leader yevgeny prigozhin. he expresses condolences and describes prigozhin, who led the brief mutiny against the russian military, as a talented man. but there's still no official confirmation he has died. translation: confirmation he has died. i translation: confirmation he has died. l, translation: confirmation he has died. :, ~ :, translation: confirmation he has died. a, ~ :, ~ prigozhin translation: i have known mr prigozhin for — translation: i have known mr prigozhin for a _ translation: i have known mr prigozhin for a long _ translation: i have known mr prigozhin for a long time, - translation: i have known mr prigozhin for a long time, since | translation: l have known mr. prigozhin for a long time, since the start of the 1990s. he was a man with a difficult fate. we'll talk to our russia editor about putin's comments. also on the programme... the nerve—racking wait is over — hundreds of thousands of students get their gcse and btec results. the number of top grades has fallen. two men have been arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire at the crooked house pub. thousands of emperor penguin chicks have died in antarctica as sea ice thins. josh is going to get there. it's gold. and the run of his life — we hearfrom britain'sjosh kerr, the new 1500 metre world champion.

coming up on sports day later in the hour, we would be another goal night for great britain of the world athletics championships. matthew hudson smith has high hopes in the 400 metres. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. it's taken 2a hours but president putin has finally spoken out about the plane crash that is thought to have killed the leader of the russian mercenary wagner group, yevgeny prigozhin. a short time ago the russian president said he had known him for many years and described him as a person with a complicated fate who made serious mistakes in life. yevgeny prigozhin�*s name was on the passenger list for a private jet that came down north of moscow last night, killing all ten people on board. their bodies have all been recovered, but have not yet been formally identified.

and there is still no confirmation that he was on the plane. our russia editor steve rosenberg has the latest. in a field 60 miles from moscow, the wreckage of a plane, the private jet on which the russian authorities say yevgeny prigozhin was travelling. an investigation is under way into the cause of this crash. was ita bomb, a missile? was it sabotage? the authorities say all ten people on board were killed. but it's mr prigozhin�*s fate that is centre of attention. for years the kremlin�*s mr fixit, his mercenary group had fought in ukraine. but two months ago it mutinied. they took over the city of rostov and moved on towards moscow. it was an unprecedented challenge to the kremlin. so, is yevgeny prigozhin�*s reported demise in the plane crash president putin's revenge?

today the kremlin leader broke his silence on the crash. he said he had known mr prigozhin a long time, since the early 1990s. he called him a man with a difficult fate who had made mistakes, but he was talented. but president putin has previously called the wagner mutiny a stab in the back and betrayal he cannot abide. if the crash was an act of revenge, then what is the message? this is a clear message to elites — you must be loyal or you must express double loyalty, even. this is a message to ordinary people — look, you can survive this period but you must be quiet. there is no need in supporting somebody else. only putin is your president, your autocrat, your person to admire.

in other words, don't cross the kremlin. the world of russian politics, though, is a murky one. some here suspect a hoax. there is talk of a second wagner plane that landed safely. but outside wagner offices, in st petersburg, there is now a shrine. people here are in mourning for a mercenary chief they believe has been killed. steve rosenberg, bbc news. if prigozhin is indeed dead, he willjoin a long list of vladimir putin's enemies who met their deaths in mysterious circumstances. like these two — the former politician—turned businessman pavel antov and the oil boss ravil maganov, who both died last year. they had openly criticised russia's war in ukraine, and both reportedly fell to their deaths from windows. this man, boris berezovsky — another putin critic who fled to the uk —

was found dead a decade ago in his mansion in berkshire. and the former spy alexander litvinenko was fatally poisoned with radioactive polonium in 2006. the european court of human rights found that russia was responsible for his death. our analysis editor ros atkins has been looking into what we know so far about the crash that may have prigozhin�*s death. thank you very much indeed. here are four possible explanations for why prigozhin�*s plane came down. the first is a bomb. this footage, confirmed by bbc verify, shows the plane falling to earth rapidly. this could have been caused by a bomb. and based on tracking data from prigozhin�*s plane, it had been in moscow and hadn't flown for over a month, potentially making access to the plane easier. though tracking technology can be switched off, it is probable, if not certain,

