tonight at 10 — a record number of top grades for a level students after exams are cancelled for the second year running. woo! oh, my god! almost 45% of students achieved a or a stars in england, wales and northern ireland — their grades were assessed by teachers not formal exams. i know my family are going to be incredibly proud of what i've done and all the work that i've put in. our results came from tests that were done under exam conditions. itjust wasn't in an exam hall. in scotland, a record number of a grades, too, in highers and advanced highers — though the overall pass rate has dropped slightly.

we'll be asking what it all means for university places? also tonight... prince andrew declines to comment after an american woman files a civil case in new york claiming he sexually assaulted her when she was 17. more than three—quarters of adults in the uk are now fully vaccinated — the prime minister describes the covid milestone as a huge national achievement. cheering. and messi on the move — one of the world's greatest footballers arrives in france to a rapturous welcome to agree a deal with paris st germain. and coming up in the sport, on the bbc news channel... catch of the day courtesy of matt parkinson. but london spirit edge a thriller to beat the manchester originals in the hundred. good evening. the number of a—level students

receiving top grades has risen to a record high after exams were cancelled for the second year in a row due to the pandemic. the education secretary, gavin williamson, has praised students for dealing with unprecedented levels of disruption over the past year. students were assessed by teachers in england, wales and northern ireland — almost 45% were awarded a and a stars — compared to 25% in 2019 before the pandemic. the gap between private and state school students achieving top grades has also widened. our education editor branwen jeffreys reports from the north east of england where the number students achieving top grades has risen — but not as much as everywhere else. after a tough year for students, the moment of truth. fewer surprises in this year's envelope — they know what work and tests teachers have used. ooooh! fewertears, too, in a bumper yearfor top grades.

and, afterall, proud of what they've achieved despite the disruption. best kind of priority for us was just to keep going and try and get into the uni and try and get to where you want to go, because if you can work through the pandemic and do all your online learning and get your a—levels like you wanted, what's stopping you going off to uni and doing what you need to do? i think the standard has still definitely been there. it's definitely not we've just walked in and they've handed us the grades. we've worked for these grades. regardless of what you've got, - you should still be incredibly proud of what you've done. i know my family are going to be l incredibly proud of what i've done and all the work that i've put in. here, a—star grades were slightly down. the principal says they marked students over several months. they've had to learn from home, and learning from behind a screen is vastly different to being in a college environment. i think the rigour of those grades has been extremely high, in terms of the amount of work

that the students have had to produce. dylan got a distinction merit in his btec despite cancer treatment. sorry! yeah, just everything that he's gone through over the last four years with his leukaemia, he deserves it. really happy that i'm getting to go to scarborough, - while top grades in some vocational qualifications are slightly up, the big leap has been in a—levels. what matters to students getting results today is what they do next in life — going into work, an apprenticeship, or getting a place at university. the system this year has been designed to give them grades that will make sure they can go on to those next steps, but the price of that, it seems, is a boom in top grades. a—level grades this year across the uk are based

on teacher assessments, from lurgan in northern ireland to wales, where students got provisional grades injune. but there was no attempt to hold back rising grades with an algorithm. how can i help? there were some courses in clearing at newcastle today, but universities are having to choose carefully between top grade students. a—level grades are not the only thing that determines this. the students�* own interests matter a lot, what they say in their personal statement, and in some programmes, how they come across at interview and what is our assessment of why they're interested in a programme. their place at newcastle confirmed, these friends will be celebrating, while others rethink their plans in clearing. branwen jeffreys, bbc news, newcastle.

in scotland a record number of students have achieved a grades in highers and advanced highers. but overall the pass rate has dropped slightly since last year. though it's still significantly higher than before the pandemic. our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon reports. at the pace youth theatre group in paisley, they're rehearsing a show about heading to university. the pandemic meant no final exams for school students this year. but for those here, that didn't mean less work. in a normal year, i maybe would have sat five or six exams. that year, i sat 19. i really feel like the year has been so incredibly difficult, this year and last year, of course, as well. nothing was a fluke. results were based on teacher assessment — a fairer system, say these students who, like many others across scotland, have been awarded as. normally, all the pressure�*sjust on one day, and some people might have an off—day. the higher grades is kind of proof that this is a better way for students to get the grades that they deserve.

