fergus walsh, bbc news. to university is a step closer, thanks to the kindness of a very famous stranger. i couldn't believe it. i feel like even now, i am still processing it. ijust can't believe it. it began with this text message. 18—year—old vitoria mario was in church and a friend wanted to let her know there had been a donation to her university gofundme page. from taylor swift. 2a hours later, it is still rather difficult to process. i was overwhelmed, i was happy, of course, very happy. i was very grateful. i wanted to hug taylor swift, i guess! i want to say thank you, it's so amazing. i don't even know how to feel or how to handle my feelings. taylor swift had also left a message saying she had been inspired by vitoria's story. she had arrived from portugal on her own at 1a. four years later, she has two a stars and a. but couldn't afford university. you arrived to britain on your own, aged 14? speaking no english. no english at all. i learned mostly from the netflix. watching with the subtitles so

that was fergus walsh.test developments and most up to date information on schools during the pandemic on the bbc news website — just head to bbc.co.uk/news. the uk recorded 1,041 new cases of covid—i9 according to the latest government figures. the deaths of six people were also reported, under new rules which record those who've died within 28 days of a positive test. it's been confirmed that lockdown restrictions in aberdeen will be eased from tomorrow. limits on travel and visits to other households will be lifted — to follow rules that apply to the rest of scotland. hospitality, including restaurants and pubs, will be allowed to reopen from wednesday. in california, the huge wildfires destroying parts of the state have been declared a major disaster by president trump. at least six people have been killed and tens of thousands have fled as over 500 separate fires burned around 2,500 square miles of land in a week. peter bowes reports from los angeles. some of the biggest wildfires california has ever s

fergus walsh, bbc news.ler, has been sentenced to life in prison. 74—year—old joseph de angelo murdered at least 13 people while working as a police officer in california in the 1970s and 1980s. he was only caught by a quirk of modern technology and earlier was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. a plea deal spared him the death penalty. earlier, i asked our north american reporter, regan morris, about his victims — there were so many that their families couldn't all fit inside a court—room. that's right, he was sentenced inside a university ballroom and coronavirus had something to do with that, because people had to be safely distanced. but there were dozens of people there, nowhere near the number that were impacted by this man, but they sat together as families and some of them gave impact statements, talking about his crimes, what the effect was on their families and he was sentenced right there in that courtroom. and he did apologise. he was in a wheelchair. he took off his mask and he t

fergus walsh, bbc news.tody after being arrested while on holiday on the greek island of mykonos. greek police said officers had tried to break up an altercation between two groups outside a bar. our sports correspondent 0lly foster has more from old trafford. yes, the world's most expensive defender is spending a second night in a greek police cell. the club this morning confirming that their captain was fully cooperating with the greek authorities. we know that harry maguire and two other british men were arrested at around midnight last night after an incident on the greek island of mykonos. the greek police said they were called out to an altercation between two groups, they had to break up a fight and it was then that three men rounded, they claim, on one of their officers, verbally abusing and assaulting him. the three men were then escorted to a local police station. it's then that the police claim that upon arrival, they strongly resisted, pushing and hitting three police officers and that one of the

fergus walsh, bbc news.reating the boundary. opposition leaders have been jailed for two days or unauthorised rallies and authorities are cracking down over the belarusian authorities are cracking down over the bela rusian elections. the president ‘s divine calls to step down. one of, if not, the best footballer in the world says he wants to leave the club he's been at since he was 12 years old. lionel messi's told barcelona he wants to leave this summer for free but the club believe he's going nowhere without a hefty transfer free. paul hawkins has more. he is arguably the best football player in the world, possibly ever but after 1a yea rs possibly ever but after 1a years at the only club he has ever pay — as playful as a professional, lionel messi has that he wants to leave barcelona. ten days ago, they thrashed by in munich in the champions league, and he called the team weak and vulnerable, the team weak and vulnerable, the oldest team they put in the season and they finished trophy less. last year they

fergus walsh, bbc news. than two yea rs. the comments by tedros adhanom ghebreyesus come as cases of the disease continue to surge in europe. france, spain, italy and germany have recorded their highest numbers of daily cases since the spring. let s get some of the day s other news. volunteers in mauritius say the government is blocking efforts to help clean up a recent oil spill. the authorities say the area has been restricted for health reasons. but there s concern the government is trying to silence criticism of its handling of the spill. on tuesday, the ship's captain was arrested and charged with endangering safe navigation. us actress lori loughlin has been sentenced to two months injail for her part in a college admissions scam. along with other wealthy parents, she paid bribes for her children to get into top universities as fake athletic recruits. more than 50 other people are facing charges over the scheme. in libya the internationally—recognised government of national accord has ordered its force