that the plane hadn't moved. if not a bomb, then it could have been a surface to air missile. russia certainly has the capacity and reuters is reporting that two us officials have told them it was a surface to air missile, though the us has not commented publicly on the cause. another explanation is it was a missile from a fighterjet. we know prigozhin�*s plane came down near a village called kuzhenkino, north of moscow. just over 12 miles away is the migalovo airbase. a fighterjet could have reached the plane very quickly. but while prigozhin�*s plane's final flight could be tracked on publicly available services, fighterjets don't allow this type of tracking. we don't know if a jet was involved. the final explanation is that this was an accident. prigozhin�*s plane was an embraer legacy 600. the model's had one accident in more than 20 years�* service and that wasn't caused by mechanical failure. also, prigozhin�*s plane was cruising at 28,000 feet, the least likely time in a flight for a plane to have mechanical or structural problems.

all of which means that we don't know why the plane came down. it may have been an accident, but it's much more likely that prigozhin�*s plane was brought down deliberately. and steve rosenberg is here. president putin has spoken out at last. what you make of his comments? interesting. condolences from president putin, and compliments too, calling mr prigozhin a talented man, a talented businessman, someone who pushed for results for himself and for the common cause. but that will not change the fact i think that many russians and people outside russia will have concluded that it was the russian authorities who are behind this crash. and do you know what? whatever was the cause of this plane crash, whoever may have been behind it, i think that suits president putin just fine because this sends a very strong message out to people inside russia.

don't cross the kremlin. to anybody who may be planning, thinking of an insurrection or a coup, don't do it, because you see what the results are. ,, ., , , because you see what the results are. ,, , ., ~ _, gcse results were out today for hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales and northern ireland. the proportion getting top grades has fallen from last year but is still higher than before the pandemic. pass rates in england, wales and northern ireland are down for a second year running. 68.2% of exams were marked at grade 4 — that's a c grade. in wales and northern ireland the drop is slightly smaller. in england, nearly 27% of this year's results were grade 7 or above, but regions varied. in london, it was 28.4%. in the north east of england, i7.6%. over 390,000 certficates were awarded to students studying btecs and vocational technical

qualifications taken in schools and colleges alongside, or as an alternative, to gcses. our education editor branwen jeffreys reports. setting up for a celebration, not knowing what to expect. the build—up to these gcses disrupted by covid, then strikes. as they waited for pupils, senior teachers scanned the results. he did well. oh, he did. each 16—year—old turning up with their own hopes and fears. yes! i'm feeling amazing. i did not expect these results. i'm overjoyed. leonard is off to college now to study design. in 2019, i got diagnosed with non—hodgkin's lymphoma, so i was off for a whole year of school in year eight, and then i got back to school for my first full week for the pandemic to hit. and recovering from cancer, kieran still got top grades in sciences. smile! stuck for words, really, i'm very emotional.

have a few tears been shed? i'm sure there will be later... later on! it's been emotional for parents too, keeping teenagers on track to difficult years. through difficult years. there is huge relief here today because at this school, the results are better than the national average. they are also better than 2019. but across england, grades have fallen. and that means more teenagers will be facing resits in english and maths. come on in! it's a great day, come on. in northern ireland, plenty to celebrate, and at 86%, still the best gcse pass rate across the uk. in the city of wrexham, the expected slight fall in passes but no one in wales will face compulsory maths and english resits. in this norfolk school,

results were better than expected but the gap with disadvantaged areas in the north has grown. ourfocus has to be notjust on the generalities of a north—south divide but on the specific problem that here in cities like leeds, across the north of england, in many of those more deprived communities, we are leaving children and young people behind. top grades were highest in london. if you've got these grades this year, then even better, right? visiting a school here, the education secretary said before covid, the gap had been closing. under this conservative government we got it down 9.1%, which was amazing, and you know, we were really pleased with that. now, it has taken a step back in the pandemic. we put £5 billion into catch—up. signing up for a t—level in education and health in norwich today, she is moving on. and for others who didn't get the grades they hoped for, there will be

second chances at college. getting five gcses, including maths and english can make a huge difference to your chances as an aduu difference to your chances as an adult for getting a well—paid job, of earning enough a difficult time. that's why second chances at colleges like this are so important. it's why some this evening are calling for more support for 16—19 —year—olds who have been through the pandemic. but most of all people are calling for action on that gap between them most and least disadvantaged. studio: branwen jeffreys, thank you. the number of people in the uk waiting for a decision on their asylum claims has reached a record high — more than 175,000 people. that's up 44% from last year, as the number of people crossing the channel in small boats increased by a quarter. four in five asylum seekers waited over six months for a decision on their application. thejustice secretary has ordered an independent