people say grade inflation, but i actually think it's more accurate than the previous years, because it wasn't like teachers just picked a letter and said, "oh, yeah, this is what this person got." we sat countless class tests under the exam conditions. pass rates this year are down on 2020 but are up on previous years, while the percentage of pupils achieving a grades reached a record high. in 2019, less than a third of higher candidates were awarded an a grade. there was a huge leap last year, while this year almost half received the top grade. this is a credible set of results. young people should feel proud of what they've achieved, so i think young people and the wider system will have confidence in the results that they received today. today's results were always going to be heavily scrutinised — the chaos of last year's algorithm—based results, followed by the scrapping of exams part way through this year. and opposition parties have today raised concerns about the widening attainment gap between the most

and least deprived students, which the scottish government has vowed to close. well, there's been a slight increase in the attainment gap from last year, but when you look at the historical trend, it's still a very, very good picture. so when you compare it to 2019 and the years before that, we've seen a very, very big improvement in the attainment gap. a record number of scottish students have been accepted to universities here — their hard work in an exceptional year paying off. lorna gordon, bbc news, paisley. let's return to our education editor branwen jeffreys in newcastle tonight. with so many students achieving top grades — the pressure is really on for university places. what does it mean for them? an increase in the highest grades but is the greatest pressure on the most competitive courses and universities which require the highest grades to get in, like newcastle. but we have seen an indication to date have some attempts to manage it, a scheme in england backed by the government, in which students are being offered

£10,000 in cash to move from a medical school which is oversubscribed to one which has capacity for extra places, and i understand at least half a dozen medical schools may have more students with the grades than they really have capacity for, but we also saw a very stern warning from the office for students, the regulator in england, telling universities they can offer incentives but they must not put pressure on students to wait for a year to take pressure on students to wait for a yearto take up pressure on students to wait for a year to take up the university place, and if they hold a firm offer, they have the right to come this autumn. amidst all of that, a debate about the winners and losers in all of this, 70% of the grades awarded in independent schools were a—star or a, awarded in independent schools were a—star ora, but awarded in independent schools were a—star or a, but at state comprehensives, just 39%. he in the north east, one of the lowest levels of increase of anywhere in england

—— here in. of increase of anywhere in england -- here in-— an american woman has filed a civil lawsuit in new york, accusing prince andrew of sexual abuse. in a statement, virginia due—fray claims she was trafficked to the prince by the convicted paedophilejeffrey epstein, when she was 17. the duke of york has consistently denied the allegations. 0ur royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, reports. which of the people in this photograph is telling the truth? the man, prince andrew, who categorically denies any impropriety? or the woman, virginia giuffre, who alleges she was sexually assaulted by him on three occasions? ms giuffre has made these allegations before. she's now followed up with a civil claim filed at a district court in new york. the claim states that when she was 17, she was the victim of sex trafficking. the document states...

it goes on to refer to "prince andrew's criminal acts" and states in conclusion... prince andrew has offered no reaction prince andrew had offered no reaction to the lawsuit. his position remains as it was in his interview with newsnight�*s emily maitlis in november 2019, when he denied any improper behaviour with ms giuffre — or virginia roberts, as she was then.

you can say categorically that you don't recall meeting virginia roberts, dining with her, dancing with her at tramp or going on to have sex with her in a bedroom in a house in belgravia? i can absolutely, categorically tell you it never happened. do you recall any kind of sexual contact with virginia roberts, then or at any other time? none whatsoever. so so what are the chances that the civil claim will lead to a trial? it is by no means certain. the ma'or hurdle is theyd is by no means certain. the ma'or hurdle is they willi is by no means certain. the ma'or hurdle is they will have i is by no means certain. the ma'or hurdle is they will have to i is by no means certain. the major hurdle is they will have to serve i hurdle is they will have to serve prince andrew with the process and in the united states and the look you have to personally serve someone with the lawsuit for it to get going. —— and new york. that will be difficult because he is in the uk. buckingham palace is doing everything it can to keep everything to do with prince andrew at arms length but whatever the truth of these claims, the fact that a member of the royal family finds himself facing them is clearly damaging. prince andrew has withdrawn from public life with the royal family. for all his denials, these latest developments suggest there can be little immediate

