As three Top Producers are fired for misconduct. Hello and welcome. The scaled down Democratic Convention continues in a few hours time, again mainly virtually and streamed. Speakers include former president bill clinton and former secretary of statejohn kerry. The bbcs Laura Trevelyan is in wilmington, delaware. I asked her what the theme will be on day two. The theme is leadership and also democrats are going to be showcasing 17 of their rising stars including Alexandria Ocasio Cortez from new york who famously won that primary, got rid of a long term democratic operative, and is really the star of the progressive left. So, shell be speaking for a minute tonight. There has been a little bit of dissent in democratic circles about all of the republicans for trump who were featured last night and why isnt there a bigger billing for somebody like aoc as she is known. So, she will be speaking for at least a minute we are told. The theme is leadership. Democrats saying that donald trump is not fit to lead at this moment with these three crises facing america of the coronavirus, the economic fallout, and the uproar over racial injustice. So, well be hearing a lot more tonight about whyjoe biden is fit to lead and why donald trump, democrats say, is not. The last few days we have seen a focus on the Us Postal Service but theres been a reversal of plans on that front by the postmaster general. Just talk us through the significance of that. Well, of course, because america is still in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic and the election is in november, itsjust a little over 70 days away. So, there are nine states in america plus washington, dc where there will be universal voting by mail on offer. So that obviously will put a big strain on the Us Postal Service plus there will be a lot of states where people will be requesting absentee ballots because they are going to not want to vote in person. So, all of this means the Postal Service will be under pressure. Separately, the us postmaster general who is a trump appointee and a republican mega donor, he started injune but he suggested all these changes to the post office including closing down some of the sorting machines reducing retail hours, all of which democrats, said, was President Trump using his crony to try and undermine the right of americans to vote by mail. So, there was a huge uproar and today whats happened is the Us Postal Service has announced that these proposed changes have been put on hold until after the election. Laura trevelyan reporting there. The president and Prime Minister of the west african country, mali have been arrested in what seems like a military coup. President keita had been under pressure to resign because of problems with the countrys economy and insecurity caused by islamist militants. Paul hawkins has more. Malis rebel soldiers taking malis leaders under arrest away from the president ial palace in the capital bamako. Where theyre going, nobody knows which is how many malians feel about the future. In a country of 19 Million People with a crippled economy, corruption, and constant insecurity caused byjihadists. And these are the men they blame president Ibrahim Boubacar keita, who won a second term in elections in 2018, and Prime Minister boubou cisse, seen here voting back in april. Both now under arrest by these soldiers and their supporters. Translation the whole of mali has been liberated by a republican force. The malian people support them from above and from below. We are really very, very happy. There is no education, there is no health, there is no security. He does not want to listen to these people. He is never going to stay in power. Even if the men accept it, we women are never going to accept it. He has been cursed by the good lord, which is why the military stood up today because what he has done is not normal. We are happy because we can see that ibk wants to run away. He will leave power. We are happy to see that mali is starting to breathe. The children are outside defending their rights, which they see being flouted, because the future belongs to the children. Even today, an atomic bomb cannot stop us. In recent months, huge crowds led by this populist have been calling on the president to step down. His arrest has been condemned by the Economic Community of west african states, the African Union, the un, and france the former colonial power which has troops based there. Many malians feel this is a rerun of 2012, when the governments mishandling of a rebellion led to another coup. Violent jihadists took advantage of that chaos to seize northern mali, and theyre still there today. The seeds of this current coup sown during the previous 18 years ago. Paul hawkins, bbc news. Will ross is the bbc World Services africa editor. And i asked him if this coup was completely unexpected. It was a real day of rumour and confusion that ended with the president , the Prime Minister and other government ministers being detained by the military but as you say, the anger against the president and the calls for him to step down have been going on for some months now. There have been huge demonstrations on the streets of bamako and other parts of mali. Basically people are fed up with the deteriorating security situation, jihadists and other jihadists causing violence across mali and other countries but also communal violence that sort of fed off the jihadist insecurity. And then there is also economic problems going on, claims of appalling corruption and then disputes during the last election so the protest movement has really been growing in recent weeks. And then this day of confusion that started off with this mutiny that took place at two barracks and then we heard that some senior military people have been arrested byjunior officers or their juniors as it were. Then that spiralled into all kinds of rumours about what was going on until we had confirmation from the government that the president , the Prime Minister and other cabinet members are now being held at a military base just outside the capital bamako. And what pressure can the African Union and indeed france which has been so heavily involved there have on