against the men. alexanda kotey and el shafee el—sheikh have already been stripped of their british citizenship. well, in a way, it doesn't necessarily change anything, because it comes with a condition, and the condition is that the uk must share all the evidence, the crucial evidence that it has gathered on these two men so that they can be effectively prosecuted in the us. the problem here is that the supreme court in britain has upheld a legal challenge by the mother of one of the two men, which is that it is against international practice,

because they would be, at the time, they would be subject to a potential death penalty. now, unless the uk can overcome that legal hurdle, the us has said that by the middle of october, if nothing has been resolved, they will hand the two men over to the iraqi government, where they would likely face a very swift trial and historically recently, a lot of those trials have ended in executions. so ironically, her challenge could even end up potentially in a worse fate for the men. this is not what the next of kin want, so the next of kin of the murdered hostages that the men are accused of being involved in, they want to see them on trial, they don't want to see the death penalty, they want to see them face trial in the united states with all the evidence. and we've had a statement from the home office this morning

saying that, "the government's priority has always been to protect national security and to deliver justice for the victims we continue to work closely with international partners to ensure that those who have committed crimes in the name of daesh are brought to justice." the headlines on bbc news... there's been a steep rise in gcse grades in england. pupils have been receiving them after a government u—turn which means marks are now based on teacher assessments. students in wales and northern ireland are also getting grades today. meanwhile, it's chaos for hundreds of thousands of pupils as btec students are told they won't get their marks, just hours before they were due to be published. the government has lifted the cap on places for university courses in subjects including medicine and teaching. students with required grades should now be offered places at their first

choice universities. an investigation into the death of a sudanese migrant whose body was found washed up on a beach near calais yesterday, has revealed that he may be much older than previously thought. the man, who is believed to have drowned while attempting to cross the channel from france, was said to be a teenager around the same age as his surviving companion, but a prosecutor has told the bbc that an identity document found with the body suggests he may have been 28. ministers will meet today to discuss any changes to the uk's list of safe travel corridors. it follows decisions by the government in recent weeks over spain, france and portugal, leading to a rush of tourists trying to return home. one of the countries of concern is croatia which has seen

a considerable rise in the number of new cases in recent weeks. the world health organization has termed the balkans region as a "hotspot" for coronavirus. i , harris has accepted her place as vice president, she accused president tran of turning into political so before i go associated like, iwant political so before i go associated like, i want to talk about the importance of the voting. prior to bringing down the curtain on an historic night,, bringing down the curtain on an historic night, , harris bringing down the curtain on an historic night,, harris appeared briefly to appeal to democrats to vote. we need to ask yourself, why don't they want us to fight, why would they want us to fight, why would they set aside as our voices. the a nswer they set aside as our voices. the answer is because when we vote,

things change. unusual though it is forformer presidents to things change. unusual though it is for former presidents to attack an incumbent, this week they have almost been lining up, says bill clinton, now barack obama, a withering attack delivered in the face of us democracy, philadelphia, in which the 44th occupants of the oval office warned of the future of american democracy was on the line. donald trump has not grown into the job, because he cannot. the consequences of that failure are severe. , harris is my auntie. my stepmum. big sister. come harris's relatives introduce the first black woman to appear on a major party ticket. i accept your nomination for vice president of the united states of america. accepting her party's nomination as vice president, comer harris warned that america is dead ata harris warned that america is dead at a critical junction

harris warned that america is dead at a criticaljunction with the presidential election just 75 days away. in this election, we have a chance to change the course of history. we are all in this fight, you, me, and joe. together. what an awesome response ability. democrats hope kamala harris will add energy to the presidential ticket and inspire particularly african americans and younger voters to get out to the polls. that convention, and it's a joe bidenacceptance speech tomorrow night. let's go to holyrood where the scottish first minister nicola sturgeon is taking first minister's questions. the total number of deaths under that measurement is 2492, but yesterday's figures for national records of scotland, reported three covert deaths during the pre—midweek, it shows that the total number of deaths is higher than that