prospect of him restoring his public reputation. nicholas witchell, bbc news. more than 75% of adults in the uk have now been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. the prime minister has hailed the milestone as a huge national achievement. the health secretary says the government is ready to begin the rollout of boosterjabs next month which will begin with people who were among the first to be vaccinated. but sajid javid says they are still waiting for advice from scientists before going ahead. here's our health editor hugh pym. the two new leaders of the health system in england today visiting milton keynes university hospital. and the health secretary and the head of nhs england have a number of tasks ahead of them, for example, the continued roll—out of the vaccination programme, including booster jabs. such a challenging and stressful period... sajid javid said that would start soon, assuming vaccine experts gave the go—ahead. i anticipate it would begin in early

september so i'm already making plans for that. it's really important that when we start that programme, the first cohorts, the ones who got the jabs early on when we started our programme, back in december last year, that those cohorts come first. but there isn't universal support for the booster plan. one of the key players in the development of the oxford az vaccine said there was no pressing medical need to give top ups to those who have been fully vaccinated and it wouldn't look good in some other countries. the optics of going for a major boost to programme in the uk is a really difficult one. both what we are talking about in terms of what would be a moral failure with no doses in many parts of the world and three doses here, so there is that aspect. there's also the messaging because that says to other countries, well, if the uk needs three doses, we need three doses.

the immediate focus at vaccination centres is the inclusion of 16 and 17—year—olds since the end of last week. at the moment, that will be through a combination of gps contacting people, inviting them in forjabs, and a number of places that are already offering walk—in vaccination opportunities. we'll see many more of those open up this week. and there's a lot more for the new chief executive to think about. there are many unknowns for the nhs. although covid pressures on hospitals are less than feared at one stage, what might happen in the months ahead and what could happen if there is a severe winter flu season? those challenges will come on top of the drive to reduce the backlog of routine operations. the waiting list for nonurgent surgery in england is above 5 million. the health secretary said again it could hit 13 million as people who missed out last year because of the pandemic came forward for treatment. cutting it, he said,

would require new thinking and also new investment, but he will have to persuade the chancellor. hugh pym, bbc news. the latest government coronavirus figures show there were more than 23,500 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period, which means on average there were 28,007 new cases per day in the last week. almost 6,000 people are in hospital with coronavirus. 146 deaths were recorded in the last 2a hours — that's the highest daily death toll since the 12th of march. it means an average of 89 deaths a day in the last week. 89% of adults in the uk, have now had their firstjab. more than 39.5 million people have had both jabs — 75% of adults. nations around the world have been reacting to that un landmark climate report that issued a "code red" for humanity. experts agree that without big reductions in global carbon dioxide emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change.

china is the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, followed by the united states and india. in a moment we'll hear from our correspondent barbara plett usher in the us, and danjohnson in delhi, but first here's robin brant in shanghai. china is the worlds most populous nation. and for some years now it's also been the world's most polluting nation. rapid economic growth here over the last 20 years, fuelled by plentiful coal, means that china is now the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. it's responsible for more than one quarter of all the greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. half the coal burned in the world is burned here, and it's going up. china says it won't hit peak coal use for a further five years. its president, xijinping, says that by 2030 it will hit its peak in terms of carbon emissions.

it will be a further 30 years, to 2060, until, he says, this country will be net zero on carbon emissions. china is, though, gradually changing its energy mix. it's investing a lot, in particular, in solar. it wants a neat, cleaner, less polluting air for its people. the government says the world should have full confidence in its climate plan, but it's clear that beijing doesn't want to endanger, as it sees it, its economic powerhouse by weening itself off of coal too quickly. here in the united states people shouldn't need a wake—up call about climate change from a scientific report because they're already living it. unprecedented heat and severe drought are fuelling massive wildfires across the north—west of the country. the us has itself to blame. historically, it's released more carbon dioxide into the air than any other country — 400 billion metric tonnes. now, it's the world's second biggest

