this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the first commercially—built rocket to carry astronauts into space has lifted off from florida. appeals for calm after a fourth night of violence in the us city of minneapolis following the death of george floyd, an african—american in police custody. a former police officer is charged with murder and the pentagon puts the us military on high alert. the situation in minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder

of george floyd. it is about attacking civil society, instilling fear in disrupting our great cities. the uk government insists that it continues to be led by science over the next stages of the easing of lockdown measures after concerns were raised by some leading scientists. we need to proceed in a very cautious way. so we have set out a road map, but at each stage we are saying we are not going to proceed with that unless we are confident that we can do so in a safe way. the return of competitive sport is announced for the uk from monday, starting with horse racing. other sports given the go—ahead to resume behind closed doors include football, rugby and cricket. but in india, the daily total of new coronavirus cases has hit another record high today with nearly 8,000 new infections.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world, and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. first, a historic event in the us today where, in the last half hour, spacex has successfully launched a rocket carrying two nasa astronauts to the international space station. it's the first manned us mission to space in nearly a decade. this is also the first rocket produced by a private company to carry us astronauts to the iss. until now, nasa has relied on russian rockets to send astronauts into space since scrapping its shuttle programme in 2011. president trump travelled to cape canaveral to watch the launch and spoke to the press shortly after take—off. mr president, what did you think?m

was incredible, the technology, the power, i'm so proud of the people and nasa, all the people that work together, public and private. when you see a site like that it's incredible, the power of the machine and the danger. when you hear that sound and the role, you can imagine how dangerous it is when you feel the shake, we are very far away, but you hear the shake over here, beautiful site and a beautiful ship, i would say it's a beauty. they have a long way to go but that's a very dangerous part of it right there, thatis dangerous part of it right there, that is a big part of the danger. let's ta ke that is a big part of the danger. let's take a look at the moment the launch happened. three, two, one, zero. ignition, lift off! go, nasa,

go, spacex, godspeed! america has launched! so rises a new era of american space flight and a new generation continuing the dream. 20 seconds into flight stages nominal. t plus 30 seconds in this historic mission, flying crew on board dragon and falcon nine, and look at it go. 60% chance this would not happen because of weather which of course will stop the launch taking place on wednesday. we can bring in our correspondent, jane o'brien, who is at cape canaveral in florida now, from where the rocket launched. tell us what it was like, jane. tell us what it was like, jane. it was the most exhilarating thing i think i have ever experienced. to

see history being made and made in such a visual, sensory fashion, the sound of that rocket taking off and the vibrations you feel going all the vibrations you feel going all the way through you was extraordinary. and then to see that shining bright light of the rocket itself taking off and still visible when all you could really see was the cloud and tracer of the atmosphere coming out of its tail, i found it absolutely extraordinary. and what it must have felt like to be part of the team that was able to pull this off, the astronauts on board, ican pull this off, the astronauts on board, i can only imagine, especially after the disappointment of wednesday when weather stopped it, and being a classic brit i was complaining of thunderstorms on wednesday but now i'm complaining about the heat, but for spacex and

then and a very different business model for nasa, no longer a government funded... a government built spacecraft but something built bya built spacecraft but something built by a private company in california? nasais by a private company in california? nasa is the custom in this relationship. spacex developed this with support, considerable financial support, from nasa, and boeing is also developing a similar transport capsule but spacex won the race on this occasion and as a result the idea is it will drive down the cost of actually putting humans into space which will enable nasa to focus on the big like getting humans back mars and then of course want to mars... the moon and then mars. and it is hoped that these sorts of commercialflights it is hoped that these sorts of commercial flights will be an

integral part of these future missions so this is really about changing the way we think about space exploration and changing the way it is actually done. the first new design though is 39 years and even better in these days of sustainability bits of it can be reused. and we already know that the rocket itself has been retrieved, it landed on spacex's drone ship, leaving the capital itself free to enter orbit and dock with the international space station which has a 19 hourjourney. we still do not quite know how long they will be up not quite know how long they will be up there. they have got to deadlines they have to meet, the first commercialflight they have to meet, the first commercial flight itself for real because don't forget this as a test flight, because don't forget this as a test flight, the first commercial flight involving a japanese astronaut on the 30th of august and also a slight issue with power because the dragon capsule itself is powered by solar