and of course, it showed that people are still dying from this virus. we must never lose sight of the grief and heartbreak caused by every one of those deaths and i want to or again send my condolences to eve ryo ne again send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one to get illness. let me turn now to the view of lough dan restrictions. i am not able to indicate today a move from phase three of our route map as of lockdown to phase four, we will remain for the moment in phase three i will give notice today, this may well be the case beyond the next review point as well. first to move forward to the next phase, we would have to be satisfied that the virus is no longer considered a significant threat to public health. as today's figures have demonstrated and has been clear to me in evidence from the chief medical officer, this is not the case. todayupdates, set up is not the case. todayupdates, set up what will be coming in the next weeks, and what restrictions will remain in place, this of course, involves some difficult and delicate

decisions. the figures we have been reporting in recent weeks show that incidence and prevalence of the virus continue to be at low levels in scotland as a whole, however, the range for our number has recently increased and our recent estimate could suggest it could be above one. this is of course when prevalence is outside and prevent outside. but we must continue to monitor it closely. we are also recording more positive cases than three weeks ago, when we last reviewed the lockdown measures, we had recorded 14 new cases a day on average, over the previous week. we are now recording 52 new cases a day on average. in the past three weeks, we have seen one significant outbreak of the virus in aberdeen and other smaller clusters that make other smaller clusters across the country. we are now dealing with a significant cluster in cupar angus, linked to a pope reprocessing plant and that is no doubt reflected in

the fact that 27 of the 77 cases of today are in the t5 area. in total, 43 cases have been so far identified as part of that outbreak and a 37 people who work in that food processing plants. this number will almost certainly grow and we are expressing the importance of all workers at the plant is getting testing and isolation. the testing unit remains on site and the factory has been closed down for a two—week period. given the nature and potential scale of this outbreak, we are considering carefully and urgently whether further restrictions are necessary. i will chaira restrictions are necessary. i will chair a further meeting of s later this afternoon. in addition, there are several cases linked to schools which are worth noting a total of eight adults at kings park school in dundee, they have tested positive, that has prompted the decision to temporarily close that school. also, in the cluster in north—east glasgow, that now stands at 16, there is a separate but linked

cluster of nine cases in coatbridge. a number of cases in these clusters are schoolchildren, although there is no evidence that they contracted the virus in school. glasgow and clyde health board are also sorting contact health trading in other schools in glasgow. clusters in grampian yesterday, 12 new cases, a total of 407 cases have been identified in the grand pain health board area since the 26th ofjuly. 237 of these are associated with these links to add in pubs and 185 contacts have now been 85 —— 1185 contacts have now been 85 —— 1185 contacts have now been 85 —— 1185 contacts have now been identified from that cluster. it is evidence now that the original cluster of cases linked to pubs is coming under control, but in recent days, we have continued to see new cases which do not seem to be linked to that first cluster. because of that restriction, —— restrictions in aberdeen have been lifted, but a firm timetable may be set for

lifting those resections in aberdeen. all of these outbreaks have been travelled by our test and protect tea ms have been travelled by our test and protect teams in the current evidence and their performance shows that the vast majority of contracts are being identified and most are also being identified quickly. however, the clusters and new cases highlight a continued need for caution, especially to keep schools safely open. of course, these clusters are safely open. of course, these clusters a re not safely open. of course, these clusters are not completely unexpected, we have always known that reopening more services and premises especially indoor bars, restau ra nt premises especially indoor bars, restaurant and premises especially indoor bars, restau ra nt a nd cafe premises especially indoor bars, restaurant and cafe is might lead to an increase in cases, and indeed, two major risk factors have stood out in reports in recent clusters. as expected, indoor hospitality is, the other is social events and gatherings in peoples homes. we are already tightening some of the rules regarding indoor hospitality, by putting guidance on a statutory footing and making it compulsory now to collect customer's data. i will now allow... at the end of the