inquiry into the handling of andrew malkinson�*s case, after his conviction was quashed by the court of appeal last month. mr malkinson wrongly spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. the inquiry will investigate the role of greater manchester police, the crown prosecution service and the criminal cases review commission in his conviction and subsequent appeals. our legal correspondent dominic casciani is here. thanks, sophie. a month after andy malkinson was cleared by the court of appeal and walked away an innocent man, he's determined to find out why it took 20 years to have his name cleared. the inquiry announced today, to be headed by a senior legal figure, is not a full public inquiry. that means it can't compel witnesses to give evidence, butjustice secretary alex chalk says all the agencies involved have pledged to cooperate to give mr malkinson the answers he deserves. what i want to get to is the fact of who knew what and when, why did they make the decisions, were those judgments correct, and how can people properly be held

to account and lessons learned for what happened. so what will it investigate? let's start with this forensic evidence. this is the vest top worn by the victim during the attack in 2003. but in 2007, scientists, using new techniques, found dna on the top from another man. the sample came from near where the woman had been bitten. in december 2009 the scientists discussed the finding with prosecutors and detectives. one of the lawyers wrote that the discovery was "surprising" and "crime—specific". the dna appeared to be from the real attacker — there was no trace of mr malkinson. now, earlier in 2009, andy malkinson lobbied the criminal cases review commission to send his case back to judges. but in 2010 an investigator concluded: "there is nothing to be gained by having any of the dna exhibits re—tested yet again." in 2012 the ccrc dismissed mr malkinson�*s application — one of two rejections he received. that dna sample has since been

linked to an identifiable suspect. it's not the only problem in this case, and mr malkinson wants full disclosure. it should be open, not defensive. you know, if things were done wrong, just be open about it, like a truth and reconciliation committee. because you're only going to fix these things if you get to the heart... of what's going wrong. he and his team have welcomed the inquiry but say that if anyone obstructs it, it must be given powers to force disclosure of evidence. they say trust in justice itself is at stake. sophie. dominic casciani, thank you. relatives of the father of sara sharif, whose death in the uk sparked an international manhunt, cannot be detained in pakistan by police for questioning on his whereabouts. a murder inquiry was started after the ten—year—old was found dead at her family the ten—year—old was found dead at herfamily home in woking two

the ten—year—old was found dead at her family home in woking two weeks ago. herfather urfan sharif and his partner beinash batool travelled to pakistan with his brother before her body was found. the time is 18:16. our top story this evening: presdient putin has broken his silence over the plane crash that is presumed to have killed the russian mercenary leader yevgeny prigozhin. coming up, the controversy over the shirts worn by the lionesses goalkeeper. some replicas will now go on sale. and on bbc london, a family still appealing for help to catch anthony watson has been ruled out of next month rugby world cup with a calf problem. emperor penguins — iconic in the antarctic, but for how much longer? a big loss of sea ice last year has resulted in a catastrophic loss of chicks. a study from the british

antarctic survey — published in nature communications — supports predictions that with current warming trend,s more than 90% of emperor penguin colonies will be all but extinct by the end of the century. our science editor rebecca morelle reports. they live in the most remote part of the planet, adapted to survive the harshest conditions. but for emperor penguins, the sea ice that they depend on is vanishing. and this year has seen a record melt, leading to a catastrophic loss of chicks. this is really a sign of things to come. we expect that emperor penguins are going to really suffer with climate change. and this is really poignant because most of these penguins will never have seen a human being in their life. but it's human—induced climate change which is driving their futures and a future which is looking really bleak at the moment. to breed successfully, emperor penguins need nine months of solid sea ice. the chicks are cared for by their parents

as they develop and grow. they need to stay on the ice until they replace their fluffy down for waterproof feathers. the problem is the ice is melting much earlier in the season, and if the chicks enter the water before they're ready, they don't survive. the red line on this map shows where the sea ice used to reach at the end of antarctica's summer. 2023 has seen a record low. only the white and light blue areas are ice. this area lost all of its sea ice. five emperor penguin colonies are located there, and four lost all of their chicks. that's an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 birds. out of 66 colonies across the continent, 19 failed either partially or totally to breed. and scientists say if this trend continues, over 90% will be doomed to extinction by the end of this century. this graph shows the area of antarctica's sea ice as it melts and grows between summer and winter. each line represents a year,

