elaine dunkley, bbc news, in birmingham.om the penultimate day at the commonwealth games, here's jane dougall in birmingham. what an incredible, breathtaking day it's been in birmingham. the medals have just kept coming with multiple golds for all the home nations — on the track, in the boxing ring, and on the hockey pitch. jo currie rounds up the day's action. the last five seconds, in towards the circle. ., the last five seconds, in towards the circle-— the last five seconds, in towards the circle. ., ., ., ., the circle. counting down to gold. and england _ the circle. counting down to gold. and england are _ the circle. counting down to gold. and england are the _ the circle. counting down to gold. and england are the common - the circle. counting down to gold. i and england are the common wealth games champions. four and england are the common wealth games champions.— games champions. four years ago it was england's _ games champions. four years ago it was england's netballers _ games champions. four years ago it was en

our education correspondent elaine dunkley reports. zed watches every penny.community food pantry to pick up discounted essentials for the children. last summer, zed got a free school meal voucher in the holidays worth £15 a week. but here in birmingham, that's been scrapped. £15 might not sound like a lot of money. actually, in the grand scheme of it, it is. when you've got two children to be paying for, like, it is a big loss. the vouchers have been replaced with free holiday clubs that provide food and activities. i love to get my children out in all activities, but with having a young child and a child with additional needs, it can be extremely difficult for many reasons. three, two, one, go! the council has organised events like this. in birmingham, nearly 70,000 children are eligible for free school meals. we had sandwiches, yoghurt, and a bit of fruit. yeah, it's a healthy lunch. i've enjoyed it a lot because i was able to go out. like, usually i wouldn't go to the park. usually i'd just be at home on my phone. the holiday activities and food programme

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in birmingham.ted in the 19th century to nigeria. the horniman museum said 72 objects, which were forcibly removed from the kingdom of benin, during a british military incursion in 1897, would be handed over to the nigerian government. joining me now is sathnam sanghera, columnist and feature writer at the times and author of the book empireland. he looked at some of the consequences and legacy of empire. thank you very much for talking to us this afternoon. mice thank you very much for talking to us this afternoon.— thank you very much for talking to us this afternoon. nice to be here. the museum's _ us this afternoon. nice to be here. the museum's announcement - us this afternoon. nice to be here. i the museum's announcement today, us this afternoon. nice to be here. - the museum's announcement today, it is not the first but it is kind of in a sense there is a momentum that seems to be building behind this campaign. not comingjust seems to be building behind this campaign. not coming just from the

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in birmingham. for grabs in the commonwealth games today. with all the details, here's chetan pathak in birmingham. good afternoon. a very busy morning here on the penultimate day of these commonwealth games. 45 gold medals being contested today, the busiest day of the games so far, several already awarded, including for the men's four times 100 metres relay. england were the defending champions, and i can tell you just a few minutes ago, the england women's team took the silver in the four times 100 metres relay, their team coming home in second here behind nigeria. staying with athletics, and that there was silver in the 400 metres men's and women's for england. notjust a busy day of track and field, but also over in boxing, 16 titles to be won. rosie eccles, who has become a movie second welsh woman to win a commonwealth boxing gold after winning the light middleweight title, the 36—year—old forced two standing counts with the referee calling it a day in the second round. scotland's first commonw

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in birmingham.esterday after his life support system was removed have released a statement thanking their supporters. they paid tribute to their �*beautiful boy�* and said they were so proud of him. his parents brought a series of unsuccessful legal challenges to keep archie on life support after doctors and laterjudges ruled he was brain stem dead and had no chance of recovery. the family is now demanding an official investigation into the conduct of the hospital treating him, claiming they had been �*stripped of all their rights�* as parents by the health and court systems in deciding what was best for archie. china has said its military will continue with "regular" drills on the eastern side of the taiwan strait, following the visit to the island by the us house speaker nancy pelosi. taiwan has accused china of practising for an invasion, while the us has accused beijing of using military exercises to change the status quo. 0ur correspondent stephen mcdonell is in beijing. hardliners in the upper

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in west bromwich.w. the sheffield hallam university now. government has ; emphasis the government has put such a huge emphasis on levelling up and yet in england we saw this big regional divide in the top marks, why is that? ~ ~ ., ., ., ., , that? we know that over the last ten ears the that? we know that over the last ten years the gap — that? we know that over the last ten years the gap between _ that? we know that over the last ten years the gap between the _ that? we know that over the last ten years the gap between the children | years the gap between the children from the wealthiest families, and the most disadvantaged communities had been narrowing, but the pandemic has put that into reverse, with more learning loss in some parts of the country than others. we look at these a—level results and we see the south—east of england, the wealthy is part of the country pulling away. the gap between london and the north—east getting wider than it was in 2019, when exams were last taken. tonight, schools