statement. understanding the risk of this indoor setting, the resections, and has maybe think about further changes and progress compliance is needed. on balance, taking account of the different hands that covid—19 and how we should tackle it, we have decided that he reopening is, pencilled in for the 24th of august, can proceed and i must stress though, that such reopening should only happen with the appropriate guidance, covering that activity setting has been to nz and we will also monitor the impact carefully and with everything else, we will not hesitate to re—impose restrictions should that prove necessary. full details will be available on the scottish government website, but the 24th of august changes, they include some outdoor events, about hygiene and social distancing and restricted numbers. all those outdoor contacts but will also resume for people of all ages, but for outdoor sessions, there will bea but for outdoor sessions, there will be a total number of 30 sessions of people who can be coached at any one

time. driving lessons will resume and indoorface—to—face time. driving lessons will resume and indoor face—to—face advice services, for example citizens advice can also open to provide financial advice when necessary. we have given a particularly careful consideration to places like the bingo halls, because these share some obvious similarities with the indoor hospitality sector and it is therefore of the utmost importance that guidance is strictly adhered to and we will be monitoring that carefully. let me return to the reopening of gems, symbols and indoor sports courts was not a few weeks ago, i indicated they could reopen from the 14th of september, it also said then that we would consider if that date could safely be brought forward. especially given the mental and physical health benefits of access to these facilities. having done so, i can now confirm that these facilities can be open, subject to guidance being in place from the 31st of august. for indoor sports courts, which includes dance studios and gymnastics, it is worth stressing for people age 12 and over, the reopening of the estate applies to

noncontact activity only. these are the only key changes to restrictions that we plan to make within this review period, however, we hope that further changes will be rechecked able from monday the 14th of september, in line with with what is currently set out in our route map. i must stress that these possible changes are, at this stage, indicative only and given the volatility we face in transmission of the virus, there is a veal very real possibility that some or all of these plans could change. however, with that significant caveats, we hope that from the 14th of september, sports stadium will be able to reopen, for limited numbers of spectators and with strict physical distancing in place, some professional sports events might be arranged for spectators before then, the scottish government agrees to test the safety of any new arrangements. we also hope that from the 14th of september, indoor sports contact sports countries in four age 12 and over children and culture events such as theatres and live music will also be able to reopen

from that date as well but was strict physical distancing in place. for facilitating that, these strict physical distancing in place. forfacilitating that, these menus can open from the 24th of august for preparation and rehearsal. from the 14th of september, we hope that several partnership receptions and funeral arrangements will be able to ta ke funeral arrangements will be able to take place with more attendees at present, but numbers will still be rechecked restricted. we set up more detail include a bid to numbers, shortly. these are the activities and premises for which we are currently setting indicative dates, but i want to stress again that these are indicative dates at this stage. we are, unfortunately, not yet setting a date for a date for nonessential call centres, and we will view this at the next point. for now, working from home will be at their default position. i know that many office workers missing their colleagues and many are keen to resume my daily routine, but i know some businesses may be managing to work virtually once more of their employees to work together and to meet and i am acutely aware of the

impact of home working on cafe is like restaurants which are based on areas with lots of office workers. a full return to office work and, given to numbers available, that would significantly increase the risk of indoor transmission. it would also mean buses and trains are com pletely would also mean buses and trains are completely also at higher risk and our conclusion therefore is a return to working in offices, unless that work is essential and cannot be completed at home, present too great a risk at this time. the impact it could have on community transmission would also make it more difficult to keep schools open and so this does, u nfortu nately, keep schools open and so this does, unfortunately, come down to difficultjudgments unfortunately, come down to difficult judgments about priorities. we have made clear that our priority is to enable children to be safely back in school and with the virus at its current 11 levels, that means we cannot do everything else we would like to do, like bring back nonessential officers. i know people ask why the kids can go school, and why we cannot go to the office, that might seem like an

