The prince of wales has led british commemorations of the allied victory overjapan 75 years ago, which ended the Second World War. 50,000 british and commonwealth troops died in the war againstjapan, half in prison camps. Some of their relatives joined surviving veterans at Britains National memorial arboretum for a ceremony to remember them. Sian lloyd was there. 96 year old joan burfield, known as johnny since her navy days, one of the remaining few who remember vj day because they were there. She was then a wren, aged 21, stationed in the far east and tasked with decoding signals, one of a group of young women whod joined the navy to serve their country. 75 years on, she hasnt forgotten the most Important Message she came across. We were receiving signals, you know, from all over the place. And, well, Somebody Just shouted, its over its over the wars finished but we still had to carry on. For Sergeant Francis raley, the japanese surrender signalled the first steps towards freedom. L
Now lets turn to the uk, and the impact of the pandemic on young peoples education. In a huge policy reversal, affecting hundreds of thousands of pupils, england, wales, and Northern Ireland have all announced that a level and gsce results will now be based on teacher assessments rather than grades generated by computer modelling. The education secretary gavin williamson, who last week said the system was robust and fair, apologised for the distress caused. Our education editor branwenjeffreys has more. Im steph, i was predicted a and two as by my teachers and i was given a , b, b on results day. Steph has lost a place at cambridge, first from her family in birkenhead to go to uni. This morning, she told me teacher grades should stand. And we have to work extra hard for where we are and we still havent got anything out of it. I know obviously my grades are still very good, but ive still missed out on brilliant opportunities. Out of anyone in this, we should just be trusting the teacher
So, whats the reaction to the deal been across the uk . Well be hearing from our scotland correspondent james cook in glasgow, our wales correspondent tomos morgan in cardiff, but first, heres our ireland correspondent emma va rdy. Just think back, the Brexit Process was so seismic for the island of ireland, because it threw up all those questions over what to do about the irish land border and it reminded everyone of the troubled history of this place. But now many of the issues which once seemed unresolvable, there are now agreements on. And Northern Ireland enters this new era where doing trade here will be different from the rest of the uk, those special arrangements in order to keep the irish land border invisible. Now, the trade deal has been welcomed here, it is likely to make some of those special arrangements for Northern Ireland easier to carry out in future and it will bring great relief in the irish republic, where many peoples livelihoods, particularly in the food industry
There were 96a deaths today before. 53,285 new cases recorded on friday, there is a drop from 55,892 the day before. Now on bbc news, superfan David Whiteley celebrates how an unassuming band of designers and factory workers in leicestershire created the toys which were to define a generation. Archive the princess has been captured. Theres one. Set for stun. Our heroes are threatened by an imperial troop transporter. Will the mighty force of the millennium falcon be enough to smash darth vader . Will luke be able to save the princess . Only you can decide. Look for the new palitoy star wars models in toy shops now. Ominous voice but hurry the 1970s. Film maker george lucas is about to launch a visionary new film that will revolutionise cinema. This is not that story. This story is actually about this place. Im David Whiteley and im a massive star wars fan. And growing up, the toys were as much a part of my childhood as the films. They became the must have toys of a generation, and what