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in birmingham.try by dictator idi amin. many settled in greater manchester and lancashire — arriving with nothing but their clothes and a few possessions. among them the raja family from bolton, who've built a business empire. abbiejones has been to meet them. families had arrive a little cash. the few belongings they brought often _ the few belongings they brought often seemed _ the few belongings they brought often seemed of— the few belongings they brought often seemed of little _ the few belongings they brought often seemed of little more - the few belongings they brought often seemed of little more than sentimentai— often seemed of little more than sentimental value. _ they'd left their homes, cars, businesses, pets — their whole lives behind in uganda with little warning. that was all you had? i left behind all my money. _ that was all you had? i left behind all my money, all— that was all you had? i left behind all my money, all the _ that was all you had? i left behind all my money, all the

elaine dunkley, bbc news. 0ur correspondent navtej johal is at the ucas clearing centre in cheltenham to university but haven't quite made the grades they need? well, the advice we have heard time and time again is to stay optimistic and time again is to stay optimistic and to stay flexible. if you have only narrowly missed out on the grades you needed, then you may still be able to go to the university wanted to. give them a call and see if that is possible. it's not, don't worry, there are lots of options available for you and lots of people willing to help you, including the 270 staff who have been here at the ucas headquarters in cheltenham, answering calls on social media messages since eight o'clock this morning. there are 27,000 courses available through clearing. that's a lot of options. do your research, find out if one works for you. give university a call and get a verbal offer. then you can submit your new choice from 3pm this afternoon. now, time, however, is of the essence, to a certain degree. 0ne university vice chancellor said to me today that his advice to students w

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in birmingham. the children's society. she told me what she would like to hear on the issue from the conservative leadership candidates. we have actually heard very little, if anything at all, from either of the candidates about the well—being of children and young people in our society and the fact of the matter is that we now, a third of our children are living in poverty and thatis children are living in poverty and that is around 3.6 million children and young people living in poverty today and the impacts upon their well—being, thisjust today and the impacts upon their well—being, this just is a national scandal, really, so what we need is a clear plan as to how we are going to tackle this and by doing so, what we can give the children foundation is to thrive and what they need for their future aspirations. and this isn't in the form of an emergency short term plan, but we need a review of our welfare system in order to ensure that families who need that support are not left in a position where

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in birmingham.en leadbitter, interim director of national programmes and innovation at the children�*s society. hollow. hello. like my quite shocking _ hollow. hello. like my quite shocking in _ hollow. hello. like my quite shocking in many _ hollow. hello. like my quite shocking in many respects i hollow. hello. like my quite - shocking in many respects because borisjohnson shocking in many respects because boris johnson last year announced more funding for these clubs, free school meals, during the summer —— hello. well, it�*s quite shocking. with the pressure from marcus rashford and so on, we thought children would be ok this summer, but that clearly isn�*t the case. it is to do with the rise of the cost of living or the amount of money councils have actually got, a reduction deia?_ councils have actually got, a reduction deia? ., , . ., reduction deia? clearly the cost of livin: isn't reduction deia? clearly the cost of living isn't helping _ reduction deia? clearly the cost of living isn't hel

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in birmingham. kilometres of paris. rescuers say it has so far refused their offerings of fish, either because it lacks energy or is sick. they hope that the vitamin injection will stimulate its appetite and help it to make the 160km return journey to the english channel, where it can swim back to its arctic habitat.

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in west bromwich.arrested a 44—year—old man on suspicion of the murder of an elderly man who was on a mobility scooter in west london. thomas 0'halloran, who was 87, died from stab wounds in greenford on tuesday. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds is in greenford for us now. tell us more about what we know. after thomas 0'halloran was stabbed alongside the busy a40, about a mile and a half from here, police say a man ran from the scene carrying a knife and later yesterday, they released cctv images of a man they wanted to trace. they said he was dangerous. early this morning, people in this street were woken by crashing sounds and one of them spotted police carrying an item to get into the house behind me. there was shouting, there were armed police here and someone inside was told to put down what they were holding in the hands. a man was brought out in handcuffs. scotland yard has said that this man remains in custody and that the arrest followed the release of the cctv images they put out ye

elaine dunkley, bbc news in wigan.he scottish qualifications authority are to go on strike in a row over pay. the unite union says the action on september the 8th, 15th and 16th could lead to 22,000 exam appeals being "severely delayed". the government is facing further calls to to more to help families and businesses with rising energy bills. the british chambers of commerce wants covid—style emergency grants for companies. and british gas says it will donate 10% of its profits to help poorer customers with a new hardship fund. tomorrow, the new domestic energy price cap for england, scotland and wales will be announced. here's our economics correspondent, andy verity. mixing, kneading and baking bread is an energy intensive business, which makes this small independent bakery in sudbury, suffolk, even more vulnerable to the price shock millions of small businesses are now facing. the government's collecting much more tax on the energy they use, charging vat at 20% on their soaring energy bills. yet most support has be

