to. but those fi drivers have been very clear to say not taking the kneeis very clear to say not taking the knee is not siding with racism. charles mcgurk said racism is disgusting, he doesn't want his name to be used in any anti—black lives matter protests. a russian driver who back in russia it was kneeling and times, and it seemed like a sign of submission or reserved for national instances. lots of different reasons why people haven't taken the knee. rugby league, basketball, it's been the case. how much emphasis has there been on clu bs to much emphasis has there been on clubs to make some sort of stand? when it comes to basketball, that's very interesting. the nba is one of the pivotal organisations in fighting back against things, they've donated millions of dollars, their players are active. jonathan isaak became the first nba player did not kneel for the national anthem. but he was back by his organisation and members of the league as well. his reason is he's a devout christian and naturally believes that kneeling should be reserved for god and god only. he also wanted to make it clear that he supports black lives matter, he just doesn't want to take the knee. supports black lives matter, he just doesn't want to take the kneem supports black lives matter, he just doesn't want to take the knee. it is a divisive issue with collin capper nick, when he first started doing that, there was lots of opposition to that in the nfl. we saw that again in dallas within the last 2a hours where signs were booed for taking a knee during the national anthem. in america, we know the importance of the national anthem. most sporting organisations, it is customary to stand for the national anthem. of these players were booed by the fans and i think it's the first time we've seen anything like that. it will be interesting to see if this is something that continues and how, as fans returned disport, if those boots get louder and organisations are force to find a way to market, because there's been so way to market, because there's been so much vocal opposition. going back to jonathan isaac, so much vocal opposition. going back tojonathan isaac, after he decided not to stand, his jerseys suddenly became the best—selling in the nba with people saying, "you can take a stand for something without being aligned to its movement. you can fight racism in your own way." race very much in spotlight for britain's elite sportswomen — according the results of bbc survey. for more than 500 who took part, one in five athletes have seen or experienced racism in their sports. england and harlequins rugby player shanaugh brown was among those who spoke about her experiences. she told me that being a role model is key to improving diversity and about the discrimination she's faced. for me, the biggest one is alongside women shouldn't be playing sport or playing rugby, women shouldn't be boxing. it's more that the big heavy combat of sports that people don't agree with. for me, it's the calling people out. so i'm very happy to call out when someone says we shouldn't be playing rugby, and i'm happy to have a conversation with them and answer directly to their face why me as a person, notjust a group of people who potentially have no names or just group of people who potentially have no names orjust might be a number, but why i am myself shouldn't be playing rugby. and funny enough, but a lot of people change their mind during that conversation. in your opinion, what needs to happen to change and diversity and racial awareness? its two parts. so us as people dashed up to us to get out there and try something, even if you don't see your type of person in that sport, go out and try it. why not be the first one, why not be the next role model? but on the other side as well, it's getting companies and sports clubs to encourage people in learning how you can encourage a certain type of person. what days you train, what time you train, where you train, is it accessible? do you need to drive a car? it's about having it from both sides, and its people getting out there and doing something different, but also making it accessible for these people who have put themselves out there and make them welcome when they're out there. horse racing was the first sport to resume, as lockdown was eased. eventing has also started up again in recent weeks. it's after headline competitions like badminton and burghley were cancelled. a competitor from yorkshire has been telling tanya arnold the work didn't stop when the competitions did. we had just started our competition season we had just started our competition season at the beginning of march, and our horses had a couple of runs under their belts and it had gone really well. in the older horses we re really well. in the older horses were aiming for spring victory day events. so they were really fit and on track. so to suddenly have to then stop and re—evaluate everything, it was challenging because you can'tjust throw everything, it was challenging because you can't just throw the horses in the field and say, "holiday time," when they are fit. you can't furlough horses, but the tea m you can't furlough horses, but the team of training them kept nicola wilson going. we have to be thankful for what we have here, we are looking with dust working with lovely animals, and we are there to ta ke lovely animals, and we are there to take care of them. the income from coaching and selling on horses has dried up. but key to her businesses or owners. she had to be creative to keep them involved. we did lots of videos of the horses in their stable, videos of the horses in the field, and doing a little bit of their exercise programmes so that we could send those to the owner so they were still involved and could still see their horses and have that connection. so i suppose horses were having face time with their owners. the tokyo olympics had been the main focus for 2020, and her top horse. everything had gone to plan and she was feeling superb. the training was gait, and her first was feeling superb. the training was gait, and herfirst competition was feeling superb. the training was gait, and her first competition was also good. so i was quietly really excited and hopeful that we could put a excited and hopeful that we could puta campaign excited and hopeful that we could put a campaign to. in mid july, competitions finally restarted. they we re competitions finally restarted. they were scaled back with