this . France is very heavily involved in mali. Remember it has thousands of troops positioned there who are fighting the regional fight against thejihadist groups in mali and across the sahel region. Its traditionally had a lot of influence on the whole political scene in mali but there has been growing anger at frances, or the perception that france is interfering in the country and i think all these calls from across the world, really, for the military to release the president and the Prime Minister, i dont think the military will pay too much attention. The key thing is what happens next because we go back to 2012 and it was a pretty similar scene. Members of the military were angry that the government had failed to stop a twilight rebellion in the north of the country. There was then a coup but then the chaos then ensued and gave an opportunity for the jihadists to really take over the north of the country and jihadists are still causing a lot of problems in the region. So what really needs to happen now is for there to be a concerted effort how to turn the country around, how to stop the deteriorating security situation, and im sure that it looks as though this is a coup and that the president will be ousted but that hasnt happened yet. We just know hes being detained by the miilitary so we are all really waiting and i think a lot of people are expecting somebody from the military to appear on the state broadcaster and tell us whats going on. Will ross reporting. 15 years after the assassination of lebanons former Prime Minister, rafik hariri, a member of the militant group, hezbollah, has been found guilty of involvement in his death. Judges from the special tribunal for lebanon, meeting in the netherlands, found three others not guilty. The convicted man, Saleem Ayyash was tried in absentia along with the other defendants. Earlier, thejudge said, there was no direct evidence, the leadership of hezbollah or the Syrian Government played a role in mr hariris death. 0ur middle east editor jeremy bowen reports. For bahiya hariri, leading prayers at his grave in beirut, there are no doubts about who killed her brother. The family and their supporters blame hezbollah because he was challenging the power in lebanon of its backers, iran and syria. Rafik hariri was killed with 21 others on the 14th of february 2005, when his motorcade was attacked by a suicide bomber in a lorry packed with two tonnes of military explosive. In beirut in 2000, i asked him about syrias power in lebanon. He chose his words carefully. The syrians help so much in assuring the stability and security in the country. They have influence beyond any doubt. The trial was held in the hague as beirut was too dangerous. It cost almost 1 billion and produced a single conviction. Salim ayyash is a well connected hezbollah operative, like all the suspects never arrested not in court, always protected by his organisation. Thejudges acquittal of the three others disappoints hariris supporters, but now saad hariri, rafiks son and political heir, has a lever against hezbollahs leader and backers though the judges found motive, not proof. The Trial Chamber is of the view that syria and hezbollah may have had motives to eliminate mr hariri and some of his political allies. However, there was no evidence that the hezbollah leadership had any involvement in mr hariris murder and there is no direct evidence of syrian involvement in it. Demands for change have redoubled in beirut since the port explosion a fortnight ago pushed lebanon closer to national collapse. Another hariri son, bahaa, believes power is slipping away from hezbollah and its lebanese allies. We need the help of the international community, that there is a full divorce between us and that configuration. You mean hezbollah . Hezbollah, and the warlords and all who supported them. We have a massive economic collapse, a massive financial collapse, we have beirut, the capital in tatters and now this judgment. Rafik hariris statue looks down on beirut, the city he rebuilt. Hezbollah and its backers deny any part in his assassination and always they push back. Jeremy bowen, bbc news. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come scientists uncover the unseen scale of plastic pollution clogging the Atlantic Ocean. Washington, the worlds most political city, is today assessing the Political Health of the worlds most powerful man. Indeed, i did have a relationship with ms lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong. In south africa, 97 people have been killed today in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. Over the last ten days, 500 have died. Chanting czechoslovakia must be free czechoslovakia must be free russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 sub mariners who died on board the kursk. We are all with them now. Theyre within our hearts. The pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2. 5 Million People in his hometown of krakow. Stay with us, stay with us chanted this ocean of humanity. Well, well, joked the pope. So, you want me to desert rome . This is bbc news, the latest headlines. Day two of the Virtual Convention joe biden will be formally picked as the democratic partys election nominee. His wife, jill, and former us president , bill clinton are due to give keynote addresses. Malis president and Prime Minister are arrested by the military in an apparent coup attempt. Tens of thousands of students in the uk, whove now got higher a level grades after the governments u turn on monday, have spent the day scrambling for university places. With many courses already full, some students remain unsure about their academic futures. Ministers were forced to abandon the exam regulator 0fquals computer modelling for a level and gcse results, after an outcry when 40 of entries were downgraded. Wales and Northern Ireland also reversed their policies. 