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in birmingham.rench officials trying to rescue a beluga whale trapped in the river seine have tested a new strategy — a vitamin cocktail. the visibly malnourished beluga was first spotted on tuesday and has swum upriver to within 70 kilometres of paris. rescuers say it has so far refused their offerings of fish, either because it lacks energy or is sick. they hope that the vitamin injection will stimulate its appetite and help it to make the 160km return journey to the english channel, where it can swim back to its arctic habitat. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. once again, it has been a dry day for the vast majority of the uk and it will stay that way in the next few days at least. we're going to find a bit more cloud across scotland and some rain approaching the far north—west later tonight, but otherwise with clear skies and light winds temperatures will fall away to around 11 or 12 degrees. there are some much warmer nights to come later in the week as temp

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in birmingham. and andy, who was in that report, is with me now.mer there was something for everybody to be situation this summer where there is nothing for anybody, certainly in the case of local authorities, including birmingham where you are have stopped providing the vouchers. do you understand what has happened? bring them city council have taken the decision —— birmingham city council taken the decision to put their money into playschemes because evidence shows that children need more than just food during the summer holidays, so we offer games, we take them away from screens, we give them activities and we give them physical exercise. that they wouldn't normally get. i think choices for parents are really difficult over the summer because if you are a working family, and many of ourfamilies that you are a working family, and many of our families that struggle are working all day, you can either leave your children at home and go out to work and take the risk with that or you can give them to a family member to look after, often an older memb

elaine dunkley, bbc news.e collab group — —— let's go to ucas headquarters and our reporter, navteonhal. and a busy day at ucas? the busiest da of the and a busy day at ucas? the busiest day of the year _ and a busy day at ucas? the busiest day of the year for _ and a busy day at ucas? the busiest day of the year for these _ and a busy day at ucas? the busiest day of the year for these guys, - and a busy day at ucas? the busiest day of the year for these guys, a - day of the year for these guys, a think about here is almost christmas day, the one they look forward to in the one they train for throughout the one they train for throughout the year. there are 270 members of staff you're dealing with inquiries on the phone and social media, speaking to students, often who may not have got the results they were hoping for, dealing with those emotions, the highs and lows, that is a job for these guys today. there are 20,000 people expected to call or send inquiries about social media. across the board there are 27,0

elaine dunkley, bbc news. navtej johal has spent the day at the ucas headquarters.k about it here as almost their christmas day, the one that they look forward to, the one that they train for throughout the course of the year. there are 270 members of staff here dealing with inquiries on the phone, on social media, speaking to students, often students who may not have got the results that they were hoping for. dealing with those emotions — the highs and the lows — that's the job of these guys today. and there are 20,000 people who are expected to call or send inquiries via social media to these folks. and across the board, there are 27,000 courses available for those people who will need to go through clearing. so, lots of options out there, and the key message has been today, time and time again, look, stay optimistic and stay flexible. let's find out a little bit more about how today's working and also this whole process by speaking to courtney shephard from ucas. thank you forjoining us. tell me, first of all, how many calls, how many inquiries have you had today

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in wigan.d target of the attack. mark kameen is detective chief superintendent at merseyside police. poor 0livia was murdered brutally in her own home on the 22nd august. 0ur officers continue to carry out extensive inquiries, and i can confirm there are a number of very positive lines of inquiry that we are pursuing. in my previous appeal, i asked for the man responsible for this brutal, callous, thoughtless attack to surrender himself to the police. unfortunately, that individual has failed to do that. but my message to him remains the same. we will not rest until we find you, and we will find you. again, as i've said, with the appeals around both sam and ashley, i cannot stress enough the importance of community engagement in solving each of these crimes. we have had a wealth of information and engagement, and i am incredibly grateful for that. i can confirm that the 35—year—old man who was the target of this attack remains in hospital, seeking treatment. i can also confirm that merseyside p

