that her nickname for husband david was "goldenballs" in 2001. 0ur arts correspondent david sillito looks back at his life. don't you get fed up of each other? oh, yes, yes. i call him golden balls, you know, now. - did you ever say, "you dirty rat?" never. jimmy cagney. orson welles. jimmy stewart. these were distant, mysterious screen gods until parkinson brought them into your living room. the fact is that you're a crowd puller and frazier�*s not, is he? why is that? well, number one, he's ugly. his interviews with muhammad ali were unmissable. he has no rhythm, no footwork, no class. he cannot talk. and who told him he could sing? but of all those 2,000 or so guests, one always haunted him. i interviewed everybody from henry kissinger to billy connolly to james cagney to dame edith evans, all those people. and i'm only remembered for one thing, i was attacked by a sodding emu. he's not aggresive! rod hull and emu rather punctured the suave tv persona. i knew we should never have booked it. of course, there wasn't much hollywood glamour in the childhood of this son of a yorkshire miner. my generation was the first that actually challenged the assumption that if you're born into a mining family, you followed your dad's footsteps down to the pit. his escape was journalism, which took him to granada tv. ladies and gentlemen, miss shirley maclaine. and then, in 1971, the parkinson show. i hope i can get away with this, it's a beauty. it was a programme that could transform a career. it's a substitute for tattoos, i'm frightened to get a tattoo. billy connolly appeared 15 times. how about the oyster that went to a discotheque and pulled a mussel! they became good friends. he says, "i need somewhere to park my bike." but others... let's talk about nudity. ..especially some women, were rather less comfortable in his company. do you find, in fact, that this what could be best described as your equipment, in fact, hinders you, perhaps, in that pursuit? you're wary of journalists. i mean, does it give you an insight into what they're after? now that i'm wary of them? yes, you are wary ofjournalists. you're wary of me, you're wary of the interview, you don't like being interviewed. you can see it in the way that you sit and the way you are. true. in other words, if you were me, what would you do now? well, just wrap it up. in the �*80s, he was briefly part of the ill—fated gang of five who launched itv�*s new breakfast programme, before returning to the bbc to present desert island discs and a programme on radio 2. and then reviving the parkinson show. he's a practicing homeopath, as a matter of fact. there were moments, but it was nowjust one of many chat shows on an interview circuit... pretty sure that's what he said he wanted. ..where everyone seemed to have something to sell. right. play forward. well played. well done. 0ffscreen, he loved his cricket, always a proud yorkshireman. one day, there'll be some research into the benefit of this magnificent food, soul food for yorkshiremen. and at the end, it was his father's very yorkshire judgment that came to mind. just before he died, he said to me, he said, "you've done well and you've met some big stars." i said, i had. he said, "you made a bob or too without breaking sweat." i admitted that was also true. "good lad," he said, "but think on. "it's not like playing for yorkshire, is it?" it wasn't. but once or twice, it got pretty damn close. goodnight. and david sillito told us a little earlier — what he thought made sir michael parkinson such a unique interviewer. let's go to the heart of the matter here. i mean, there are thousands and thousands of interviews that have taken place on tv over the last 60 years. but today, how many people have talked about or tweeted or mentioned an interview they remember from his time? and one of the reasons for that is it was an extraordinary moment towards the end of the �*60s and the beginning of the �*705. a lot of those great hollywood stars who had seemed far distant, almost sort of mythical figures, were sort of out of contract, they were free to go on tv. and suddenly, i mean, michael parkinson said this himself. he said there was a moment where he said, "ladies and gentlemen, fred astaire." and fred astaire was a person he'd grown up watching in top hats in the 1930s. and there he was at the top of the steps. betty davis, orson welles, jimmy cagney, jimmy stewart. these were people who no—one really in the audience had heard them talking about their lives. they were absolutely rapt. when david niven, hollywood actor, british, started to tell his anecdotes about behind the scenes of hollywood, people were absolutely rapt. they'd just not heard this before. this was event television. orson welles. he said, "forget the questions. let'sjust talk." and to make this programme, which went from jacob bronowski talking about what it means to be human through to, you know, the risque jollity of interviewing bette midler. you needed somebody who could go from serious journalism, from talking highbrow topics to having a laugh, to rolling around on the set with emu. and you needed someone of the calibre of michael parkinson. he was a very, very talented interviewer, but he was also very, very lucky. he had started early in television, he'd learnt the skills, and there was that magical moment in the 19705 when these people were here waiting to be spoken to. and it was late night, it was just originally a filler programme for the bbc during the dog days of summer. they said, let's try it for a few weeks. and it was sort of open ended, sometimes seemed to go on a little bit longer than it should have done in the schedule. but, you