0ur education editor, branwen jeffreys, has the latest. Natasha wants to study medicine, shes got top grades from her teachers but still hasnt got a place after being rejected on last weeks results. Im really pleased about the u turn the government has made, because i feel a lot more secure now in my future. However, its been a very stressful couple of days because i thought i hadnt got into university and ive been working for this for a very long time. Trying to keep calm and focused, but medicine courses are full. Good afternoon, your through to Manchester Metropolitan University clearing line. Good afternoon, youre through to Manchester Metropolitan University clearing line. All universities were taking calls today students checking they still have a place. This University Says it will honour offers made last week and those for students who now have the grades. The legal situation, i dont think, is entirely clear, but my understanding is if you were made an offer and youd met that offer, the universities will be obliged to admit those students. That is right, fair and proper, and that is certainly what we are doing at manchester met. I think its more challenging if you havent had an offer but you want to apply now through clearing on the basis of the teacher assessed grades. I think that situation is less certain. He says students need to weigh up their options. Talk to your school or college, talk to the universities, but, really, do we really want students to put their life on hold you know . Theyve been through a lot over the last few months. Universities say theyd like to be more flexible, but they need the governments help. Here, theyd like to offer more places for teachers to train, at other universities, more places for medicine. But even if they get some extra leeway, its far from clear that every student that wants their first choice place will be able to have it this year. Since results day, there have been fears for some. Bright students in poorer areas were downgraded, they might not be able to afford to wait a year or have anyone in their family to advise. Today a warning they must not be the losers. This is a serious risk, and i think all of us are determined to try and prevent these unprecedented circumstances from having the most impact on the students who can least afford to navigate their way through it and the least able to navigate their way through it. While universities work out how to fit more in, ministers said they werent to blame for the chaos, insisting they acted as soon as possible. The last few days, it has risen and really been highlighted both locally to me as an mp, but also nationally as a minister that there are a number of anomalies in that algorithm. I think we made the right decision yesterday because, actually, students come first and we cant carry on with a system that is grossly unfair. Its just a few weeks until students arrive, but the political fallout from this years grades fiasco could last much longer. Branwen jeffreys, bbc news. The problem of plastic pollution in the seas is well known. But new research has suggested that there could be many more tiny particles of the waste floating just beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean than scientists had realised. The findings, based on an analysis of samples, and on computer modelling, highlight the largely invisible scale of the pollution clogging the worlds second largest ocean. Victoria gill reports. A common sight on any beach walk. Plastic that weve thrown away littering the shore and in the decades that our discarded Plastic Waste has been finding its way into the environment, some of it has broken down into tiny pieces that wildlife can mistake for food, so scientists set out to find all of that microplastic, particles smaller than the diameter of a human hair, floating in the atlantic. On an expedition from the uk to the falklands, researchers sieved the top 200 metres of the ocean at different locations and found that between 12 and 21 Million Tonnes of plastic is floating in the upper layers of the atlantic. By measuring the mass of very small microplastic particles in the top 200 metres of the Atlantic Ocean, we arrived at a new estimate of the load of plastic in the entire atlantic which is much larger than the previous estimate of 17 Million Tonnes that we thought we have put in in the past 65 years. The team only searched for the three most commonly used packaging plastics, so they say their estimate is likely to be conservative. But what all these microscopic fragments show is that decades of our plastic pollution has been washed out of rivers or even blown on the wind into the ocean. Some of that is Plastic Waste we buried years ago. This is an old legacy landfill site, so this hump of earth is a landfill site that is not in use any more but all of the rubbish that was buried here, you can see, a lot of it was plastic and its just coming out of the ground as the sea erodes this away. So even when this plastic is disposed of formally and put into landfill, its finding its way out of the ground and into the sea. Even through the coronavirus pandemic, volunteers have continued to pick up plastic litter from beaches. And some environmental groups say the pandemic itself has reignited our addiction to single use plastics. The disposable mask is now more pervasive than ever. We find more disposable masks than plastic bags on beaches. What we are really asking is that for people to reduce their use of single use plastic and if people can dispose of it carefully. Over the years, much of this pollution has become too small to see, but as this research reveals, it isnt going away. Victoria gill, bbc news. Shes one of americas most famous and popular stars Ellen Degeneres made Television History when she came out as gay on her comedy show 20 years ago and went on to present the oscars. Now serious allegations of a toxic culture on her long running chat show have lead to three of her top team being fired and the ellen brand under scrutiny. From los angeles, sophie long reports. What can i say . Did that not work out . Screaming it is moments and guess like this that have made the ellen show a daytime staple in the lives of millions around the world. Turning it into a huge money maker for Warner Brothers and giving its 62 year old host, who signs of every host, who signs off every episode by saying, be kind, a massive platform. But after years of rumours, a twitter thread asking people to share stories