inconsistency, but that logic that is back to front, it is because you cannot go to the office and because of the other restrictions are keeping apace that we are able to send children back to school. if we open everything up right now, the overall impact would be too great and the virus would run away from us and the virus would run away from us and we would be, in all likelihood, be forced to re—fork force to reintroduce restrictions we have not got desired. there is one final issue i want to cover today and it relates to the risks i mentioned earlier, of transmission inside peoples homes and at the risk of transmission in pubs, cafe and restau ra nt. we have considered very carefully what further enforcement actions we can take to minimise the risk of transmission in those settings. for the indoor hospitality sector i am grateful to the many pubs, restau ra nts a nd cafe grateful to the many pubs, restaurants and cafe is that have opened responsibly and going to great lengths to stick to the rules

and guidance on ventilation, hygiene, face coverings, contact details and physical distance and, their efforts are hugely appreciated. however, we know not all hospitality businesses have implemented the guidance effectively. we therefore intend to strengthen the power of local authorities to act in the circumstances. the scottish government has powers under emergency legislation to issue directions in respect of a class of premises, for example directions because all pubs in a particular postcode. we intend to give local authorities the power to act in respect of individual specific premises that are breaching guidelines and risking transmission of the virus. this power will enable local authorities to either close such premises or to impose conditions on them remaining open, where they deem that is necessary for the purpose of preventing, protecting against or controlling the spread of infection. we believe this is an important, indeed a vital, but also a proportionate step which will help local authorities ensure businesses stick to the

guidelines and that action can be taken where these guidelines are being breached. the second area we have been looking at carefully is indoor social events like house parties. we know from reports of our own test and protect teams and we also know from evidence from other places in the uk and indeed around the world, that these indoor events oppose a major significant transmission risk and because the virus is present at an event like this, there is a high likelihood that most people at the event get the virus. that is why we advise on strict limits on indoor gatherings. right now our advice is that no more than eight people from a maximum of three different households should be gathering indoors. the vast majority of people i know we'll be sticking to this and it is not easy to do so so to this and it is not easy to do so soiam to this and it is not easy to do so so i am very grateful to them for that. we also know that a minority don't and we know that large house parties propose a very real and significant risk of causing clusters

and outbreaks. such as some of those we have been dealing with in recent days. for use in cases of flagrant breach and as a last resort, we intend to give the police powers of enforcement to break up and disperse large indoor gatherings. we believe that both of these new powers are necessary if we are to continue to suppress the virus, minimise the risk of outbreak and keep it under control, which is so necessary. we will weigh the regulations for both of these measures next week and we will intend they come into force from next friday the 28th of august. presiding officer, their last three weeks have given us mixed news. we have seen a rise in new cases and a number of clusters across the country. we have also regrettably had to re—impose some restrictions in the city of aberdeen. but we still have low numbers of new cases overall. we have very low cases of hospital admissions and we have strong and growing evidence that our

test and protect teams in the system overall is working well. given the resurgence of covid—19 we are seeing in some parts of europe and given that we always knew that reopening more parts of the economy would be risky, the picture in scotland could of course be better but it could also be significantly worse. we are still making progress in our overall fight against this virus. but we cannot take this progress for granted. especially if we are to keep our schools open, keep businesses and services open and retain our ability to socialise and meet up in small groups of friends and family. the fact is covid—19 is still a major risk and we must still be very cautious. we can see the evidence of that in aberdeen. we see it in each new customer across the country and we see it in reports from elsewhere in the uk, europe and around the world. that is why today's review has sought to take a careful and a balanced approach. i hope the reopening of some services will be welcomed and notwithstanding

