Plus, the king, his lover - and the elephant in the palace
   
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By Rob Corp

 
 

BTecs pulled as GCSE results due

 
 
Story detail

Hundreds of thousands of teenagers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will get their GCSEs later, but students who took BTecs will have to wait after the exam board that awards them said it was going to re-grade this year's results. The 11th-hour decision by Pearson to bring BTecs into line with GCSEs and A-levels will affect around 500,000 pupils. Pearson said that although BTec grades were "generally consistent with teacher and learner expectations" it had "become concerned about unfairness in relation to what are now significantly higher outcomes for GCSE and A-levels". The exam board has apologised for the disruption its decision is set to cause, but head teachers want it to explain why it made the last-minute change.

The GCSE results being awarded on Thursday will be based on schools' estimates of what pupils should get following the row over the algorithm used to moderate A-level grades. These centre-assessed grades are expected to be higher than for a normal year when teenagers have taken exams. Ofqual had planned to use the algorithm to standardise this year's results, but following complaints from students and teachers about the unfair effect it had on A-levels, the education secretary announced on Monday this approach was being scrapped and all exam grades would be based on schools' estimates.

You can read more about how this year's results were decided here, and how the 9-1 grading system works. There's also lots of useful information for pupils and parents on the BBC Bitesize website.

 
 
 

Harris tears into Trump

 
 

Kamala Harris, the Democrats' vice-presidential candidate, has accused US President Donald Trump of a "failure of leadership" which has "cost lives and livelihoods", as she formally accepted her party's nomination. Ms Harris, the first black woman to run for the country's second-highest office, was speaking at a virtual party convention where she also remarked on the racial justice protests that have taken place across the US, saying there was "no vaccine for racism. We've gotta do the work".

Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden "will restore our standing in the world", according to his former boss President Barack Obama. He used his speech to criticise Mr Trump for showing "no interest in putting in the work, no interest in finding common ground, no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends".

Mr Trump appears to have been watching the convention speeches, as he has been tweeting about the speeches and candidates throughout the evening, at one point repeating his claim that the Democrats spied on his presidential campaign - although he's never provided any evidence to back up the allegation.

We've written a really simple guide to the US election, which you can read here.

 
 
 

Man in 'choke' video 'feared he would die'

 
 

A man who was filmed apparently being choked by a police officer while being arrested has told the BBC he was afraid for his life. Hassan Ahmed, 27, from Halifax, denies he was resisting arrest and the officer from West Yorkshire Police has been suspended pending an investigation after footage of the alleged incident circulated on social media. Mr Ahmed, who has been released under investigation, said he had complied with the officer's instructions and  the incident had left him unable to sleep or work. West Yorkshire Police said its professional standards directorate was investigating and the matter had been referred to the Independent Office of Police Conduct.
 

 
 
 
 

The king, his lover - and the elephant in the palace

 

In early August, Spain's former King Juan Carlos left the country following allegations of financial wrongdoing. But the country's affection for its monarch began to unravel as far back as 2012, following an ill-fated elephant hunt. With the king on that safari was his former lover Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein. She's spoken exclusively to the BBC about a multi-million euro gift from Juan Carlos, her claims of harassment by Spain's secret service - and the elephant King Juan Carlos shot dead on 11 April 2012. The media reported the animal was 50 years old and weighed five tonnes, with tusks more than a metre long. Ms zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was on the safari with the king, but she says she was at a distance when the shooting took place.

 
 
 
 
 
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Linda Pressly

BBC World Service

 
 
 
 
 

What the papers say

 
 
Story detail

The exams row in England continues to dominate the papers. The Guardian reports that watchdog Ofqual was told a month ago of "flaws" in the algorithm being used to standardise this year's results, while the Times says Education Secretary Gavin Williamson was informed six weeks ago that there was a risk that hundreds of thousands of students would get the wrong results. Elsewhere, the death of a young migrant who was trying to get across the English Channel from France makes the lead in the Metro and the Daily Mail - with the latter saying the 16-year-old's death highlights "the human cost of the crisis". And the Financial Times reports that Apple has become the first company to be valued at $2tn (£1.5bn). There's more on this and other stories in our paper review.
 

 
 

Daily digest

 
 
   

US: IS 'Beatles' will not face death penalty.

 
   

Belgium: Calls for new inquiry into police custody tragedy.

 
   

Helicopter: Pilot killed tackling California wildfires.

 
   

Breast cancer: Single treatment 'as good as course'.

 
 
 

If you watch one thing today

Meet the UK's youngest qualified pilot, aged 14
 
 
 
 

If you listen to one thing today

The first modern asthma inhaler
 
 
 
 

If you read one thing today

My dad's a sex offender. Can people like him change?
 
 
 
 

Need something different?

 
 

Novelist Anthony Horowitz has written more than 50 books, covering just about every genre, as well as writing top-rated TV series such as Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War. He's been speaking to our entertainment reporter Rebecca Thomas about his latest work - a mind-bending murder mystery to tie readers in knots. 

A charity that rehomes chickens has had more than 52,000 requests for hens since lockdown began. Fresh Start for Hens saves birds that have reached the end of their peak laying years and would face being slaughtered.

 
 
 

On this day

 
 
   

1989: At least 30 people die after a pleasure cruiser and a barge collide on the River Thames. Watch the BBC's TV news report.

 
 
 

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