panels, they ran out ofjuice within 114 days, so they have limits. but they can be brought up early, the idea is they test out the capsule and work out all the kinks. for the moment, jane, thank you very much, enjoying the excitement in cape canaveral. and the nasa administrator has said for the first time in nine years we have now launched american astronauts. i'm so proud of the nasa and spacex team for making this moment possible. you're watching bbc news. the us state of minnesota has announced the mobilisation of its entire national guard for the first time in its history after violent protests continued for a fourth night in minneapolis. the governor, tim walz, said rioters had caused wanton destruction and chaos,

without regard for life or property. but he stressed that peaceful protests could go ahead. this is the scene live there now. the disturbances were sparked by the police killing of an unarmed black man, george floyd, in minneapolis on monday. this is the scene live there now. with the authorities expecting this evening's protests to be the fiercest so far, the pentagon has also moved to put military units on a four—hour recall status, if needed. 0ur correspondent barbara plett usher is in minneapolis, and her report contains some distressing images. america is rising up in anger over the killing of another black man in police custody. in minneapolis, protesters defied a curfew taking over the streets for the fourth night in a row, turning them into a smoky battle ground. security forces were overwhelmed. the governor has now announced the largest mobilisation of the national guard in the state's history. he blames outsiders for spearheading the violence. the situation in minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder of george floyd.

it is about attacking civil society, instilling fear and disrupting our great cities. here in minneapolis, this is the damage after another night of chaos. authorities thought they had calmed things down after they moved swiftly to charge a police officer for the death of george floyd. and they were shocked when the virus escalated instead. i cannot breathe! a widely publicised video shows the officer kneeling on mr floyd's neck as he begged for air. in footage that emerged today, you can see two other policemen were also holding him down. ignoring his cries to let him stand. the graphic images have ignited protests across a country already grappling with a deadly pandemic. and suffering its worst economic crisis since the great depression. in seattle, washington, demonstrators hurled a rock at an amazon store. they chanted "i can't breathe"

and "black lives matter". in charlotte, north carolina, police fired tear gas. a city council member was among several people arrested. and in atlanta, georgia, protesters threw rocks and smoke grenades at police. trashed cars and smashed windows at cnn headquarters. the governor issued a state of emergency and the mayor pleaded for the riots to stop. you are disgracing our city. you are disgracing the life of george floyd and every other person who has been killed in this country. we are better than this. we are better than this as a city, we are better than this as a country. i am duty—bound to be here to simply say that it is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy. accountability is what

the protesters are demanding. the lack of it so many times before has stoked the smouldering anger that is exploding now with such force. donald trump has again condemned the violence that erupted in minnesota on friday night. boarding an aircraft to travel to cape canaveral, mr trump urged the authorities there to be tough on those he said were bent on violence and added that federal reinforcements could be despatched if necessary. they've got to be tough, they've got to be smart. we have our military ready, willing and able today if they ever want to call our military. but we can have troops on the ground very quickly if they ever want our military. they're using their national guard right now, as you know, they have their national guard out. we can have our military there very quickly. they've got to be tough, they've got to be strong, they've got to be respected. because these people, it's antifa, it's a lot

of radical left, bad people. and they've got to be taught that you can't do this. so i'm going now to watch a great launch and we'll see how we do. thank you very much. us attorney general william barr has also been speaking about the case. he blamed what he labelled outside radicals and agitators for hijacking the protests in us cities over the death of george floyd but also he said they were working at speed to prosecute those responsible his death. the outrage of our national community at what happened to george floyd in minneapolis is real and legitimate. accountability for his death must be addressed and is being addressed through the regular process of our criminaljustice system both state and federal level. that system is working and cases

have been fired by the state and that puts professor kaye whitehead is an educator, author, and media host who is known as the #blackmommyactivist. she teaches african and african american studies at loyola university in baltimore, maryland, from where she told me that the violence had a clear context. i think it's important to recognise that the murder of george floyd comes on top of so much injustice and so many unarmed black men, women and children who have been killed ever since we have been protesting black lives matter. we can go back and look at the modern civil rights movement, the history of how we got here, but if we just focus on black lives matter, i can easily go through a litany

of names of black men, women and and children and most recently we had a black woman shot and killed in her own home in kentucky. a man shot and killed in georgia, and now george floyd, the latest incident is so disturbing because you can watch it in real time and you can hear him struggling, yelling out that he cannot breathe, calling for his mother, it is the injustice that we are dealing with as black and brown people in this country when we see this happening to people that could be part of our families and then we don't see people being held accountable so there is a lot of pent—up frustration that got us to this moment. you can change policy, but that does not necessarily change attitudes, not least within the police. so how do you bring about meaningful change? it's interesting that we have been wrestling with this question around change for quite a while. what would it look like if we were to do something different?