the risk that each and every reopening presents, we know it is essential to reduce the economic harm that the virus is doing. i hope the people will also understand why, as we tried to open services and keep them open, we must take firm action when rules and guidance and not been complied with. i also hope that everyone watching will understand that although government must and will take the lead, we make difficult decisions, we graphed guidance, we propose laws but we cannot control covid—19 on our own. we are all dependent on the choices made by each and every single person in the country. so please think carefully about whether you are playing your part as fully as you could and should be. please do not meet indoors and in groups of more than eight people from any more than three hassles and that applies to a pub, cafe and restaurantjust as it doesin pub, cafe and restaurantjust as it does in someone's home. remember physical distancing and don't go into crowded places where physical distancing may not be possible. and ask yourself whether your social life feels normal, because it

shouldn't at the moment feel entirely normal. wherever you are, assume the virus is present in act at all times to avoid creating bridges that allow it to from one hostel to another. i have spoken for about the importance of solidarity and how we deal with this pandemic. i know it is hard, especially after five months but sticking to these rules is an expression of care for each other. it is the way in which we protect, not just each other. it is the way in which we protect, notjust ourselves, but our loved ones and our communities. that reason i will end by reminding eve ryo ne that reason i will end by reminding everyone again of facts, the five golden rules that will help us stay safe even as life gets back to something that is closer to normality. if its face coverings that should be worn in enclosed spaces, public transport, shops, anywhere else that physical gifting is more difficult. a, avoid crowded areas, outdoors as well as indoors. see clean your hands regularly and thoroughly. two metre distancing remains the clear advice and self—isolate and book a test immediately, if you have symptoms, a

new cough, a fever or a loss or a change in the sense of taste of smell. you can book a test at nhs website or by phoning the helpline. anytime anyone of us drops our guards and forgets these rules, we give this virus a chance to spread. we risk turning an infection into a cluster and a cluster into an outbreak. but if all of us stick to the facts, we can continue to suppress it and keep schools and services open and we can think about easing more restrictions in the future. my thanks once again to eve ryo ne a cross future. my thanks once again to everyone across country who is helping to do exactly that. studio: that was the first minister nicola sturgeon giving her weekly review and the main point to take from this is that she said that scotla nd from this is that she said that scotland has recorded the highest number of daily covid—19 cases in almost three months. the figure given is that it is now up by 77

from 19,704 the day before... no deaths recorded. they are not adding to the next level, they are staying at level three rather than moving across to level four which would have allowed eight easing of certain measures. there is some other breaking news coming to us here, regarding the current concern over alexei navalny, the opposition in russia. he was taken ill on a plane, transferred to a hospital earlier today. the kremlin has now spoken, the suspect poisoning, not confirmed yet, but a spokesman has said doctors are doing everything they can to help the opposition politician, mr navalny.. they went on to add that they wish him a speedy recovery like any other citizen who finds himself in such

circumstances and said that russian authorities would be ready to consider a request that he be treated abroad if one was made. but we have heard from doctors saying they are fighting to save his life. it is also passing comments in events in belarus. the kremlin has also said that any signs that foreign countries are in talks with the belarussian opposition would be interference in the internal affairs of belarus. the comments come as more protests are expected despite the president of belarus alexander lukashenko, ordering security forces to end what he called the unrest in the country. on wednesday, european union leaders agreed to impose sanctions on anyone involved in repression and election fraud after the disputed presidential vote earlier this month. well, jonah fisher is in minsk for us — he gave us the latest. over the last couple of days there's been a bit of a sense here that the demonstrations and the strikes have slightly lost momentum.