showing the star did not practice what she preached lead to damaging media reports and an internal investigation. That has resulted in three Top Producers being ousted from the show, following allegations of bullying, intimidation, and sexual misconduct. They have previously categorically denied any wrongdoing. The hope is that there will be real change behind the scenes of the ellen show and across Television Shows in hollywood. I think the real impact, you know, is to be seen. This is all happening very quickly, this is all unfolding very quickly and it is hard to speculate how a 17 year old show will change in 2a hours of the news cycle. Ellen degeneres became an icon for lgbt communities around the world when she made history by becoming the first lead character to come out on her own sitcom, ellen, in the 1990s. After an initial backlash, her chat show went on to win tens of emmys and she hosted the oscars, confirming both her star power and her place in Television History. During the pandemic, ellen has been hosting her show from home, but many of the senior producers have returned to work here where it is normally filmed this week. An emotional ellen is said to have told staff she found the reports heartbreaking and she said the coming season, due to premiere next week, will be their best ever. Early ratings will reveal how damaging this has been, both to her reputation and future and to that of the show. Sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. Goodbye, everybody thank you, new york to football now and Paris Saint Germain are through to the Champions League finalfor the first time in the clubs history. Psg outclassed german side rb leipzig 3 0 in a semifinal played behind closed doors in lisbon. Supporters unable to witness the historic victory in person have been celebrating the victory in paris. Psg will face the winner of either Bayern Munich or fellow French Club Lyon in the final with the two clubs set to square off in the second semi tomorrow night. Now if you like stories of superheroes, youll love this. A man in chile has been pictured delivering food to Homeless People in the capital santiago while dressed up as batman. Wearing a black superhero suit and a coronavirus mask, the unidentified man has been handing out cooked meals to people in need. For the past month he has been driving around the city every night distributing the homemade food. Strict covid 19 restrictions have damaged chiles economy, and unemployment has grown to more than 12 . But there is a batman there. A reminder of our top story. 0n the second day of the democratic partys, Virtual National convention, joe biden will be formally nominated as the partys election nominee. From me and the team, see you 0011. Hello there. If this was autumn or winter, this Weather Forecast wouldnt look particularly unusual but, of course, it is summer. And the winds over the next few days are going to be exceptionally strong for the time of year, it could cause some problems. Low pressure is in charge, the centre of the low up here, this swirl of cloud. You can see these different lumps of cloud just being scooped up by the low and sent in our direction. This one is going to bring some very windy weather through wednesday night and thursday. This lump of cloud bringing rain into the southwest through the first parts of the day. Ahead of that, some areas starting off with some mist and fog, but there will be a lot of dry weather, some spells of sunshine. However, this heavy rain will drift its way northwards across england and wales, getting into Northern Ireland, and perhaps into southern scotland by the end of the afternoon. The winds will be strengthening all the while, particularly down to the southwest. Temperaturewise, 19 23 degrees, quite a humid feel as well. Then as we head through wednesday evening, we will see this band of rain continuing to journey northwards. More wet weather pushing in from the southwest, and the winds really will start to strengthen. Now, this area of low pressure has been named by the irish weather service, storm ellen. See all of the white lines, the isobars on this chart, squeezing together, this shows that weve got a very deep low, which for the republic of ireland could well bring damaging winds, exceptionally strong winds for this time of year. But as you can see, those strong winds are also likely to affect western parts of the uk. Not as windy as it will be for the republic of ireland, but as we head through wednesday night and through thursday, we are likely to see wind gusts of 40 50 mph, a little more than that in exposed spots in the west. The winds not as strong further east. We will see some outbreaks of rain clearing northwards across scotland, then some sunshine and some showers, temperatures between 21 26 degrees in parts of eastern england. Some warm air being sucked up ahead of this area of low pressure, and the low stays with us into friday. Still plenty of white lines on this chart, plenty of isobars, so we will see some pretty strong winds continuing. In fact, for some of us, friday is set to be the windiest day of all. Showers or longer spells of rain particularly up towards the northwest. Largely dry the further south and east you are with some sunshine. Top temperatures of 18 24 degrees. So, some unusually windy weather ahead. This is bbc news, the headlines. 0n the second day of the democratic partys, Virtual National convention, joe biden will be formally picked as the partys election nominee. His wife, jill, will deliver the main speech, and therell also be an appearance by former president bill clinton. The theme for the evening is leadership matters. The president of mali, Ibrahim Boubakar keita, has been arrested, along with his Prime Minister in a coup attempt. There has been recent anger at the government over army pay and the continuing conflict with jihadists. The move has been condemned by the United Nations secretary general. The postmaster general of the United States has said hes suspending changes to the Postal Service, which led to claims that he was trying to interfere in novembers president ial election. Louis dejoy says he expects postal ballots to be delivered on time