lots of protocols and no spectators, but they are back. we all enjoyed training, but to get back onto the competition field and see where you are in comparison to the other top writers it's very exciting. it's a lovely feeling. so as with so many, the main focus switches to the 2021. i really hope that venting does get going back up to the full scale, and badminton in burley, it so the europeans can run. but i think we a lwa ys europeans can run. but i think we always have to be mindful that there isa always have to be mindful that there is a much bigger thing going on here, and we are so incredibly lucky to be working in the outdoors with horses, and people's lies definitely come first. and if the sport could get back to the top level safely, that would be good. tony arnold reporting there. that's all from sportsday. we'll have more throughout the evening. let's return to our main story. hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales, and northern ireland have received a—level and btec grades after the huge uncertainty caused by coronavirus. they didn't sit exams because of lockdown, so marks have been awarded using teacher estimates, standardised by exam boards. this afternoon, the prime minister defended the system, describing it as "robust". i want to congratulate all the students who have worked so hard to get the grades that they have, and have done so well. there's no doubt about it, the exam results we got today are robust, they are good, dependable for employers will stop already, there is a record number of candidates, of students who are able to get their first choice course at the university of their choice. plus, there's a record number of students and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who now, as a result of these grades, will be able to go to university. is it not the case that this system for awarding a levels has actually downgraded some of the most vulnerable — do you actually have confidence in your secretary to resolve this? i think obviously it was going to be very difficult in the absence of formal proper exams this year, of the kind that we normally have because of the virus. we've had to put in the system that we have, i do think it is robust, and as i say, a couple things are very important. first of all, more students than ever before were able to go to their university of choice to do the course of their choice. and on your point about pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds — more than ever before are now able to go to university or go into university this year as a result of the grades they've got today. do you trust gavin williamson to resolve this? of course i do. it's a system that's dependable for employers. it is important for years to come that people should be able to look at these grades and think they are robust. and obviously where pupils are disappointed, where they feel that they could've done better, whether they feel that an injustice has been done to them, there is the possibility of appeal. and they can reset this autumn, as welljust re—sit. looking at the big picture, we've got a robust set of grades, plus we've got the situation in which more kids from disadvantage backgrounds are going to university. the prime minister talking they're a little earlier. hello there, it's not been hot... because we've had all these downpours developing, some very heavy bursts of rain, particularly across southern parts of england. over the next couple days or so, it will be the southern half of the uk that sees most of these downpours, and again it'll feel on the human side as well, despite those temperatures dropping offa despite those temperatures dropping off a little bit further. further north, mainly dry with sunshine around at times, but there will be some areas of mist and low cloud coming in off the north sea. like we've had today, that can be rather stubborn to move away, keeping it cooler as well. high pressure across the northern half of the uk, that's why it's drier, but we have easterly winds bringing in the north cloud. clusters of cloud coming in from continental europe or developing across southern parts of england into wales. that's where we see most of the downpours. continuing into this evening, they may ease off a little bit early in the night, but we may introduce more from continental europe. so better in the south, dryer for the continental europe. so better in the south, dryerfor the north, continental europe. so better in the south, dryerforthe north, low cloud comes in bringing drizzle. it'll be a muggy night across the southern half of the uk like it has been of late. tomorrow starts off grey and misty, we will see sunshine developing in many areas. still the potential for more thunder downpours breaking out across wales, the midlands, east anglia in southern england. that cloud still sticking into the northeast of england, some northern and eastern parts of england. quite warm for western scotla nd england. quite warm for western scotland in northwest england, with temperatures in the southeast lower than today at 25—26 c. into the weekend we still have the area of high pressure in the north starting to move away, allowing the downpours that we see in the south to move northwards. saturday is very similar to friday, again it is wales, the midlands, east anglia in southern england that are likely to find some heavy and thundery rain with the threat of localised flooding. further north, low cloud keeping it on the cooler side. temperatures won't change a great deal over the weekend but we are likely to find those showers still potentially heavy and thundery. moving further north in northern england, up to northern ireland, threatening southern parts of scotland. sunshine in between the downpours in the south, the top temperature 25 celsius. this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. hundreds of thousands of students in england, northern ireland and wales get their a—level results. amid controversy over the awarding of grades due to coronavirus. a, b, c! i've spoken to a lot of people who've all said their grades have been lowered. ijust think it's, like, really random and unfair. overall, you've got a very robust set of grades, plus you've got a situation in which more pupils than ever before are getting their first choice course at university and more kids from disadvantaged backgrounds are going to university. donald trump announces what he calls an historic peace deal