polluter after china. in 2019 it produced 6.6 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide but that number fell dramatically last year because of the brake that covid—19 put on travel. and the biden administration plans to reduce emissions even more. the president is reversing donald trump's roll— back on climate regulations and he's pushing an ambitious agenda for a switch to green energy. so he welcomed the climate report as an urgent call to action. across india, hundreds of people have died in flash floods over - recent weeks during the monsoon, and those rains are likely- to intensify and get - even harder to predict, which could mean millions of people living under threat. _ so, extreme weather is a real risk. and there are ambitious targets here for increasing renewable energy, - especially from solar power. but fossil fuels will play a major role, way into the future, - as the country keeps growing i

and developing and the overall energy demand rises further. and there is a sense that climate changel is the responsibility of others — industrial nations like the usa, that have burnt coal- for more than a century. and while india is the third—largestl emitter, despite being home to 17% of the world's population, i it only produces 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. so, while other countries have set targets for reaching net zero - in terms of carbon emissions, there isn't even a date under. consideration for that here yet. danjohnson dan johnson there, the danjohnson there, the international challenge to try to tackle climate change. the inquest into the death of a 20—year—old man, who attacked two people with a knife in streatham in south london last year, has been shown footage of the moment he was shot dead by undercover police officers. sudesh amman had been released from prison 10 days earlier after serving time for terrorism offences. the footage shows him charging at the police before being shot. the governor of new york,

andrew cuomo, has resigned after an inquiry found he sexually harassed 11 women. he's continued to deny the claims but said the best way to help now was to step aside. mr cuomo had been facing pressure to resign from fellow democrats, including presidentjoe biden. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, has been travelling around the uk listening to voters' concerns and taking stock after recent shifts in the political landscape. last week we looked at the impact the conservatives' success in the midlands and the north of england is having on their traditional heartlands in the south. today, we look at labour's challenge — whether the party can build on its success in cities to win back some of the towns it's lost. alex forsyth reports from leigh, in greater manchester. the members of leigh scooter club like things from the past. their vehicles celebrate old trends. politically though, there has been a change of direction. this is one of the places that's

seen labour loyalties overtaken by new—found tory support. when leigh was very much a mining town, you had labour and you had the unions, and that was big. people have moved away, new people have moved in. i think it's just watered down and down and down. you're always told that your mum and dad were labour, so you're labour, and you just get it rammed down you, but politics has changed over the years. can you see people going back to labour here? ican. yes, ican. yeah, because i do think brexit had a lot to do with it. _ this former mining town is one of the places that voted leave. brexit�*s clearly played a part in political change across the country. though trevor, an active labour member who's nowjoined the tories, thinks it's deeper. he says some voters feel labour's values shifted away from these communities, leaving them open to other parties. i think they're less tribal than what you think. they're solid in their values but not tribal in their allegiances. i'm me and i've been me for an awful long time

and i have a certain set of values, etc. i'm still where i am and the whole backdrop of the labour left has shifted further, further left. right across england, the political map has changed. labour's lost support in several towns in the midlands and north — like leigh. but half an hour down the road in manchester, the party's still strong. so, how to keep support in cities and rebuild in towns? the mayor here was once the mp for leigh. he says giving communities more power would help voters reconnect, and labour must be clear on what it can offer. the country's crying out for somebody to step forward and say, "you know what? "we can't have this. "we need a big drive to improve people's work, "improve people's homes, improve people's communities..." we've become too timid sometimes and too nuanced in terms of putting forward our policy agenda. i think we kind of have to get bolder again in saying how labour is the right party to rebuild post—pandemic britain.

is keir starmer the man to do it? well, he's certainly got my support. and i think absolutely, he could be the man to do it, no question. for these current and former labour backers in manchester, the challenge is whether a party that's been divided about its direction can appeal across the board. what is important will be to keep the manifesto we had under the last leader. as a labour party, you're veering left and right trying to position yourself but you're trying to hold a group together that isn't really meant to be together. i don't think labour should aim to leave anyone behind. - i don't think labour's anywhere near with that message - about appealing to people - and showing how their agenda will make their lives good - and a good standard of living, and that's really- what they need to do. labour's leader is having conversations like this