fergus walsh, bbc news. still to come: why the bbc is going to play rule britannia at the last night of the proms without the words. he's the first african american to win the presidential nomination of a major party, and he accepts exactly 45 years ago to the day that martin luther king declared, "i have a dream." as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the south—eastern sky — an orange glowing disc that's brighter than anything, save the moon — our neighbouring planet mars. horn toots there is no doubt that this election is an important milestone in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. cheering it will take months and billions of dollars to re pair what katrina achieved injust hours. three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off duty in 117 years. so it was with great satisfaction that clockmakerjohn vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. big ben bongs this is bbc news. the latest headlines: day two of the republican national convention wher

fergus walsh, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news.rn to school in northern ireland after the coronavirus lockdown, we'll be exploring who is most at risk — the children, teachers or parents? he's the first african—american to win the presidential nomination of a major party, and he accepts exactly 45 years ago to the day that martin luther king declared "i have a dream." as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the southeastern sky — an orange glowing disc that is brighter than anything save the moon, our neighbouring planet mars. there is no doubt that this election is an important milestone in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. cheering it will take months and billions of dollars to repair what katrina achieved injust hours. three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off—duty in 117 years, so it was with great satisfaction that clock maker john vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. big ben chimes this is bbc news. the headlines: the national guard is deployed to the

fergus walsh, bbc news.,000 people have died and it has nearly 3.5 million cases. with a government accused of not doing enough to curb the number of deaths, the country's vice—president has defended its handling of the pandemic — as well as it's management of this year's fires in the amazon that have now started to burn — with many environmentalists fearing they could be worse than last year. our south america correspondent katy watson spoke to brazil's vice president hamilton mourao. of course we regret the deaths of more than 100,000 brazilians, ok? but the federal government and the state government, they did everything that we could. we were successful in adapting the curve of the pandemic to the capacity of our public hospitals because, in the beginning, everybody was afraid of this, that we would have people dying in the halls of our hospitals — and this did not happen, ok? and also, we had a lot of measures to mitigate the economic and social problems. i think we are doing a good job. jair bolsonaro

here's our medical editor, fergus walsh.e will die unnecessarily. young, healthy and determined. sean mcpartlin is 22 and studying in oxford. he keeps fit by swimming in the thames. i volunteered to be infected with the coronavirus. sean wants to take part in a so—called challenge trial, where he would first receive a vaccine against covid—19 and then be deliberately infected with coronavirus, to see if the vaccine protects him. my mother has a hereditary lung disorder, and every day we go without a vaccine is a day where she faces a risk that she might not have to. so i want to do everything i can to help get that vaccine to her and everyone else like her as quickly as possible. the only way we'll know if a covid vaccine works is if volunteers later get exposed to the virus. but at the moment, that's being left entirely to chance. it could take months. deliberately infecting volunteers could speed things up. one day sooner is a group campaigning for vaccine challenge trials and it has the support of 15 nobel prize winners a

fergus walsh, bbc news. the time is 6:16pm. our top story this evening...the uk will now get the grade given them by their school or college. coming up, we'll be hearing from students affected by this year's exam system. coming up on sportsday on bbc news, wimbledon champion simona halep chooses not to play in the upcoming us open due to coronavirus concerns. lockdown has hit deprived parts of the country particularly hard. now research by the institute for fiscal studies suggests that, in england, it's widened the education gap between the richest and poorest primary school children. it shows that, during the pandemic, the richest 20% of pupils were spending over six hours a week more on educational activities compared to the poorest 20%. 0ne headteacher told the bbc it will take nearly two years to close the gap. the government says it's vital for children's education that all pupils return to the classroom by next month, as our special correspondent ed thomas reports. educating through coronavirus. in the most deprived parts of the country. children with

fergus walsh, bbc news.and elsewhere it will be up to educators to decide. we got as far as we fall so far.... educators to decide. we got as far as we fall so far. . .. back to class in leicestershire today, this school already decided on face coverings, pupils able to choose to wear them. most children will carry one anyway and we would advise to do this because they may wa nt to do this because they may want to go to the shops after and before school and those on and before school and those on a possible have to wear them on public buses and school buses. earlier in devon, the prime minister preparing the way for change, saying it was about keeping up with the science. there is far more risk to the well—being of our children from not going to school and there is from i'm afraid from the disease. so, that is my priority. 0n the issue of whether or not to wear masks in some context, we will look at the changing medical evidence as we go on and if we need to change the advice, then, of course we will. tonigh