know, it was a free and easy time and, you know, tv magic, that's what happened. muhammad ali, orson welles, kenneth williams, the film actor and comedian, talking about his views about the unions. all of these things are things that stuck in people's minds. and, you know, if you wanted to have a pretty good summation of popular cultural history over the last 50 years, you could pretty much start with the parkinson programme in the 19705. let's bring you some breaking news that has come to us around the women's world cup. we have the us women's national team coach vlatko andonovski has stepped down from his position as head coach. that's been announced by the us soccer federation. the statement says all of us at us soccer thank him for his dedication to our women's national team over the past four years. they say he worked tirelessly from this team and has been a strong and positive leader for the programme. but let's not forget that the us where the favourites to win this year's women's world cup and they were knocked out in the first knockout stages. they lost on penalties to sweden and they had won the previous two world cups. so it wasn't a great showing. and it is most likely that this resignation is connected to that performance. we have had a statement from vlatko andonovski himself who says it has been the honour of my life to coach the talented hard—working players of the talented hard—working players of the us team for the past four years. i'm very optimistic for the future, considering that all the young players had opportunities over the past few years. he goes on to say he is immensely proud of the progress the team made. the support they have shown each other and the inspiration they provided for players around the world. i will forever be thankful to the us soccer federation for giving me the chance to coach this remarkable team. so there you have it, us women's national team coach vlatko andonovski has stepped down as head coach is announced by the us soccer federation today. let's not forget the final is on sunday and england take on spain. let's move on. saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed bin salman has been invited to visit the uk in the autumn. no official date has been set yet — but the visit is likely to prompt sharp criticism. it would be the first trip by the crown prince to the uk — since the murder ofjournalist jamal khashoggi at the saudi consulate in istanbul in 2018. us intelligence agencies concluded that the prince must have authorised the killing. earlier, i spoke to our political correspondent, damian grammaticas, about the call prime minister rishi sunak had with the crown prince. this call happened earlier today between rishi sunak and crown prince mohammed bin salman. what we've got is the readout which you get from downing street, which they hand out, the official sort of press briefing from the calls. it doesn't tell you exactly what happened in it or all of the details, but it gives us an idea. and essentially it says that the two men discussed this sort of deepening of economic ties between the two. we know that rishi sunak said he looked forward to personally deepening those ties, and discussed their commitment to what he called a trade and investment relationship, deepening that. now, essentially, what that amounts to is a few things. so there's a long—standing security partnership with saudi arabia, large amounts of uk arms sold to saudi arabia. that's a big business for the uk. saudi energy supplies, obviously the world's biggest oil exporter, the uk a big buyer of energy. and also we saw borisjohnson when he was prime minister going to saudi arabia to meet prince mohammed bin salman to discuss diversifying energy supplies away from russia. so that's another one. and then investment. saudi arabia has large amounts of money, huge amounts of money earned from its energy sales, oil and gas, that it's looking to invest around the world. the uk wants a bit of that. so all of that was in the discussions. what they don't confirm here is the actual visit, but the bbc has been told that that is lined up for october. no specific date. labour's deputy leader, angela rayner, has been responding to the invitation and speaking about her hopes for the visit. i think it is important about that visit that the prime minister speaks to him about human rights and the issues, we have deep concerns about that. but you also have to have dialogue, so it is important that whilst he is over here that there is dialogue there and we do challenge, part of our role internationally is to challenge other nations as well and countries and so this is not what we accept and this is not how you do things and to try and influence in that way. if you don't then you don't have any influence whatsoever so i think it is important that whilst he is over here on this visit that the prime minister does have a conversation about human rights and how this is completely unacceptable. so — what do the uk and saudi arabia stand to gain from the visit? who better ask than former british ambassador to saudi arabia — sir william patey? thank you forjoining us. let me start by asking you this simple question, do you think this visit should take place?