with voters through the summer, trying to work out if, and how, the party can grow enough support across the country to find a way back to power. alex forsyth, bbc news, greater manchester. he's one of the world's greatest footballers, and lionel messi was met by rapturous fans as he arrived in france today to finalise a two year deal with paris saint—germain. it's one of the biggest transfers in recent memory — 0ur sports correspondent katie gornall reports. chanting. he was dressed a bit like a tourist. but this was no ordinary day—tripper. lionel messi, one of the game's greatest players had arrived at a french airport ready to sign for paris saint—germain. fans, some of whom had been waiting for days, could barely contain themselves. i watched him play in barcelona and how he acted and how he plays with his team—mates and how he finds ways to play the ball is just amazing. and his goals, his free kicks,

everything, it's just amazing. he is the best player. translation: today is an historic day, the biggest player— on the planet is here in the capital. i'm not going to stay in my neighbourhood, i have to be here. for argentina and for his club, messi has always been a class apart. brilliant from lionel messi. that's what you expect of him. at barcelona he scored a staggering 672 goals and secured ten league titles, and there could have been more. applause. in a tearful farewell press conference on sunday, messi said he never wanted to leave the club he joined when he was 13, but due to la liga salary cap rules, they could no longer afford to keep him. barcelona kept spending, spending, spending. you know what happens if at home you spend more that you have, you cannot afford certain things. so, right now, if you look at what happened last season with a87 million euros in debt,

just from last season, plus the wages of the players, it's110% of what comes in, so technically barcelona are bankrupt. and paris saint—germain was perhaps always the most likely destination, a club backed by qatari money and already littered with stars, including kylian mbappe and his former barca team—mate, neymar. barcelona are now moving on without their biggest star. for messi, a new story is beginning. katie gornall, bbc news. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. hello there. the weather is looking generally more unsettled as we head through the rest of this week. today, we had some much needed dry weather for many parts of the country with some sunshine, making it feel a bit warmer, as well. we did have some showers, some of them heavy and thundery across more northeastern parts

of the uk, but those are going to be fading away through this evening, heading away out into the north sea. and this is where our weather is coming from. this more unsettled weather, this band of cloud coming in from the atlantic, that cloud pushing in from the west, that cloud thickening up in northern ireland and southwestern scotland with a little rain here come the end of the night. those showers in the northeast are moving away, so for many other areas, it is really dry. we'll have some clearer spells around, temperatures like last night around 11 to 13 degrees. during wednesday, we start off with some brighter weather for eastern areas. it will cloud over, we've got this rain moving across northern ireland and then heading its way steadily eastwards through the day. moving in fairly quickly across scotland, so even in the afternoon, we will see some rain for easternmost parts of the country. but it does means western areas could get some sunshine late on in the day. it'll be cooler in scotland and it will be cooler in northern ireland, but at least we get some sunshine in the afternoon after that morning rain. the rain heading its way into the pennines, into wales, the far southwest of england, midlands, towards the

southeast of england, dry. some sunshine, increasing amounts of cloud, but we could make 25 degrees for the first time this month. the main driver of the weather by thursday, that area of low pressure heading towards the northwest. we're pushing ahead, though, that weather front bringing the rain into england and wales. but overnight, that largely peters out, there's not much left at all, really, on thursday. just this band of cloud threatening a few spots of rain with some sunshine coming in as well. sunshine further north, but as the pressure arrives, the winds pick up, we blow some wetter weather across northern ireland and into western scotland, pegging the temperatures back here. but in the southeast, east anglia, where we do get some sunshine coming through, we won't be far off 25 degrees. we end the week with low pressure still affecting more northern parts of the uk. still some stronger winds on friday, and around the low, we've got bands of showers spiralling around it, the main one affecting scotland and northern ireland. but we could see some showers pushing into england and wales as well. and we've got temperatures back down to nearer normal, 18 to 22 celsius.

this is bbc news. the headlines... aid organisations are warning of a humanitarian crisis in afghanistan, as hundreds of thousand civilians have been displaced in fighting which has seen the taliban advance across the country. the red cross says it's treated thousands of wounded people. the embattled governor of new york state, andrew cuomo, has announced his resignation in the face of a sexual harassment scandal. he will quit office in two weeks' time. still in the us, the senate has passed a $1 trillion infrastructure plan after months of political wrangling. unusually, the measure had bi—partisan support — nearly 20 republicans joined democrats in voting for the bill. it now goes to the house. the argentinian has played for barcelona for more than 20 years, but had to leave the club for financial reasons.