we talk about police officers, that's kind of a point blank. to do an intensive training with police officers so that we can build a bridge between the police force and the community. there is predatory policing that is happening in economically challenged black communities where they are overpoliced, herded and controlled, rather than protected and served so that needs to happen. we need to have more accountability for police officers so when they do what these police officers participated in it's notjust that they are arrested, not just that they are fired, not just that they are charged, but they are found guilty and they serve time so that people understand there is a price to pay. there is accountability. a second thing is to think about reparations. right now we're looking at how we are economically challenged in this community, we see how the income of black people is steadily dropping by the year 2053, the estimate of income will be zero in comparison to our white counterparts.

so a way of redistributing funds we hope will turn around decades upon decades of economic injustice in our community, and third which i think is the hardest piece is how do we change the hearts and minds of people? there is a large community of people not of colour in this country of white people who really believe that black folks are inferior. they are groups of white nationalism and supremacy and they are pushing that age—old agenda that race is a determining factor. we are fighting against the hearts and minds of those individuals as well. the uk is at a dangerous moment and the easing of lockdown has to go slowly, england's deputy chief medical officer has said. professor jonathan van—tam said the consensus among scientists was that new easing measures being introduced were not expected to push the rate of infection above 1.0. the uk government insists that it continues to be led by science over the next stages of the easing

of lockdown measures after concerns were raised by some leading scientists. several members of the sage advisory group have spoken out against the pace of change. from monday in england, up to six people from different households can meet outside, including in private gardens. 215 deaths have been recorded in the uk in the last 24 hours. it brings the total number of deaths to 38,376. 0ur political correspondent, chris mason, has this report. york in the sunshine has always proved popular. a socially distant queue. a spot of refreshments. in scotland and northern ireland, groups are already allowed to gather outside. england and wales will follow on monday, but the number of coronavirus cases falling, ministers say the time is right. but some of those advising the government have concerns. if we make multiple releases

of the lockdown at the same time, we won't know what is causing the inevitablejump in cases. and we don't have an established test, track and isolate process to follow these people up. so we're at a very risky point where we could take the lid off a pot that is still bubbling in places and it risks overflowing in places. he's one of several members of the scientific advisory group for emergencies to speak out. the labour mayors of london and greater manchester are also worried this loosening of the rules has come to soon. so, at this afternoon's government news conference, i asked... what you say to those scientists and others who say that you're easing the lockdown in england too quickly? we haven't got that much headroom. that's why the prime minister has been clear we need to proceed in a very cautious way. so we've set out a road map

but at each stage we are saying we will not proceed with that unless we are confident that we can do so in a safe way. i believe and you will recall i was at the podium when the disease activity was very high in the uk, and i said it's a very dangerous moment. i believe this is also a very dangerous moment. we have to get this right. the public in general to actually follow the guidance. don't tear the pants out of it and don't go further than the guidance actually says. professor van—tam knows how to turn a phrase and make a point. he was also asked directly about dominic cummings. the prime minister's most senior adviser who among other things drove 50 miles to test his eyesight during the lockdown. the rules are clear and they have always been clear. in my opinion, they are for the benefit of all. and in my opinion, they apply to all. questions about mr cummings keep coming.

questions about easing the lockdown will too. the government has published new guidelines to allow the return of competitive sport from monday. athletes will still have to maintain social distancing where possible. the announcement was made by the minister for culture, media and sport, 0liver dowden. i'm delighted to announce today that the government has published guidance which allows competitive sport to resume behind closed doors from monday at the earliest and, crucially, only when it's safe to do so. it's up to each individual sport to decide exactly when to resume competition. they know their sports best. but football, tennis, horse racing, formula 1, cricket, golf, rugby, snooker and others are all set to return to our screens shortly with horse racing first out of the gate in the north east next week. the headlines on bbc news:

the first commercially built rocket to carry astronauts into space has successfully lifted off from florida. appeals for calm after a fourth night of violence in the us city of minneapolis following the death of george floyd an african—american in police custody. a former police officer is charged with murder and the pentagon puts the us military on high alert. the uk government insists that it continues to be led by science over the next stages of the easing of lockdown measures after concerns were raised by some leading scientists. brazil has reported nearly 27,000 cases of covid—19 in 24 hours — a new daily record. almost 28,000 coronavirus deaths have now been recorded there — the world's fifth highest figure. the us has seen the most deaths with more than 100,000. the government of india has