fergus walsh, bbc news. against the virus.resident trump has been outspoken in saying that schools should reopen this autumn. those decisions are being made at a local level. take the example of one school in the state of georgia. education administrations are having to respond after a picture of a crowded hallway went viral. our us correspondent larry madowo has the story. a heated meeting between the parents, teachers and the officials of the board of education. the 28,000 students in this district were among the first to return to school as covid—19 ravages america. is the china virus prevalent in children? my point is as much that we try to prevent illness and injury in children, it can still happen. and requiring children to wear masks and not play outside on equipment is not going to change that. 15—year—old hannah waters was surprised when she returned to school. she was suspended after tweeting this now viral picture of her first week and sharing video of crowded hallways, no social distancing and few students wearing

fergus walsh, bbc news.news, superfan david whiteley celebrates how an unassuming band of designers and factory workers in leicestershire created the toys which were to define a generation. archive: the princess has been captured... there's one. set for stun. our heroes are threatened by an imperial troop transporter. will the mighty force of the millennium falcon be enough to smash darth vader? will luke be able to save the princess? only you can decide. look for the new palitoy star wars models in toy shops now. ominous voice: but hurry. the 1970s. film—maker george lucas is about to launch a visionary new film that will revolutionise cinema. this is not that story. this story is actually about this place. i'm david whiteley and i'm a massive star wars fan. and growing up, the toys was much a part of my childhood as the films. they became the must—have toys of a generation, and what was once bought with pocket money now sells for thousands of pounds. but it almost didn't happen. back in the day, as the nam

fergus walsh, bbc news. streets once again, showing their opposition to the country's president. alexander lu kashenko was declared the winner of last sunday's election, having ruled the country for the past 26 years, but critics believe the vote was rigged. the european union now says it doesn't recognise the result, and is preparing sanctions against belarus, where this evening thousands have been marching on independence square, in the capital, minsk, from where abdujalil abdurasulov now reports. chanting. the opposition movement against president lukashenko is growing. protesters have gathered in the main square of minsk. they are chanting, "freedom, freedom". they have brought flowers and balloons to show that their movement is peaceful. this is unprecedented for belarus, where authorities violently crack down on protesters. translation: i have been living here for 28 years and for 26 of them, he was ruler of this country, mr lukashenko, and i am really tired of it and i want to change it. at the notori

fergus walsh, bbc news.ime. government borrowing has increased sharply due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the office for national statistics saying by the end of last month, the uk's debt was more than the value of all the finished goods and services produced in the uk in a year and that hasn't happened since the 1960s. our business editor, simon jack, is here. simon, explaining these numbers, because they are huge. to trillian in sucha because they are huge. to trillian in such a mind—bogglingly large number that it is hard to comprehend. four, is in that number! if you started spending £1 million a day when the pyramids were under construction, you wouldn't have spent that amount of money. however, as anyone with debt knows, the real important thing is how much you owe compared to how much you earn. looking at the national debt compared to national income, you can see over the last few decades, it has crept right back up. and as you said we are now at 100% of everything the country earns, that hasn't ha

fergus walsh, bbc news.logist and professor of biomedicine at lancaster university. good evening to you, think for joining us on bbc news. as fergus was saying there, we don't know which of these vaccines could work, if even any of them could work. but in your view, it is still important that the government purchase them?” think it is a wise fact to have enough infrastructure in place if any vaccine were to become available. part of the problem is that we don't have a track record in establishing coronavirus vaccines, basically. so all the technology that's now being secured by the uk government our different technologies, and those have some track record and other infections but not really with coronavirus is. soi but not really with coronavirus is. so i think this is a really good step to have that in place so that any vaccine that becomes available ina any vaccine that becomes available in a phase three trial, it would have access to the public. but when? this is the $6 million question, when might any of

here's our medical editor fergus walsh., it would be the solution to the pandemic. a way to protect the vulnerable, to end social distancing. such is the pressing need, countries are placing orders long before clinical trials are finished and they know whether any of the vaccines protect against the virus. the uk is set to have one of the world's biggest stockpiles of coronavirus vaccine. 340 million doses have been ordered of six different vaccines. the latest deals are with a belgian company and a us biotech as well. now, even though most of the vaccines require two doses, it will still mean there'll be enough to inject everyone in the uk five times over. it's a recognition most vaccine trials end in failure. the woman in charge of buying coronavirus vaccines for the uk says the government has to hedge its bets. we don't know if any of these vaccine formats that we've acquired will actually work. there are no licensed vaccines for any human coronavirus, so our priority is to ensure that we have sufficient vaccine for the