— question, do you think this visit should take place? yes, i do, saudi arabia is an — should take place? yes, i do, saudi arabia is an important _ should take place? yes, i do, saudi arabia is an important strategic - arabia is an important strategic partner of the uk, the uk has huge trade interests, saudi arabia is a big investor in the uk through their public investment fund and as angela rayner says we need to engage in a dialogue and as an important part you have nothing to gain by isolation. i think it is important that the leader of an important strategic partner visits this country. strategic partner visits this count . ~ ., ., , ., country. we heard from the liberal democrats earlier, _ country. we heard from the liberal democrats earlier, i _ country. we heard from the liberal democrats earlier, i can't - country. we heard from the liberal. democrats earlier, i can't remember her name now, my apologies. christine jardine, there you go, she said the visit should not take place. she said this would set a bad precedent, she said look at what happened when the world courted vladimir putin and now you have the war in ukraine. do you buy any of that argument that actually when you engage with people like mohammad bin salman you actually beginning a very slippery slope? ida. salman you actually beginning a very slippery shape?— slippery slope? no, you're basically balancin: slippery slope? no, you're basically balancing your _ slippery slope? no, you're basically balancing your interests. when - slippery slope? no, you're basically balancing your interests. when he l balancing your interests. when he comes the prime minister will have the opportunity to talk to him about human rights in saudi arabia. actually, i think mohammad bin salman will feel he has a decent case to make the recent improvements in the conditions of women being able to drive, most of the restrictions that used to be imposed on saudi women have been lifted. so he will probably engage quite positively in a discussion. you can't go around isolating everybody, if you do you're not really trading with anyone. we trade with the chinese, nobody thinks the situation of the uyghurs in china is at all acceptable. so we do deal with people with whom we have serious differences over human rights and values. that's part of the balancing of the geopolitics that goes into state relations.— of the geopolitics that goes into state relations. what can the uk rained state relations. what can the uk gained the _ state relations. what can the uk gained the most _ state relations. what can the uk gained the most from _ state relations. what can the uk gained the most from this? - state relations. what can the uk. gained the most from this? there state relations. what can the uk - gained the most from this? there is already saudi investment in this country. let's take football clubs, for example. but what else can be gained? for example. but what else can be rained? , , , ., .,' gained? the biggest prize on offer at the moment _ gained? the biggest prize on offer at the moment is _ gained? the biggest prize on offer at the moment is the _ gained? the biggest prize on offer at the moment is the uk - gained? the biggest prize on offer at the moment is the uk is - gained? the biggest prize on offer| at the moment is the uk is seeking gained? the biggest prize on offer i at the moment is the uk is seeking a trade deal with the gulf cooperation countries. those six countries of which saudi arabia is by far the largest and most important. it represents a significant opportunity for the uk. we already have £60 billion in two—way trade and we are hoping to sign a trade deal with them given our departure from the european union. it is important we tie in with these other nations. there is a lot in it for the uk. you with a former ambassador to saudi arabia. what would you say is in it for the saudis? the arabia. what would you say is in it for the saudis?— for the saudis? the saudis are an im ortant for the saudis? the saudis are an important regional— for the saudis? the saudis are an important regional partner. - for the saudis? the saudis are an important regional partner. they| important regional partner. they recognise us as an important partner. we contribute to their security, we have close cooperation on terrorism. we are closely aligned on terrorism. we are closely aligned on matters in the middle east. we both recognise the threat from iran. saudi arabia regards iran as a significant regional threat, as does the uk. so we are aligned on those issues. we want stability in the gulf, we want economic prosperity, we want mutual trade. we want their investments to thrive here, we want our investments in saudi arabia to thrive stop so there is a lot we have in common, although we disagree on political model and perhaps on human rights issues. i on political model and perhaps on human rights issues.— human rights issues. i assume in our human rights issues. i assume in your work— human rights issues. i assume in your work you — human rights issues. i assume in your work you may _ human rights issues. i assume in your work you may have - human rights issues. i assume in your work you may have met - human rights issues. i assume in - your work you may have met mohammad bin salman. if you have, what is he like to deal with? i bin salman. if you have, what is he like to deal with?— like to deal with? i met him as a nine-year-old — like to deal with? i met him as a nine-year-old which _ like to deal with? i met him as a nine-year-old which shows - like to deal with? i met him as a nine-year-old which shows you | like to deal with? i met him as a i nine-year-old which shows you how nine—year—old which shows you how old i am. i left saudi arabia before mohammad bin salman emerged onto the scene. we are dealing with a new generation of saudi leavers in mohammad bin salman. , ., , , mohammad bin salman. presumably you are not ambassador _ mohammad bin salman. presumably you are not ambassador as _ mohammad bin salman. presumably you are not ambassador as a _ are not ambassador as a nine—year—old. are not ambassador as a nine-year-old._ are not ambassador as a nine-year-old. he was the nine-year-old, _ nine-year-old. he was the nine-year-old, i— nine-year-old. he was the nine-year-old, i was - nine-year-old. he was the nine-year-old, i was the l nine-year-old. he was the _ nine-year-old, i was the ambassador. nine—year—old, i was the ambassador. thank you forjoining us, sir william patey, and sharing your insights on this story. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. school staff in ten scottish local authority areas will go on strike on september 13th and 14th. gmb scotland's members — which includes nonteaching school staff — rejected a pay offer of 5.5% in april, calling it "unacceptable". the union said the offer "does not come close" to matching the surging cost of living. the family of a pregnant woman killed by a speeding driver have welcomed a decision to have his 12—year prison sentence reviewed by the court of appeal. frankiejules—hough died, along with her unborn daughter, when adil iqbal crashed into her car shortly after he'd filmed himself driving at 100mph. an mp has told a public meeting he will pursue a law granting better protection for heritage venues — after the demolition of the 18th century crooked house pub — after a fire. about 100 people attended the meeting about what had happened to the pubin dudley. happened to the pub in dudley. it was destroyed less than two days after the fire. the fire is being treated as arson. you're live with bbc news. to west africa — where more than 60 migrants are presumed dead after their boat was found drifting off cape verde. it's thought they were trying to reach the spanish canary islands. the boat was found about 300 kilometres from cape verde. it's believed almost all those on board came from senegal. 38 people, including children, were rescued and brought ashore on the island of sal. officials in senegal said they were making arrangements to bring survivors home. mayenijones reports. they are the lucky ones. these survivors were spotted in a wooden boat near cape verde by a spanish fishing vessel. they had spent a month at sea. three of mahmoud's siblings and his cousin were on the boat. his 24—year—old brother died. they both tried making the journey together earlier this year. translation: one of my brothers called to say - another brother was dead. i was shocked because we were close and he was a fighter. he was married and had two kids. a booming population, crumbling economies and growing insecurity is pushing thousands of young people to leave west africa. as the legal means of accessing europe tighten, many of them are turning to dangerous, illegal routes in search of a better life. the atlantic migration route from the coast of west africa to the canary islands is often used by african migrants to reach spain, especially in the summer. but it is one of the world's deadliestjourneys. translation: it comes with a lot of pain, yes, i but we know that immigration issues are global issues which require international cooperation, a lot of discussion and a global strategy. until such a solution is found, young people like mahmoud says he will keep trying to reach europe despite the risks. myenijones, lagos. the proportion of students getting top a—level grades in england, wales and northern ireland has fallen sharply from 12 months ago, but remains higher than pre—pandemic levels. today's results show 27.2% of exams were given an a or an a—star, down more than 9 percentage points on last year. the biggest fall was in england, where ministers had said they wanted to return to pre—pandemic marking standards more quickly. frances read has more details. for the students opening their exam results today, this has been a long road. having received teacher assets grades for their assessed grades for their gcses in the pandemic. it was quite tough. we were the final year to not do formal exams, so it was quite a push, really. there is a wider plan to bring grades back to pre—pandemic levels after a spike of good results through 2020 and 2021. this year, the overall pass grade has dropped a percentage point from last year, standing atjust over 97%. but the drop in top grades is being felt more keenly in england, showing a disparity between the nations. top grades in england are only about 1% higher than before the pandemic. unlike in wales and northern ireland, where they are still 7—8% higher. but 0fqual has reassured students there is protection built into the grading process even if they didn't perform as well in their exams. we've worked hand—in—hand with universities over a two—year period to make sure students would be treated fairly. universities are used to working with 700 different types of qualifications. they can absolutely cope with the differences in the devolved policies. it is celebrations for those who did their btecs and also t—levels, a relatively new qualification which gives entry to higher education in things like digital skills, health and construction. students in blackpool were among the 97% of t—level students who have received at least one university offer. more than half of 18—year—olds don't apply to university, but for those who do want to go, it is about ensuring they are not unfairly disadvantaged. the pandemic has widened the attainment gap for those on the lowest incomes in the uk. more than 16,500 students who had free school meals have been accepted into university, but ucas said the data proves that there are still huge challenges for the most disadvantaged students. we don't set arbitrary targets of 50% go in and see who goes, we have been focused on making sure we have access to opportunity for those most disadvantaged. if