announced further plans to relax lockdown restrictions, just as the country's daily total of new coronavirus cases hit a new high to nearly 8,000. from june the 8th, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and places of worship will be allowed to re—open. so, what's the government response on this new fugures? here is our correspondent samlan ravi in delhi. everybody is worried and today the prime minister has sent a message to the people of the country saying that he could see migrant workers and other people in distress, but then he said that this distress should not turn into a disaster. more and more migrant workers are leaving their villages. tens of thousands of cases of corona positive are rising. just a single day, the highest spike so far. altogether, 173,000 cases positive

so far, 5,000 deaths. time is passing by, and 35 migrant workers are reaching their villages as the lockdown is being reached, tomorrow. as this lockdown ends, social distancing will not be possible in market areas and that is that cause of concern. one of the most recogisable buildings in the world — the leaning tower of pisa — is one of the tourist attractions in italy being allowed to re—open today after an easing of coronavirus restrictions. numbers will be limited to 15 at a time, and all visitors will be provided with an electronic device which goes off if someone breaches social distancing rules. let's bring you some live

pictures now from washington. in minneapolis much floyd, the american was we can take you to washington as well, i pictured here amongst the protesters, a very big police presence again and we can show you what is happening in chicago as these protests have spread across the country. anchor that a black man has died yet again in police custody. but the governor of minnesota has said that he is mobilising the state's in taia

national guard and in his view the protests are national guard and in his view the protests a re no national guard and in his view the protests are no longer in any way about the death of george floyd. you're watching bbc news. when 15—year—old sirine jahangir lost her eyesight five years ago, she turned to her love of music. now sirine has become something of a star after impressing the britain's got talentjudges with her singing and piano skills. the bbc asian network's shabnam mahmood has been catching up with her. # treat each other right, best friends. from an early age, sirinejahangir has had a passion for singing. but she only started taking music seriously after losing her sight at the age of ten. when i lost my sight, me and my dad were in the car. and i couldn't look out

through the window anymore. and my dad didn't know what to do, so hejust put the music up really loud and i rememberjust smiling so much, laughing and singing along. i started songwriting when i was six and i used to write about princesses, best friends, ponies. as i grew up and started to face more difficulties, ifound it hard to express my emotions and tell people how i felt, so what i would do is i would write about it and i would sing my emotions rather than say them. the 15—year—old says she doesn't want her loss of sight to hold her back. i don't like to dwell on my blindness because although it's affected my life in such a massive and immense way, it's also strengthened me in other ways, given me so many gifts i'm so grateful for.

what's your name? my name is sirine. up till now, sirine has been performing at home for her family. but an appearance on the reality show britain's got talent has earned the teenager the appreciation of millions around the world. sirine plays piano. i have never done anything like it and the fact i was able to stand on stage, show people what i love and get appreciated for it is just the most amazing amazing experience of my life. # my salvation. sirine is now one of the bookies favourites to reach the finals of the competition. meanwhile, she is hoping to inspire other teenagers through her music.

we had warm sunshine but some of you will be wanting rain. the skies were almost clear in aberdeenshire and much of the uk. we will keep those clear skies overnight. it stays dry. the only exception to that story is low cloud and fog form around coastal parts of eastern scotland particularly the north—east and a few mist patches in north—east england as well. comfortable night, temperature is 12 celsius. tomorrow, any fog, mist and low cloud will clear away from the eastern coastal areas. 0therwise, sunny start to the day and we keep the sunshine into the afternoon. the day's highest temperatures and western parts, highs of 27 in parts of western wales. beyond that, signs the weather would cool off into next week and some of you will see rain at times as we head towards the middle of the week. goodbye.

the first commercially rocket is successful heading out of florida. the us state of minnesota launching the national guard for the first time in history following several nights of violent protests black men in police custody. the states government said the deployment was needed because outside agitators what the death of him to spy chaos. the uk government insists that it continues to be led by science over the next stages of the easing of lockdown measures — after concerns were raised by some leading scientists. we need to proceed in a very conscious way. so we've set out a road map that at each stage where you saying we are not going to proceed with that unless we are confident that we can do so in a safe way. confident that we can do so in a safe way. the return of competitive sport

is announced for the uk —