here's our medical editor, fergus walsh. can prevent polio, and now africa's children are protected. polio can cause lifelong paralysis. these men in nigeria part of a para— soccer league are powerful advocates for immunisation. as polio survivors we know the difficulties we have faced for many years and today i'm happy that we are no longer going to have any polio in our continent. there are still some cases of vaccine derived polio in africa which occur in low immunisation areas. but naturally occurring polio has been eradicated. back in 1988 when the global eradication initiative was launched, polio was endemic in 125 countries, more than a thousand children per day used to be paralysed. since then cases have fallen by 99.9% when india was declared a polio free, that was a big moment, and it is now circulating in just two countries, pakistan and afghanistan. there have been more than 100 cases of wild polio there this year. this is an extraordinary achievement for public health and for the african continent and it shows w

fergus walsh, bbc news. now on bbc news, the travel show. this is the mighty river sava.the alps in slovenia through to l grade —— belgrade. it is the longest river within the balkans, a vital artery that has borne witness to so much history stretching all the way back to ancient and mediaeval times and the turmoil of recent decades. today, the sava connect four countries that just a generation ago were at war. 0n my journey i will generation ago were at war. 0n myjourney i will be exploring how today this river is helping to heal those wounds by boosting trade and tourism and creating a new identity for the region. and finding out why locals call this the vital heart of the balkans. a nation ofjust 2 million people, slovenia prides itself on its close relationship with nature. it is one of the most densely forested countries in europe and nearly two—thirds of its landscape is green space. this river, the sava, has been a crucial trading route for centuries, dating back to 400 bc and the celts named it after their river god, he who protected merchants and travellers. and

he says one of his daughter's has had it and is fine. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh is here.? russia has simply sidestepped the established procedures for testing vaccines fewer than 100 volunteers in moscow have received and yet masthay me a immunisation are set to begin 0ctober. contrast that with multiple other vaccines produced elsewhere, china, the us and the uk, which began their trials earlier, have recruited thousands of volu nteers have recruited thousands of volunteers and are recruiting thousands more because it is only through those large—scale trials you can be sure whether a vaccine is effective and perhaps has any rare side effects. russia hasn't produced any scientific data from its trials. president putin said this morning that one of his daughters had received two doses of the jab, got a slight temperature after each dose but is doing well and now has a high level of antibodies but there is a politics at play. it's called sputnik five, politics at play. it's called sputnikfive, a reference politics at play. it's called sputnik five, a reference to the early

scientists though are sceptical about the vaccine. our medical correspondent fergus walsh explains whyut it and its name is sputnik—v, and it was launched in 1957 sputnik—v, and it was launched in1957 and sputnik—v, and it was launched in 1957 and they beat america in the space race and calling the vaccine this is partly about politics and showing that russia is up there and it sometimes better not to be first, but to get the right one and maybe this will work well but it does not work well, the troubling thought for scientists outside of russia is that no data has been released from the institute, so they cannot comment and it is concerning that russia has chosen to go so quickly without showing if hand and the data on the vaccine. the opposition candidate in the presidential election in belarus has fled the country. she has disputed the result in an election she claims was rigged. svetlana tikhanovskaya has said she went to lithuania for her children. her supporters back in the capital, minsk, have continued angry protests against the result. the former soviet republic is often refer

fergus walsh, bbc news. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh reporting there.iversity college london. hello, welcome to bbc news. vaccine is one of the things that has dominated all of our conversations ever since we learned about coronavirus. talk us through, first of alljennifer, some of the many vaccines that are being looked at and investigated at the moment? well, there are four main strategies, and the uk straddling all four of those with six different companies. the first one is a vaccine of which there are 130 million doses from two companies, one of these is quite well known to everybody which is the oxford vaccine. this is based on a chimpanzee version of the common cold virus. it's a good strategy because we know a lot about this type of vaccine, we know how to make them, we know how to produce them really well, and they are very good at stimulating the immune system because they are a whole virus, they are replicating and growing inside oui’ are replicating and growing inside our bodies and our bodies react accordingly. however, they are also very s