and 2023, in red, has been far lower than any other. we had a record annual minimum low in february of this year, and also what's happening right now, so in antarctic winter, as the ice freezes up, is that the ice is not freezing as fast as it normally would because it's so far outside what we've observed previously. we expected change, but we didn't, i don't think, expect change this rapidly and this much. antarctica's entering into uncharted territory, and for emperor penguins, its leading to losses on an unprecedented scale. scientists say if we reduce our carbon emissions we have a chance to save this iconic, unique and beautiful species. they say their future is in our hands. rebecca morelle, bbc news. two men have been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, after a fire at a pub once known as britain's wonkiest.

the crooked house pub in himley in the west midlands caught fire earlier this month, and was demolished without permission 48 hours later. phil mackie has more. yes, let's just remind yes, let'sjust remind people yes, let's just remind people about the crooked house, it's a pub that stood for more than 200 years, it got its nickname as the one kissed pub because of subsidence left it sort of leaning at a slightly precarious angle go —— with its nickname as the wonkiest pub. in july it was sold to new owners. it was not going to continue to be used as a pub. then on saturday august the 5th, it burns down. although large parts of the structure remains, then on monday diggers came in and demolish it, as you say, without permission from local authority and that has led to massive local outcry notjust in the black country but across the rest of the uk as well. lots of people thinking this is part of our

heritage that has been lost. police a couple of days that said they thought the fire may have been started deliberately, and tonight they said they have arrested two people, as you say, in connection, on suspicion of arson. the 66 year man from dudley and 33—year—old man from milton keynes was of being questioned by police and there is a separate investigation into the demolition which is being carried out by south staffordshire district council. senior doctors in england are taking part in their second strike of the year in a dispute over pay. the two—day action began this morning with nhs bosses warning patients to expect significant disruption. but how does the yearly consultant salary in england — on average just over £120,000 a year — compare to other countries? new analysis, which takes into account the cost of living, puts them behind their counterparts in germany, ireland and the netherlands but ahead of those in france, spain and italy — although the study didn't cover all health systems.

hugh pym has been hearing from one consultant about why he's taking action today. we are sort of 12 hours behind the work. the emergency department is full and it's funny how desensitised i've become to it. we've got patients in chairs everywhere. i'm seeing about half of my patients in chairs. they're on drips, they're having infusions. earlier this week, phil told us about a day dealing with urgent cases. later in the shift, his video diary highlights the pressures he and other hospital consultants are under. there's no escaping that the workload for the available staff is a problem and that's leading to our consideration of industrial action at the moment. phil and other consultants were out on picket lines today. they say more needs to be done to stop doctors leaving and higher pay is a vital part of that. but strikes affect patients. jane waited nearly a year to see a consultant about her eye condition. it was due today but it was cancelled. we putjane in touch with helen, a consultant representing

the doctors' union. you know, what i would say to all the consultants is, i support the reasons for your strike. i work in higher education. we have exactly the same problems. but my view is that you guys took an oath to do no harm, and today harm is being done, whether you want it... you know, whether emergences are being covered or not, harm is being done. hi, jane. what i'd first like to say - is that we are really sorry that you're being personally impacted by this today, and to all patients| who have had cancelled - appointments and procedures. please believe me when i say. that we have tried every avenue that we have to try and engage - with government, to address these problems before we have reached this point of taking strike action. - how long are the consultants prepared to go on taking strike action? we will continue to have to take strike action - unless the government comes to us, to the negotiating table _

with a credible offer. i understand all that. a lot of people say consultants earn an awful lot of money already. the doctors' union has rejected the 6% pay offer but the government says its final. we've accepted in full the recommendations of the pay review body and we call on the bma to end the strikes because the strikes ultimately will impact patients, and particularly those patients waiting for their operations. more consultant strikes are planned for september and october. junior doctors are balloting again. their disputes are far from being resolved. hugh pym, bbc news. the former us president donald trump is due to surrender at a jail in georgia later today, after being charged with illegally trying to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election. last night republican presidential hopefuls for the next election appeared in their first televised debate. donald trump, who's most likely to become the candidate, skipped the debate, and instead broadcast a tv interview. our north america editor

sarah smith reports. live at fiserv forum in milwaukee... eight presidential contenders, all lined up and ready to go. yet the man who wasn't there, donald trump, still played a central role. who here would support him for president if he is convicted of any crimes? please raise your hand if you would. centre stage, ron desantis first checks out the others before putting up his hand. the dilemma — how much do you support the guy you're running against? our country is in decline... running a poor second to trump in the polls, he did nothing to help close that gap. now is not the time for on—the—job training. meet vivek ramaswamy — loud, brash, extreme, and previously unknown, he is running as the heir to trump, and took the most flak from the others. you have no foreign policy experience and it shows. i the only woman on stage may have quoted margaret thatcher...