yesterday we saw riot police returning to the streets. you may remember that over the weekend and the early part of this week, the riot police really took a step back, people took to the streets in very, very large numbers, and quite a large number of strikers were coming out against president lukashenko. yesterday, a very different mood. president lukashenko coming out with some strong words, instructing the interior ministry here to restore order on the streets of minsk, and certainly the numbers yesterday were considerably reduced, possibly out of fear that there might be reprisals and attacks on people coming out. back to our top story — and teenagers in england, wales and northern ireland are receiving their gcse grades given by their schools. btec students will have to wait for their results, which have been delayed because of concerns about fairness. we've been hearing from our correspondents across the different parts of the uk. in a moment we'll hear from tomos morgan at the mary immaculate high school

in cardiff, but first to county antrim, and our correspondent chris page at the carrickfergus academy. well, a lot of nervousness of course on this huge morning for pupils and indeed teachers, but also a lot of excitement and satisfaction. let's have a quick word with the principal. a more positive morning this morning after what has been a pretty stressful, more stressful than usual, weak. absolutely, it is great to get to today. we are looking for positive outcomes for all our pupils this morning and compared to last thursday, we are much happier with where we are this week than last thursday.” much happier with where we are this week than last thursday. i am sure you are. the btec results delays, is that affecting you? you have a number of people is doing them. we would have about a third were students waiting for confirmation. a little bit of frustration that was very much last—minute yesterday evening. but we are in the position

whereby we have got information for our students that allows them to move forward with whatever they want to take today, be it coming back to the academy, or employment. much better position than this time last week. congratulations to you and your colleagues. you have more pupils coming in to pick up their gcse results right now so let's have a word indeed with a couple of them. enea and nicole. how have your results gone today?” enea and nicole. how have your results gone today? i am pleased of my results. last week it was really stressful because all the scotland to drum up with all their results, it wasjust to drum up with all their results, it was just absolutely amazing getting them in today and that is it over and done with —— drama. getting them in today and that is it over and done with -- drama. what results are you pleased with?” received a four and ball this year andl received a four and ball this year and i am pleased with myself. —— i received a's and bees this year. i

am looking into history and politics that a—levels. am looking into history and politics that a-levels. you will be staying on for six form? i would like to finish of my school year to give myself more opportunities later on in life. many congratulations to you. nicole, what results, what grades have come your way this morning? lots of a's and bees as well, and a star. you are pretty happy with that? definitely, very happy, it was a relief to get them today compared to the build—up of the tension surrounding them. last thursday, this time last thursday a—level results came out and there are so a—level results came out and there are so much controversy a—level results came out and there are so much controversy over a—level results came out and there are so much controversy over the way they have been awarded. so many people disappointed, knowing you had results coming a week later, how did it make you feel? it scarred me and raised awareness for me because my sister was receiving her a—levels as well. she was a little bit worried

about hers. what is the plan now for you that this big day is over and done with? will you be coming back here? i would deftly be filling in the form to return to the academy. it seems to be a great place, everybody will be happy with what they have got here so thank you very much indeed. many congratulations to you and to your classmates who are in the school hall here in carrickfergus. 30,000 gcse pupils getting their results today. let's hear the situation over in wales with my colleague. cheers, i am here in mary immaculate high school in cardiff. you can see the pupils are now receiving their gcse results after what has been a difficult week for them, that huge u—turn from all the devolved governments on monday meaning gcse, as—level and a—level pupils across the uk and and across the four nations will be receiving grades predicted to them by their

teachers. one happy customer is louis, how did you get on?” achieved 38 stars, five a's and two bs, iam really achieved 38 stars, five a's and two bs, i am really happy with my results and it has been really stressful —— three a stars. after the u—turn i was confident in my teachers and i am happy to give me the results i deserve. georgia, you do quite well. what are your plans for the future? i am going to go to sixth form college, i need maths, chemistry and biology to potentially have a career in medicine. however he found the last couple of months? sorry. they have been weird and i don't... it felt very strange, but i feel we are slowly coping. it is the same for you, beatrice. you got what you wanted, you got what you feel you wanted, you got what you feel you have worked for. but notjust taking the exams, how is it been working from home and doing the course work you needed to from home?