you didn't get the grades you want or need, the advice is to speak to your university — they might still offer a course depending. and grades can be challenged, but there are 29,000 places available in clearing today, 3,000 more than last year. the post pandemic a—level students of 2023, whatever their grades, have lived through something few others can imagine. francis read, bbc news. in the us, president biden says he'll travel to hawaii next week, following the deadly wildfires on the island of maui. he's been criticised by his political opponents — they say he's been too slow to see the devastation for himself. mr biden will meet survivors and emergency workers. the white house says he'll visit areas affected by the damage — and discuss the recovery operation with officials. so far, it's been confirmed that 111 people have died in the fires, but that number is expected to rise. only 38% of the affected area has been searched, and just a handful of victims have been identified. we're just a little bit more heartbroken because we do have to report that more of our loved ones have been confirmed lost and deceased. 110 individuals have been confirmed deceased. we'll get some details about this from our distinguished leaders in police and fire. 38% of the territory has been covered. 0ur north america correspondent sophie long sent this update from maui — on the process of identifying victims. we now know that 110 people are known to have died. you can probably make out lahaina behind me, the town that was engulfed by flames a week ago. now the recovery operation continues. as you said there, the teams have now covered nearly a0%, 38% of the worst—affected area. we know that a mobile morgue and more coroners have arrived to help with the grim task of identifying those who lost their lives. 0nly five have been identified so far but we do know that some of the most vulnerable, the very old and the very young are among those who lost their lives. there are some signs of hope and recovery now emerging. the road to lahaina, the main road that's been closed for a week now was reopened today during daylight hours. although you can probably see the roadblock behind me, they're not letting people into the worst—affected area itself because that search and recovery operation is still ongoing. the bbc�*s sophie long reporting from maui. more on that story and the rest of the day's news on the bbc website. stay with us on bbc news. hello there. although it's staying warm over the next few days, it will start to turn increasingly humid and we will start to see some thundery downpours pushing in off the atlantic. warm and humid for the next few days, a little sunshine here and there, but an increasing threat of thundery downpours, thanks to this area of low pressure. we have high pressure is anchored to the east of the uk. that is bringing a fresh south—easterly wind, tapping into the warm air off the continent, but the humidity will increase over the next few days. through the rest of this afternoon there will be variable cloud. some sunshine and the risk ofjust one or two showers for northern england and into scotland. most places should be dry. temperatures reaching highs of around 2a, maybe 25 degrees in the south—east, given some good, sunny spells. as we head into this evening we start to see the first of a couple of weather fronts pushing into the south and west of the uk. winds are starting to increase as well through the night. we could see some thunderstorms mixed into this band of rain in the south. quite warm in the south, a little fresher further north. but still we are in double figures across the board. for friday this first band of rain will be spreading northwards and eastwards. a line of thunderstorms perhaps embedded in it across england and wales. strong, gusty winds around the irish sea, particularly north—west wales, gusts up to 60 miles an hour. for the northern half of the country, we should see the best of the conditions, with some sunny spells. because there is more cloud around and showers, temperatures reach highs of around 23. humidity will increase. through friday night we see a more active band of thundery rain spreading northwards across england and wales and northern ireland, and that will be across scotland as we start saturday morning. again some thundery rain which will tend to clear away, and then it is a bright day, with sunshine and showers. most of the showers will be across western areas, quite blustery in the north and west. temperatures coming down here, and very slowly, the humidity levels will drop across the south—east. we could have up to 25 or 26 degrees again. sunday, a similar story. a blustery day in the north and west, with sunshine and showers. most of the showers in the north and west, dry across central, southern and eastern areas. those temperatures close to the mid 20s. less humidity, i think, for all areas by this point. as we head into next week it could turn very warm for a time across south—east england. further north and west we hold onto that theme of sunshine and showers. this is bbc news. the headlines... tributes are paid to the tv chat show legend — sir michael parkinson — who has died — aged 88. saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed bin salman is invited to the uk — but there's sharp criticism of the plan over the gulf leader's human rights record. a new conservation plan is launched in england's lake district to protect the population of water voles. time for a look at the business news now. thank you very much. amercian shoppers are buying a lot more of their essentials at walmart, according to the company's results for the three months