elaine dunkley, bbc news, in west bromwich. let's talk more about t—levels now.nel and development, the professional body for hr. people used to call the personnel, call it what you like. we know what they do, we know how important the role is, but let's talk to brandon. congratulations, i hope, are in order. . ~ congratulations, i hope, are in order. ., ~' , ., congratulations, i hope, are in order-_ tell- congratulations, i hope, are in order._ tell us, - congratulations, i hope, are in| order._ tell us, what congratulations, i hope, are in - order._ tell us, what have order. thank you. tell us, what have ou been order. thank you. tell us, what have you been doing _ order. thank you. tell us, what have you been doing the _ order. thank you. tell us, what have you been doing the last _ order. thank you. tell us, what have you been doing the last couple - you been doing the last couple of years as part of the studies? i have been studying. _ years as part of the studies? i have been studying, doing _ years as part of the studies? i have been studying, doing my _

but first let's go to our education correspondent elaine dunkley, who is at central saint michael's sixthere. let's meet the students. an anxious wait, three years of a disruption and in an hour they check their e—mails to find out how they got on. helene, how you feeling? very nervous, — helene, how you feeling? very nervous, but i'm hoping for the best _ nervous, but i'm hoping for the best. in— nervous, but i'm hoping for the best. , ., ., , best. in terms of the exams, the first national— best. in terms of the exams, the first national exams _ best. in terms of the exams, the first national exams in _ best. in terms of the exams, the first national exams in three - best. in terms of the exams, the i first national exams in three years, it was meant to be the start of things getting back to normal, how did it go for you, what did it feel like? it did it go for you, what did it feel like? ., , , , like? it was ok, very different because i _ like? it was ok, very different because i sat _ like? it was ok, very different because i sat my _ like? it was ok, very different because i sat my

our education correspondent, elaine dunkley, has been catching up with some students at a sixth formng. how did you get on with your exams and how helpful was the advanced information? this year, in february, you were given advanced information to help you focus on some of the topics, was it useful? at first glance, it seemed - useful but when we thought about what it was telling us, - it wasn't really useful at all. it would have been fine without it. how did you get on? i i did well, i am proud of myself. i you rang everyone has told them? yes. — congratulations. we have followed you over the summer, haven't we, praise? you want to go into the raf to be a nurse. what promtped that decision? my interest in nursing and the military in general. so, i decided that the raf was an amazing way to combine those two, so i decided to pursue that option. and then go for university if it doesn't work out for me. cameron, you come forward, you have just done your diploma. lots of other options, not just university, lots of vocational courses. t—levels for the first year. you have done your dipl

our correspondent elaine dunkley is at a sixth form college in west bromwich for us this morning. . these students have gone through so much, elaine, to get to this point today —— approve of a live. to this point today -- approve of a live. , ., , to this point today -- approve of a live. , . , ., ., u, to this point today -- approve of a live. , . , ., ., _, ., live. they really have a welcome two central st michael _ live. they really have a welcome two central st michael sixth _ live. they really have a welcome two central st michael sixth form - live. they really have a welcome two central st michael sixth form in - central st michael sixth form in west bromwich, this is body therapy dog and we could all do with a body today. i cannot tell you the wave of emotion that happens on results day —— this is buddy. i will let buddy go over here, more treats. first national exams in three years and then speak to some of the students about how they have got on. jamie, you have had your result, how are you have had your result, how are youin? you have had your result, how are you in? i y

our education correspondent elaine dunkley�*s at a school in wigan.rch of england school in wigan as they sit their gcses despite the disruption caused by the pandemic. we have suffered so much with all the covid happening, the pandemic, missing school, people going off, i think it was just really stressful and just hard for everyone. it's been a journey. it's definitely been a journey, a tough one. but, you know, i've got through it and i'm really proud of myself and i'm proud of all my friends. for callum, esther and chelsea, the end of exams also marks the end of their time at this school. how much do you think the advanced information helped? i think it helped massively. we've caught up with them over the summer as they prepare to head off in different directions. off we go! for callum, there has been little rest as he pursues his dream of becoming a professional footballer. wigan athletic, wow, it means everything. i've always supported the club from when i was born. it's all i could ever remember. callum is training at wigan athletic academy and

our education correspondent, elaine dunkley, is at a school in wigan. welcome to wigan.was even harder. i couldn�*t... i didn�*t really know what to do. it was alljumbled up in my head. it put a lot of stress on me but when we came to school and the restriction started to lessen a bit, i got to get back on the hang of it and it really helped me a lot and teachers, with their support, even more. i am glad the exams went ahead. i got to show my full potential until am through my grades and i have put in all my effort and everything, so i�*m really proud and pleased. everything, so i'm really proud and leased. ., . , ., everything, so i'm really proud and leased. ., . ., ., everything, so i'm really proud and pleased-_ i i everything, so i'm really proud and i pleased-_ i am pleased. how have you got on? i am really happy — pleased. how have you got on? i am really happy with _ pleased. how have you got on? i am really happy with my _ pleased. how have you got on? i am really happy with my results. - pleased. how have you got on? i am really happy with my results. i - reall