This is bbc news. My names mike embley with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. 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. The us postmaster general says hes suspending changes to the Us Postal Service hed been accused of trying to interfere in novembers president ial election. And an unwelcome spotlight on the us chat show hosted by Ellen Degeneres as three Top Producers are fired for misconduct. Hello to you. In the next couple of hours, the Democratic Party in the United States will hold the second evening of its Virtual National convention. Joe biden will be formally nominated as the partys candidate for novembers president ial election. His wifejill will deliver tuesdays main speech. Therell also be appearances by former president bill clinton and alexandria Ocasio Cortez. The bbcs Laura Trevelyan is in wilmington, delaware and has been telling me about the days themes. The fame is leadership and also democrats are going to be showcasing 17 of their rising stars, including Ocasio Cortez from new york who famously won the primary in new york, getting rid of a long term operative and really the star of the democratic left. She will be speaking tonight and
there has been some dissent in democratic circles with the republicans for trump featured last night and why isnt there a bigger billing for someone like aoc she is known. She will be speaking for at least a minute. The theme is leadership. Democrats saying that donald trump is not fit to lead at this moment with this three crisis facing america with the coronavirus, the economic fallout and the uproar over racial injustice. We will be hearing a lot more tonight about why joe be hearing a lot more tonight about whyjoe biden is fit to lead and donald trump, democrats say, is not. Michael bronstein is a democratic strategist based in philadelphia. Michael i know you have about 20 Years Experience in politics in the us and uk. What are you making of this so far . 50 what are you making of this so far . So far, and the way democrats arejudging far . So far, and the way democrats are judging this is, its very much rallying around the candidate. And what needs to happen is there needs to be an extension of notjust
democrats but also those who are watching the convention who are watching the convention who are contemplating voting for the party. And one of the primary goals of this convention is to show that the democrats are indeed ready to be the party of power again and to win back the presidency. And there are a number of things are going to see tonight from this. Firstly, we are going to be reminded of American Leadership and what true American Leadership looks like in the world. We will have former president speak. President bill clinton, jimmy carter, there will be a lineup of progression here that will hopefully remind people that democrats and democratic rule is much different than what we have seen the republicans, especially under donald trump over the several years. Talking about that, what lines of attack do you see opening up for the republicans. Just harking back to last night, where it is of some pushback at Michelle Obamas speech. And we expected there would be a push back. I think when you saw vice
president biden say earlier, like clockwork, we anticipate there to be pushback. Thats going to be part of the push and pull of the convention normally under normal circumstances, what you would see is if a president was in power, there would be very little commentating on the party opposites convention. But not now and we live in historically different times. And i think that as a convention and a Democratic Party, we recognise that. And being able to communicate that story to the American Public and being able to make the American Public understands that we are living in very different times, the line of attack here, no remote anticipate is were going to see and talk about American Global leadership. We are going to be talking about the coronavirus and failed leadership that is happening this country, and were going to be talking about normalising what has been leadership from this country. And these are things that i think play well with the general public. Joe biden is pretty much ahead in the polls, do you trust the
pulse . I think we all remember about four years ago, people talking in confidence about the obvious landslide coming for Hillary Clinton polls. Obvious landslide coming for Hillary Clinton polls. I must say, around the polls, people are very nervous. The question in my view as a clinical professional is not overly pulser accurate, i suspect that they are accurate. Polls. Ithink suspect that they are accurate. Polls. I think there is a larger question about having seen the show before. I have to say, the consequences are so high right now that the anxiety that exists inside the party when reading polls and seeing what the potential outcomes could be, and mistakes that are so could be, and mistakes that are so high that people feel a bit nervous i would say coming into this convention, especially with what was experienced four yea rs with what was experienced four years ago. And i would be remiss if we didnt acknowledge and admit that which is going to make the party work much harder this time around. Good to talk to michael, thank you. Thank you. 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 their future. In a country of 19 Million People with a crippled economy, corruption, and constant insecurity caused by jihadists. 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, imam mahmoud dicko, have been calling on president kate 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 one 18 years ago. Paul hawkins, bbc news. Lets get some of the days other news. The family of the assassinated former lebanese Prime Minister, rafik hariri killed in a car bomb attack 15 years ago has expressed his frustration at the outcome of the trial of his alleged murderers. The special court found a hezbollah defendant guilty but acquitted three others. Mr hariris son, saad, said everybodys expectations had been higher than the outcome. The disputed president of belarus, alexander lu kashenko, has accused the opposition of attempting to overthrow him by setting up a Coordination Council to facilitate a transfer of power. Hes threatened action against the 35 members appointed by his main opponent svetla na ti kha novs kaya. The captain of a japanese ship that spilt hundreds of tonnes of oil off the coast of mauritius has been arrested and charged with endangering safe navigation. Crew members told police thered been a Birthday Party on the day the vessel ran aground last month. The ship split in half over the weekend and its bow is being towed away from the reef. 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 quuals 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. Our education editor, bra nwen 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. 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 university 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 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 arisen 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 jeffries, bbc news. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come scientists news, still to come uncover the unseen scale scientists uncover the unseen scale of the 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 chanting czechoslovakia must be free russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners
who died on board the kursk. We all with them now, within our hearts. The pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2. 5 Million People in his home town 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 will give keynote speeches. Malis president has announced his resignation hours after he ws arrested
the military, in an apparent coup attempt. The postmaster general of the United States has said hes suspending changes to the Postal Service, which had led to claims that he was trying to interfere in novembers president ial election. Louis dejoy a financial donor to President Trump said no changes would be made until after the poll and he expected postal ballots to be delivered on time. The democratic speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi, dismissed allegations. Joining me now to discuss this is daniel lippman, politicos white house reporter. This sounds like a fringe concern but really what is at sta ke concern but really what is at stake is that as many people as possible get to vote especially ina possible get to vote especially in a pandemic. This was a major reversal by the Trump Administration, both republicans and democrats on capitol hill and across the country, they have been seeing delays with the mail, they are unsure of whether they can get their ballot in time and whether the election authorities will be able to receive those ballot so they can count them on that first tuesday in november and so even President Trump reversed himself yesterday, saying he wa nts himself yesterday, saying he wants the mail even faster, so
it was only inevitable today that they had to do this major reversal. Because the president had actually said previously was to the effect that if we hold back funding to the Postal Service they wont be able to have universal male and ballot. Yes but he has also had shifting rhetoric and his own campaign sendmail is to voters in North Carolina and florida and potentially other states where they say, request your absentee ballot because they need to turn up around their voters as well so a lot of republicans were scratching their heads at President Trumps rhetoric against male and ballot, because they might have turned off their voters towards actually voting and a lot of their voters are elderly americans so they dont want to necessarily go to the polling booth. And a lot of those voters also get medication through the post, i think vetera ns through the post, i think veterans quite often get the benefit, it matters to a lot of people. The Postal Service is the most popular government
institution in america. 91 of americans approve of the Postal Service operates, so it was very disappointing to many people that this trump donor came in and was almost like a wrecking ball. So he is getting hold up on capitol hill on friday and monday and the pr has affected the Postal Service asa has affected the Postal Service as a lot of americans are wondering why this was an issue in the first place. A kind of reminds people of a third world dictatorship when we are talking about interfering with the mail because President Trump is down ten points in the polls. Just very briefly, those sessions are likely to be pretty feisty . The postmaster general motivated ion that we made this decision. And plus, a number of states, 20 state, id believe, sued the postmaster general and the Postal Service and the Trump Administration today to stop those changes so it seems like they were reacting to all the negative pressure. Daniel, thank you
very much. 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 0cean 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 we have thrown away littering the shore. And in the decades that oui 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 that micro plastic, particles smaller than the diameter of a human hair, floating in the atlantic. 0n diameter of a human hair, floating in the atlantic. On an expedition from the uk to the
falklands, researchers served the top 200 metres of the ocean at different locations and found that between 12 and 21 million tons 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 had put in in the past 65 years. The team only search 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. Some environmental groups say the pandemic itself has reignited our addiction to single use plastics. The disposable mask is now more pervasive. We find more disposable masks than plastic bags on beaches. What we are really asking is 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 de generes 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 episode by saying, be kind, a massive platform. But after years of rumours, a twitter thread asking people to share stories showing that 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 her 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 that the reports are 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 theyre usually seen cruising through the mediterranean and the caribbean. But since the pandemic hit, and with staycations on the cards for many of us this summer, a growing number of luxury liners have moored off the south coast of england. The ships have themselves started to become an unlikely attraction. Duncan kennedy reports from weymouth. Weymouth bay has become a parking bay for britains cruise industry. We counted ten ships today, giant, gleaming and empty vessels. They are here so they dont have to pay the birthing fees in ports, but these mega ships have now
become major attractions. Something else to come and see, isnt it . Something different. They should be out cruising, but what can you do with this going on . Its a bit of a risk for the passengers. Jon holland has been on 1a cruises in the past few years and cannot bear to see them idle. Most of them i have been on, most ones, its a tragedy, isnt it . It really is. It will be about two or three years before we get back on them. The ships have become so popular special boat trips are taking people around them in what has become a kind of maritime museum. Each vessel still has about 100 crew members on board to keep them maintained and stop them drifting in rough weather. But whatever the weather, these ships are currently going nowhere. British people usually take around two million cruises every year but because of covid 19, these vessels are stuck. To see ships bobbing around Weymouth Harbour is quite unprecedented, so the focus moves on to how we find solutions. The cruise industry is a £10 billion industry for the uk so its vital it gets going. This line of liners are currently the pride of britains cruising fleet, but its currently a fleet, and industry, of course. Duncan kennedy, bbc news, weymouth. 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 . Thats it for now, thank you so much for watching. Hello there. If this was autumn or winter, this Weather Forecast wouldnt look particularly unusual but, of course, it is summer. 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 wifejill will deliver the main speech, and therell also be an appearance by former president bill clinton. The theme for the evening is leadership matters. state tv in mali is reporting that president Ibrahim Boubakar keita has announced his resignation, and the dissolution of the government and parliament. He and the Prime Minister were arrested by by the military in an apparent to attempt. The move has been condemned by the United Nations secretary general and france, the former colonial power. 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 a financial donor to President Trump says he expects postal ballots to be delivered on time. Marks and spencer is planning to cut seven thousand staff