i have tried my best to make sure that i keep my brain active. i have been waking up early, doing my couege been waking up early, doing my college work, going out for walks and making sure i keep good mental health and stuff because it has been a long time inside, for more than six months now, but yeah, with my results i feel like i put their working so i am happy i got the results i got. you're the head teacher here, i suppose that is a thing we have forgotten about really. obviously always a difficult day, always an anxious day for eve ryo ne day, always an anxious day for everyone involved, but actually a lot of the students and it seems across the country, i have had to do some work at home and that has been difficult for you and them. it has and it has been adapting to new technologies and new ways of working. the teaching profession is a resilient one in our young people are resilient as well. they are able to meet that challenge i think.” think one thing that needs to be looked at now is if there was a

second wave and things were to deteriorate again next year, what lessons could be learnt? what things could be done, do you think, in your opinion, to ease the burden on teachings and were students next year if it were to have similar issues regarding the coronavirus?” think a move by the welsh exam board to reduce some of the content and coursework has meant that the ability to complete the courses by teachers has been better. but of course all the lessons we had were very positive, but social distancing and hygiene, but also about the home learning structures which we can bring back pretty quickly really should they be needed. thank you so much. pupils getting what they feel they wanted and what they need to progress further in their careers. it has been, well, an anxious week, an anxious few months for other the pupils here as it has been across the uk but now there has been a resolution after those

we are going to bring you some breaking news. we are hearing that the brother of the manchester arena bomber has been jailed. the brother of the manchester arena bomber has beenjailed. it's a sentence has been passed. jailed for at least 55 years. hashem abedi is 23, he was found to be jointly responsible with his dead brother for murdering 22 people that were killed in the manchester arena attack. he was also sentenced for the murder of those who survived. and conspiracy to cause explosion. mrjusticejeremy and conspiracy to cause explosion. mrjustice jeremy baker said, the defendant and his brother were equally culpable in the deaths and injuries caused by the explosion. he went on to say, the stark reality is these were atrocious crimes. passing

a mandatory 22 life sentences for the murder, thejudge fixed the minimum term at 55 years. because he was under 21, at the time, he was actually 20, the law actually forbids... excuse me, the imposition ofa forbids... excuse me, the imposition of a whole life order, meaning a life sentence with no minimum term. i believe we have daniel sanford outside. daniel. could you tell us what happened today? this has been a two—day sentencing hearing, both days hashem abedi was brought to court ina days hashem abedi was brought to court in a prison van, both days he refused to leave the cells and some of the bereaved relatives have said that showed just what a coward he was, because when it came to hearing what his punishment should be for the murder of 22 people and the attempted murder of many more, he didn't even leave his cells. mr justicejeremy

didn't even leave his cells. mr justice jeremy baker began didn't even leave his cells. mr justicejeremy baker began his sentencing just after quarter past 12 and just sentencing just after quarter past 12 andjust in sentencing just after quarter past 12 and just in the last few minutes, he has said that hashem abedi should serve a he has said that hashem abedi should servea minimum he has said that hashem abedi should serve a minimum term of 55 years in prison. of course, that is multiple life sentences behind that, but because hashem abedi was not yet 21 at the time that his brother blew himself up in the manchester arena, he couldn't get a whole life order. the order that says that prisoners should never be released, but by giving him a minimum term of 55 yea rs, giving him a minimum term of 55 years, mrjusticejeremy giving him a minimum term of 55 years, mrjustice jeremy baker giving him a minimum term of 55 years, mrjusticejeremy baker has made it such that the parole board won't even consider whether hashem abedi should be released from prison for 55 years, and that is either the longest or one of the longest minimum term is ever passed in the english court system. we have had two days of absolutely harrowing testimony from the bereaved relatives of those killed in the bomb, going down to as young as

eight, 214—year—olds, relatives describing the gaping holes left in their by the young people that had been killed in the bombing of the manchester arena. people talking about empty chairs at the dinner table, calling people down to dinner and then realising that they are no longer with them. the absolute agony and heartbreak. it has been more than three years since the manchester arena bombing, but when we saw people giving evidence in person yesterday about how it had affected them, it was clear that the grief isjust as affected them, it was clear that the grief is just as raw as it was. people unable to get through their state m e nts people unable to get through their statements without lots and lots of tea rs. statements without lots and lots of tears. but now we now know that hashem abedi has been given multiple life sentences and will not be released from the prison for at least 55 years. thank you very much, more coming up in the one o'clock news. a farmer has been found guilty