here's fergus walsh. 250,000 new cases every day. the global death toll now exceeds 750,000. in the past 2a hours, the world health organization recorded nearly 6000 deaths linked to covid—i9. a grim statistic, and yet it is less than one quarter of the daily deaths globally from cancer. worldwide, nearly 10 million people a year die from cancer. the number of new covid infections in the four worst affected countries, the us, brazil, mexico and india is trending upwards, and the death toll is rising, too. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is... the president of belarus has said the country could hold fresh elections, but he was heckled as he made his speech. let's look at some of the day's other news the israeli president has invited the crown prince of the united arab emirates to visit israel, following an agreement to normalise relations between the two countries. in another development, israel's prime minister, said his administration is working on establishing regular f

fergus walsh, bbc news. the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been immense.oblems are as statuesque as their products. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. afamiliar a familiarface a familiar face finding himself ina a familiar face finding himself in a somewhat undignified position. the skin tone doesn't seem position. the skin tone doesn't seem quite right, and there are questions about the hair. at this is a fairly accurate likeness of president donald trump. shanghai specialises in waxworks figures. it thanks to the pandemic, the orders have... well, just melted away. translation: due to the pandemic, places like tourist sites and amusement parks are temporarily closed so the waxworks are stuck here. what really affected us is that they can't get any new orders are some of these places have yet to resume work. the company normally ships out around 700 isa normally ships out around 700 is a year, roughly a third heading overseas. but sales figures have plummeted. lost opportunity bearing in mind this year's political calendar. translation: when everyone is focus

with a look at the global picture, here's our medical editor fergus walsh.around the world, and that figure is rising by more than a quarter of a million new cases every day. the global death toll now exceeds three—quarters of a million. in the past 2a hours, the world health organisation recorded nearly 6,000 deaths linked to covid—19, a grim statistic and, yet, it is less than a quarter of the daily deaths globally from cancer. worldwide, nearly 10 million people a year die from cancer. the number of new covid infections in the four worst affected countries, the us, brazil, mexico and india, is trending upwards and the death toll is rising, too. more than 170,000 in the us and more than 50,000 in india. there are vast numbers of new covid—19 cases per day, but death rates are not going up at quite the same rate. we do now have several months of clinical knowledge to fall back on, we do have some treatments that we know will work, and that is useful for patient management. as we head towards the winter, we do have the threat of large—scale influenza outbrea

fergus walsh, bbc news. flooding and disruption across the south of england, with a train becoming stranded and a major road closed. part of the m25 in surrey has been shut and the met office has issued yellow thunderstorm warnings for the next four days in much of england and wales. hundreds of traps are being set in the us state of washington to catch a potentially deadly intruder. a giant insect, known as the murder hornet, has been seen in the area. their sting can be fatal to humans. there is one there. there are some more. in japan they kill around 30 to 50 people each year. but the real threat is to honey bees. living up to its gruesome name, the murder hornet will attack bees and devour the content of their hives. do you know, just seeing at the close up like that, that will give people a bit of a worry. it's not very nice. let's take a look at today's papers. the mirror is leading on the news that music venues, theatres and kids' play centres can re—open from saturday, as lockdown restrictions are e

our medical editor fergus walsh explained a little earlier why the government say it's so important foro school in september the chief medical officers are quite frank that there almost certainly will be an increase in transmission as a result of schoolchildren going back. that will partly be down to children mixing in the classroom, but it will also partly be down to parents being able to go back to work. the evidence suggests that children don't drive transmission with coronavirus in the way that they do with seasonal flu. with seasonal flu, they are often described as super spreaders. that doesn't seem to be the case with coronavirus. but the very distinct message from the chief medical officers is that the harms to children are so great from being deprived of school that the risk to their health are so small. among 5—14—year—olds there were three deaths during the peak months of the epidemic here. that compares with around 500 deaths a year from other causes in that age group in england and wales. so children are really the least at risk group. the chief medical officers really maki

our medical editor fergus walsh reports on the trials happening here. this is convalescent plasma.ting theirs. like paul, who was in intensive care in manchester for two week, his contains the highest level of covid—19 antibodies doctors have seen. it is an hour out of your day, you can help other people not go through what i went through, fantastic, i hope it helps. and sue who was in hospital in london, she's donated plasma five times. why do you keep come back? because i can't put a price on what the nhs has done for me. i'm getting upset now. they were so good. it is the antibodies against coronavirus which doctors want. they are found in plasma, this yellow liquid. i tested positive for antibody, and so volunteered. so i'm about half way through my plasma donation, what happens is my whole blood is taken out, and then the plasma is filtered off, and then the red cells, white cells and platelets are fed back in to my body. and this is the whole point of donation. to help patients like bernard, in hospital in chesterfield. he's part of a trial assessing whether antibodies in pla