if you want something done, ask a woman. l ..but she doesn't excite the party's make america great again base, who will not tolerate criticism of donald trump from anyone. the conduct is beneath the office of president of the united states. cheers and bo0s. that got the loudest boos of the night. the frontrunner believes he's got too big a lead to need to bother with the debate. his deliberate spoiler was this interview broadcast online at the same time. do i sit there for an hour or two hours or whatever it's going to be, and get harassed by people that shouldn't even be running for president? should i be doing that? this is the venue for today's episode of the trump show — fulton countyjail in georgia. supporters are ready to greet the former president when he turns up later today to surrender himself on charges of election interference. several of his co—defendants have already been booked and bailed.

for the first time, a mug shot of donald trump should be published later tonight. donald trump will turn his arrival here into as much of a tv spectacle as he can with cameras following as he makes the journey here, and as he can with cameras following as he makes thejourney here, and he has even timed it for the early evening to try and maximise his potential television audience. once inside the jail he will be booked and processed and then released on bail of $200,000 for the trial and the prosecutor in this case has just filed a motion asking for the trial to be in only two months' time, because some of the co—defendants have asked for a speedy trial. donald trump's lawyers are bound to argue the case should be delayed until after the presidential election, which is of course not until november next year. sarah smith, thank you. britain'sjosh kerr has been reflecting on the run of his life last night as he surged past the olympic champion in the strait

to become the 1500 metre world champion in budapest. our sports correspondent natalie pirks is there. the effort etched on his face was soon replaced by chest—thumping joy. josh kerr was finally the world champion. it's a lifelong dream to be the best in the world at something and i can't believe i've done it. i hope this isn't a dream. i want to see my fiance, i want to see my parents and just celebrate with them. and i wasn't able to do that in tokyo when i got the bronze there. and, yeah, this one was pretty sweet. there goesjosh kerr! ingebrigtsen cannot hold him! orcan he? for years, he'd been telling anyone who would listen that this was his destiny. the olympic champion jakob ingebrigtsen stood in his way. going into the final bend, the norwegian was more thanjust in his sights — he was chasing him down. as injured team—mate jake wightman, last year's world champion, looked on, kerr ensured the title stayed in britain. josh is going to get there! it's gold! world champion josh kerr!

the loudest fans in the stands were part of team kerr. his fiancee larimar screamed with delight as he stormed over the finish line. he lives in america, away from family, but says the gold medal makes up for it. there's now a physical representation of what that sacrifice meant and what we were able to achieve by doing that. and, yeah, it's definitely an emotional time and it's just... it's amazing to be the best in the world at something. it's something i've wanted for my whole life. the new king of the 1,500 came to hungary with olympic bronze, and left on top of the world. a wonderful moment forjosh kerr's family. away from the track you might remember the kerfuffle around mary earps and nokia's refusal to sell her england world cup goalkeeper kit. —— nike's refusal. even on monday after she had one goal keeper of the tournament, they

said, we will look into it. today they have backed down, confirming they have backed down, confirming they will sell limited quantities of her shirt, saying they recognise that during the tournament they did not serve those fans who wish to show their passion and support a goalkeeper. earps is yet to respond but were the 150,000 fans signed a petition urging nike to just do it, and finally this is a win for them after more than a month of negative headlines. natalie pirks, thank you. time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes. today we have seen quite a few showers around, rather threatening skies in brighton here, those showers have been coming too heavy and thundery across the south of england show and running into kent, you can see the strikes of lightning on our lightning detector. it's also been a humid, muggy kind of day, temperatures around 26, 27 in the warmest areas. tomorrow quite a big drop in temperatures across eastern areas of england but arguably more comfortable feel to the weather.

before we get there come overnight tonight,