of a blackmail plot against tesco which involved lacing baby food with fragments of metal. nigel wright tried to extort £1.4 million in bitcoin from the supermarket by deliberately contaminating goods between may 2018 and february 2020. our correspondent sangita myska is following the case. it took the jury just a day and half to find wright guilty of three counts of blackmail, against the supermarket giant tesco and a further two counts of contaminating baby foods with broken razors. during the trial, wright's defence had presented to him as a simple farmerfrom lincolnshire, who had been forced into a criminal plot by travellers that had turned up to his mobile home and had begun threatening the lives of his children. today, thejury instead believed the prosecution case, that in fact, nigel wright was a manipulative man, skilled at navigating the dark web and a man who had demanded £1.4 million in cryptocurrency and the crucial thing is that cryptocurrency, of course, is very hard to trace. i was told by police officers

earlier today that it had been a massive police operation to try and catch wright. there were around 100 officers and they were split into 22 teams, ——2 teams those searching for traditional evidence and those investigating his dark web activities. the breakthrough came at the end of last year, when they found a piece of cctv in which nigel wright had placed one of the contaminated jars of baby food onto a shelf in tesco's in lockerbie. following that, undercover officers were able to engage mr wright on the dark web and able to transfer money into mr wright's crypto wallet, those two things combined i think that have led to this case here and the case built against him that the jury today believe. so, what happens next? next we have sentencing, that is going to happen at the end of september and prior to that,

thejudge today ordered psychiatric reports to help him decide that sentence. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear. hello, we are continuing to see some unseasonably strong winds, the early hours of this morning, storm ellen classed the public of —— across the republic of northern ireland. we keep this unseasonable windy weather with a case of sunny spells and scattered showers. low pressure is getting its way up into the north—west, circulating around that though we have shower cloud moving in and that means there is a risk this afternoon and to the west of some sharp, thundery downpours into northern ireland with some fringes of scotland, wales and england. with gusts of wind in excess of 50 mph continuing may be more on exposed coasts. come further inland, with some sunshine in comparison to yesterday, a better afternoon. temperatures peaking at a low to mid 20s. as we go into the night, that the pressure is going to continue to drift its way steadily east with a combination of high

spring tides, glassed of winds in excess of 50, 6o spring tides, glassed of winds in excess of 50, 60 mph, there could be the possibility of localised coastal flooding to clay down into the south—west. mile stretch of friday morning with mid—teens quite widely and tomorrow, the winds will strengthen for many of us —— mild start for friday. that low pressure crossing will bring bans of showery rain drifting its way steadily northwards and on friday, it is likely to be the day where we are going to see widely the windiest weather. in fact, we will see gusts of winds in excess of 30—40 mph into scotla nd of winds in excess of 30—40 mph into scotland and northern ireland with stronger winds for england and wales, widely 40—50, may be as much as 60 mph plus on those exposed coasts. sunny spells and scattered showers. not everybody was the those showers. not everybody was the those showers and if you catch sunshine, it will still potentially feel relatively pleasant out there with temperatures again into the mid 20s. the low pressure is going to drift off into scandinavia and allow those

isobars to open up just a touch on saturday. perhaps not quite as windy, still a notable gusty wind out there and there will be some showers or longer spells of rain, especially the further north—west you are. it is going to be a windy afternoon but if you dodge the showers and you see a little more shelter, those temperatures are still likely to peak into the low 20s and we are losing that humidity, is actually for many of us, it will feel a little more pleasant. take care.

a big increase in the gcse pass rate in england — up 9% on last year.